Mayor participates in debate on the economic recovery of Rio de Janeiro

Meeting brought together municipal secretaries, international authorities and representatives of the productive sector - Ricardo Cassiano/City Hall

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes participated this Friday (18/06) in the debate “Challenges and opportunities for the city of Rio de Janeiro”, held at Casa Firjan, in Botafogo. The event, promoted by the City of Rio, Firjan and the France-Brazil Chamber of Commerce, brought together municipal and international authorities and representatives of multinationals to discuss the city's economic recovery after the pandemic.

The objective was to discuss diagnoses, strategies and projects related to governance, innovation and sustainable development of the Rio de Janeiro economy, based on the vision and initiatives of the public sphere and the productive sector. In his speech, Paes highlighted his optimism regarding the progress of vaccination in Rio and the future of the city, despite the challenges.

– Our message to FIRJAN and to French businesspeople is to continue to believe in Rio, because we are going to make the city successful again, to make progress and to set good examples in the national political and economic scenario. Enough of being a bad example. We want to turn this around and, with the help of FIRJAN and the France-Brazil Chamber, we will achieve our goal – declared Paes, who defined Rio as a city with enormous potential and friendly to business.

The debate was also attended by five French multinationals from various segments: energy infrastructure, transportation, beauty, hotels and tourism. According to data from Firjan, France is the country that invests the most in the State of Rio – in recent years, R$21,8 billion was invested, out of a total of R$50 billion in investments in Brazil.

– France has a historic partnership with Brazil and is responsible for one of the largest volumes of foreign direct investment in the country, in a wide range of areas. In Rio, this partnership is also supported by the strong presence of French culture in the city’s cultural scene. For all these reasons, we have every reason to celebrate this moment and reinforce the importance of French companies in the process of resuming investments in Rio – stated the president of FIRJAN, Eduardo Eugenio Gouvêa Vieira.

 

The meeting provided a global overview of fiscal challenges and strategies for economic recovery. The president of the France-Brazil Chamber of Commerce, Patrick Sabatier, highlighted that Rio is back and French companies want to be present at this time.

– It is an honor to participate in this debate. It is a milestone to highlight the many opportunities that Rio has been offering. Brazil is France's main partner in Latin America and France is the third largest investor in Brazil. This is a long-term commitment made by French companies, represented by the France-Brazil Chamber of Commerce and Industry – said Patrick Sabatier, who is also vice president of L'Oréal Brazil.

Also participating in the opening of the event was the French ambassador to Brazil, Brigitte Collet, who in a video message highlighted the ties that unite her country and Rio and predicted a promising future for all.

At the end of the opening, the debates were divided into three panels. In the first, “Economy, Sustainability and Governance”, the municipal authorities gave an overview of what has been prepared in the short and medium term, while French multinationals discussed sustainable actions in favor of Rio.

– With austerity and courageous, disciplinary measures, we are starting to reorganize the house. Economic and fiscal sustainability is the basis. In the public sphere as well. Without money, it is impossible to implement public policies. It is impossible to encourage companies to invest in the city. We are going to structurally recover our city’s finances – stressed the municipal secretary of Finance and Planning, Pedro Paulo.

The municipal secretary of Government and Public Integrity, Marcelo Calero, spoke of the importance of making the public process more republican for all citizens and the City Hall's services more efficient.

– Rio de Janeiro City Hall will adopt best practices and will be an example for other city halls. We believe that Integrity must work to mitigate risks. We do not want to play a corrective role. That is already the responsibility of other municipal bodies. We must adopt many practices already used in the private sector in the City Hall – he commented.

For the municipal secretary of the Environment, Eduardo Cavaliere, under the administration of Mayor Eduardo Paes, the environmental agenda regains its prominence in Rio.

– In the last week of March 2022, the city will host Rio+30 Cities, ensuring that we signal to the world that Rio has always been and will continue to be a protagonist in the climate agenda, concerned about the environment.

The second, “GovTech”, discussed how technology can contribute to the invention and innovation of methods that positively impact the performance of the public and productive sectors. Alexandre Cardeman, special advisor to the Rio Operations Center, mentioned that the institution, since its inauguration in 2010, has always had a vision of a Smart City.

– We have been working on data integration and relationships, with the aim of ensuring that it continues to be a national and international reference.

The third panel, entitled “Development and Events,” aimed to discuss how Rio can reinvent itself in urban terms and in the tourism, creative, and digital economy. The municipal secretary of Urban Planning, Washington Fajardo, spoke about the Reviver Centro project, a plan to attract new residents and stimulate the urban, social, and economic recovery of the central region, impacted by the pandemic.

– Downtown Rio is a 5-minute city. Leaving a subway, train or VLT station, you can walk to restaurants, museums and shops in 5 minutes. You can find everything there – he added.