Araquari, outside the industrial zone (photo: Disclosure)
The economic growth of one of the small cities in Santa Catarina has attracted attention in the country. Araquari, in the North of the State, recorded a 14-fold increase in GDP in a period of just over 10 years, according to IBGE data. It jumped from savings of R$532 million to R$7.4 billion.
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During this period, the city also achieved the third best GDP per capita in the State, behind only Piratuba and Itajaí. It is one of the fastest growing economies in Brazil.
The “winner” was the growth of the industrial sector. Araquari is the headquarters of the German automaker BMW, the South Korean Hyosung, the Belgian TVH group, and the multinational Kingspan, among others.
Two factors were fundamental to Araquari’s growth: the main one is its privileged location, next to the main road axis in the south of the country, on BR-101, close to the two largest port complexes in Santa Catarina, in Babitonga Bay (São Francisco do Sul and Itapoá) and on the Itajaí-Açu River (Itajaí and Navegantes), and with quick access to two airports, in Joinville and Navegantes.
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Furthermore, the city prepared a fiscal environment considered quite aggressive to compete with other cities, which includes tax reductions or exemptions for new industries.
Last month, the city hall went a step further and set up an office on Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo. The address is strategic: it is just a few meters from the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of São Paulo, Fiesp. The idea is that the location can be used to prospect for new business.
Get to know some of the industries in Araquari and what they do:
