What do Brazilian businessmen need with the following elections? This analysis reveals

In a survey by the National Confederation of Industry, businessmen listed priorities and most relevant agendas for the next governors

A survey of National Confederation of Industry (CNI) listed the main priorities of businessmen for the next four years and the most urgent agendas for government officials who intend to stimulate the generation of jobs and the good performance of the business community.

To get to the highlights, CNI, through the FSB Research Institute, heard 1,000 entrepreneurs from small, medium and large companies. The responses were collected between the 10th and 24th of August this year.

What do entrepreneurs want?

During the survey, participants were encouraged to openly choose two actions that they believe will be a priority for the next government with regard to job creation. Most Brazilian businessmen (56%) believe that the most important measure is to carry out the Tax reform. The theme was the most mentioned both as the first and second priority action.

The justification for this lies in the complex and inefficient model of tax collection. According to the interviewees, the current system slows down the growth of the economy, while high taxes and the lack of professional qualifications are also bottlenecks for expanding job opportunities in the country. In view of this, the payroll tax reduction (48%) and the need to strengthen professional training (35%) are other topics.

“There is an expectation from industrial entrepreneurs regarding the priority that will be given to the topic (tax reform) in the next government. Approving the Tax Reform, with the adoption of a consumption tax system that is more modern, efficient and aligned with the world standard, is a fundamental step to increase the competitiveness of companies and, thus, accelerate the pace of economic growth, generating more jobs and income for Brazilians”, says the manager of economic analysis at CNI, Marcelo Azevedo.

most important subject

The survey also sought to understand which agendas these entrepreneurs perceive as priorities for the next president-elect, in general. The highlighted topics were:

• education (34%)
• public health (26%)
• economic growth (20%)
• tax reduction (14%)
• job creation (12%)
• support to entrepreneurs (11%)
• tax reform (11%)

The analysis, according to the CNI, is that businessmen recognize the importance of training young Brazilians for the growth of the industry and for the country’s development. The topic was the most mentioned by businessmen — one in three respondents believes that education should be the main priority of the president-elect in the next four years.

“Quality education at all levels is one of the fundamental pillars for building citizenship and the prosperity of nations. Only with quality education will we prepare people capable of interpreting technological advances and proposing innovative solutions”, says Robson Braga de Andrade, president of CNI.

As actions to improve the conditions of each of these points, the interviewees highlight, for example, the improvement of hospitals, the training and salary increase of teachers and the encouragement of technical and vocational education.

“The research shows that there is a demand from the business sector for greater investment in technical education, which is more aligned with the needs of the job market. Another point is the concern of executives with the quality of education. Faced with an increasingly technological industry, education needs to keep up with the skills required by companies,” says Azevedo.

Expectations for the future

The survey also probed the prospects of entrepreneurs regarding the future of the economy and of their own companies in the coming years.

Optimistically, seven out of 10 entrepreneurs expect positive years ahead. An even greater percentage of the total respondents (77%) are optimistic about the future of the Brazilian industry, while 8&% are optimistic about the future of the company itself.

Regarding the country’s economy, 69% said it should improve a little or a lot in the next four years.

Source: Exam