The success of a community today depends upon its ability to adapt to the dynamic local, national and international market economy. Strategically planned local economic development (LED) is increasingly used by communities to strengthen the local economic capacity of an area, improve the investment climate, and increase the productivity and competitiveness of local businesses, entrepreneurs and workers. The ability of communities to improve the quality of life, create new economic opportunities and fight poverty depends upon them being able to understand the processes of LED, and act strategically in the changing and increasingly competitive market economy.  The purpose of LED is to build up the economic capacity of a local area to improve its economic future and the quality of life for all. It is a process by which public, business and non-governmental sector partners work collectively to create better conditions for economic growth and employment generation.  LED evolved as a policy approach in the early 1970s in response to municipal governments realizing that businesses and capital were moving between locations for competitive advantage. By actively reviewing their economic base, communities gained an understanding of the opportunities for, and obstacles to, growth and investment. With this newfound understanding, communities attempted to expand their economic and employment base by devising and undertaking strategic programs and projects to remove obstacles and facilitate investment. Today, local economies face an even greater set of local, national, regional, and global challenges.  SELECTED PROJECTS AND ANALYSIS  Ceara Regional Economic Development: Cidades do Ceara (Brazil). The objective of the project is to promote economic development and improve metropolitan management for public services in the Central Cariri Region of Ceara, which includes the nine municipalities of Barbalha, Caririacu, Crato, Farias Brito, Jardim, Juazeiro do Norte, Missao Velha, Nova Olinda, and Santana do Cariri. There are three components to the project. The first will comprise investments in infrastructure at the regional and municipal levels of Central Cariri to address critical infrastructure deficits, protect and restore the environment, and improve public services for local residents and tourists. The second component is the cluster-based local economic development which will initially facilitate the growth of the tourism and footwear clusters in the Central Cariri Region to enhance their competitiveness through business environment improvement, technology upgrading, training and market outreach, and provision of infrastructure for cluster development. The third will promote effective governance at the municipal, regional and state levels through activities.  Competitiveness and Growth in Brazilian Cities: Local Policies and Actions for Innovation. This book addresses the question of what cities can do to improve economic performance and create jobs. The topic is explored through a review of theories and policy options for city competitiveness, preliminary benchmarking of Brazilian cities, and case studies of two urban areas in Northeast Brazil—the Cariri region, Ceará and São LuÃs, Maranhão.  The book concludes that to be competitive, cities need to reduce the cost of doing business by improving their services and infrastructure and by reducing bureaucracies. But for a middle-income country such as Brazil, which needs to be economically competitive in a globalized environment, this is not sufficient. Cities also need to add value to local businesses. A crucial part of their strategy should be to create and sustain an environment that stimulates local firms to innovate and learn from each other, to nurture the creation of synergies generated by the interconnected economic clusters in the city, and to provide incentives for all local players to continuously upgrade their level of competitiveness.   Brazil – Sao Paolo: Inputs for a Sustainable Competitive City Strategy (Volume 1 and Volume 2). This study aims to offer inputs for a successful recovery strategy for the city and the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo (MSRP) in Brazil. It first presents an analysis of the underlying factors of the economic transition in the MRSP, highlighting the factors behind the recent performance of the MRSP in terms of job creation and growth. Then, four inputs that would lead to a 'recovery strategy' for the MRSP are discussed in detail: improving fiscal performance and creditworthiness; improving competitiveness and the investment climate; improving institutional partnerships; and improving service delivery.  Volume 1 contains the main report while Volume 2 serves as a background document.   RELEVANT LINKS  World Bank (Global) Local Economic Development page  International Finance Corporation: Doing Business page  |
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