Brazil: Pro-Northeast Brazil Initiative
Challenge
The Northeast region of Brazil, perhaps the most economically
disadvantaged in the nation, determined to diversify its economy
away from dependence on primary agriculture by developing
a strategy to enable the growth of value-added products and
services.
Solution
Working under a World Bank-sponsored initiative, ICF International
carried out a three-state, four-cluster collaborative strategy
process. The analysis began by analyzing the strengths and
weaknesses of clusters in nine states of the Northeast. Next,
we chose three states on which to focus—Bahia, Ceara,
and Pernambuco—and completed a benchmarking process to
determine the competitive position of each of these states
in four clusters: information technology, tourism, fruits,
and grains. With this completed, we initiated a collaborative
working group process in each cluster in each of the three
states. These working groups responded to market opportunities
defined by the consultant and identified shared competitive
challenges and action strategies to enhance the depth and
breadth of their clusters. These were integrated into the
Pro-Northeast Brazil Competitiveness Strategy.
Benefit
Cluster groups in each of the three states have moved forward
with implementation. The state of Pernambuco, in particular,
has been the most active, building a portfolio of five cluster
groups today and even providing technical assistance to other
states in developing their cluster strategies.
|
