By CGTN’s Yin Yue
Brazil’s “favelas” – the Portuguese word for slums – are known around the world for gun fights with police, drug deals and life-threatening robberies. But they can also be a business opportunity. Brazil’s Supporting Service for SMEs (small and medium-size enterprise) just launched a project to help those in slums better run their business.
A young resident looks out from a window in a set of occupied buildings in the 'favela' community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 4, 2017. /VCG Photo
Based on the project, local institutions and organizations are helping SMEs in favelas with business licenses, registration and taxation, so that people can start up their own small business smoothly.
This is important as some business people in favelas think the legal process is more an option than an obligation.
“Before we take the process of legal business, we need to resolve our concerns first. Someone could come to explain to us what changes might happen, so that we can know if it is worth it to go through this process,” said Andreia, a businesswoman living in the favelas.
Since 2015, Brazil has struggled with its worst recession on record. And the unemployment rate stood at 13.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017, one of the worst employment crises in 20 years.
A resident sits while eating lunch in the window at his family's home in a set of occupied buildings in the 'favela' community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 4, 2017. /VCG Photo
With the ongoing political turbulence and a still weak economy, it might be too early to say when the job market will pick up. But the government has already taken action and added a net 59,856 payroll jobs in April, according to labor ministry data. That marked the second month of job creation this year as the economy started to slowly emerge from its deepest recession ever.
The favelas have seen the murder rate slashed by 87 percent over the past decade thanks to the local government’s efforts. So the government is confident about its economic project this time, aiming to bring more hope to its impoverished population and stimulating the country’s economy at the same time.
