Economy

See also major companies in São José dos Campos area.

Overview Economic statistics GDP BRL 17.6 billion (2004) Value added BRL 14,795 million (2005) GDP per capita BRL 29,950 (2004) Labour force 267,332 (2003) (from 45% to 50% of pop.) Labour force by occupation industry (19.4%), commerce (17.3%), services (50.9%), construction (2.2%), public sector (9.6%), other (0.5%) (2003) Main industries aerospace, defense, automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, components, consumer durables, oil and petrochemical Foreign commerce Exports BRL 4,947 million (2005) Imports BRL 2,619 million (2005) Public finances Municipal Budget BRL 868 million (2005) Announced investments $0.436 billion (2004) Social statistics Human Development Index (UNDP) 0.849 - high (2000) versus Brazilian HDI of 0.800 - high (2005) Literacy rate 96.3% (2003)

Bisceted by the Federal Highway BR-116 Dutra, which links it to the main economical centers of the country, São José dos Campos is a city that continuously tries to develop its infrastructure and technology, improving the quality of life of its citizens and opening new opportunities for business. The presence of educational and research centers in the city was a major key for its fast economic development. It occupies the 9th position among the 100 best Brazilian cities for business, according to a study of the magazine Exame published in 2002. In another study, made by Cushman & Wakefield, an American company in the area of real estate business, São José dos Campos was appointed worldwide as one of the seven best cities with opportunities of investment in real estate.

High and positive economy indicators show that this municipality has a great share in the state and in the country's economy.

In 2004, the municipality had the eleventh Gross Domestic Product on national terms and the third GDP within the State. It was the second exporter only to the city of São Paulo (revenues of USD 4.7 billion) in 2004.

Its estimated per capita income value, in nominal terms, was US$ 10,715 (far higher than the national average or even São Paulo's).

Discussions about how to diversify the activities in the city have been held. Around 66.6% of the local economy still comes from the manufacturing sector. Many economists, such as Roberto Koga, consider the city still heavily dependent on few sectors, especially the aerospace and defense industry.

Despite these arguments, the city was appoínted as the 3rd best employer among Brazilian non-capital cities by magazine Você S/A, published in July 2005

Agriculture

The municipality cultivates different crops: rice, tomato, potatoes, orange and many vegetables; cattle are raised for beef and milk supply. There are also farms for production of eggs and chicken.

Industry Embraer Aircraft: the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, the company is headquartered at São José dos Campos

In contrast to the rural town in 1950s, today São José is an important manufacturing center and holds a large array of industries. Over 1251 industries are in the municipality and nearby 47,000 inhabitants work for industries. The three main industries are automotive, oil/petrochemical and aerospace. There are significant pharmaceutical, consumer durables, chemical, and telecommunication companies in the city.

It is also known as the "Brazilian aeronautics capital" because it is home of CTA and one of the biggest aircraft manufacturers in the world, Embraer. It owes much of its economic success to Embraer's presence.

Service industry

Since the 1990s, the local economy has been evolving in a different direction. The manufacturing economy has been downsized or replaced by tertiary and quaternary sectors of industries.

For instance, the Entrepreneurial District of Chacaras Reunidas concentrates companies of micro, small and medium size, which are mainly the result of downsizing from old large local industries. Yet even though most of these are industries, these companies provide service as well.

Two technological parks and five (one in project) business incubators have been created within universities or industrial facilities.

There are incubators with technological start-up companies installed at Univap and at Henrique Lage Refinery of Petrobrás. The CTA houses other incubator, Incubaero, specialized in the aeronautical field.

Univap features a technological park with capacity for around 40 small to medium sized innovating companies in the areas of materials, electronics and telecommunications, information technology, aerospace, energy, environment control, biotechnology, bioinformatics, chemical engineering, and software among others. A new technological park, managed by the municipality and the state government of São Paulo, will house two new think tanks: the Institute for Technological Research (IPT) and the ItecBio (Instituto de Tecnologias Biomédicas).

As a result of its geographical location, the city became an important distribution center, having several logistics providers. Activities like purchasing, transport, planning and warehousing have employed many people recently.

Commerce and real estate ventures have developed in the last years, reflecting the changes in the economy. For instance, the largest shopping mall in the region was an old manufacturing facility. Serving the region's population of approximately one million, the city is the regional hub for shopping and services for the Vale do Paraíba, the northern coast of São Paulo and southern Minas Gerais.

The city has 34 hotels (1784 hotel rooms) and several auditoriums for meetings and conventions. There are 77 bank branches and 8 internet providers.

Advertising agencies have been established alongside television stations.