Source: Maxpress - São Paulo / SP - GENERAL - 01/07/2010

With an annual cost of R $ 46,3 billion for industries in São Paulo, the consequences of bureaucracy go beyond spending. A study carried out by Fiesp's Department of Competitiveness and Technology (Decomtec) points out that the innumerable control processes and delays reduce the benefits of goods and services offered in Brazil.

According to research data, countries with higher levels of bureaucracy compromise the attractiveness of productive investments, GDP per capita, level of education and cause the growth of the informal economy.

The study uses data released by the World Bank that measures the ease of doing business in 183 countries. In this case, Brazil falls far short of expectations, occupying the 129th position, behind countries like Colombia (37th), Peru (56th), El Salvador (84th) and Argentina (118th).

The comparison with 12 other countries (Germany, Australia, Canada, Chile, Singapore, South Korea, Costa Rica, United States, Spain, Finland, Ireland and Japan) shows that the ratio between GDP per capita and GDP would go from US $ 1.300 to US $ 9.000, if the country reduced its bureaucratic spending and reached the average of these countries.

To present Brazil's disadvantage in relation to these countries, the study lists the examples:

- While in Brazil 2.600 hours a year are spent paying taxes, in the selected countries the same task takes place in about 200 hours.

- In Brazil, who wants to open a company needs to perform ten more procedures than in the selected countries

- To close a company in Brazil is also a process considered very difficult for about 70% of Brazilians.

Corruption

Corruption is also another big villain that comes with high bureaucracy, the study indicates. The numerous formal requirements and the complexity of the procedures encourage direct attempts at bribes and kickbacks, in order to unblock business, such as the insertion of companies in the informal economy.