Best Brazilian cities to do business

Brazil’s most business-friendly cities aren’t necessarily where you might assume, according to the latest Index of Entrepreneurial Cities (ICE), by Endeavor. São Paulo maintained its top position in the rankings for the third consecutive year, and scored top marks for connectivity, airport terminal infrastructure, and services, as well as an initiative to reduce bureaucracy in the process of opening and licensing companies – but it’s got competition.

Among other significant entrepreneurial cities in Brazil, the southern cities of Joinville, Florianópolis, and Curitiba climbed the rankings, achieving top results. Other cities in Brazil’s Southeast region also scored well, with Vitória and Campinas finding themselves high up in ICE’s league table. And while cities in the country’s North and Northeast found themselves near the bottom of the rankings, several cities made ground-breaking strides when it came to overcoming obstacles.

Rio de Janeiro makes strides

Entrepreneurs and small business owners in Brazil’s marvelous city, Rio de Janeiro, benefitted heavily from pre-Olympic investments in infrastructure, according to Endeavor’s findings. The city climbed eight places in this year’s rankings, bringing it to 5th place overall. Last year, Rio got the lowest mark of all the cities surveyed for its traffic troubles. This year it climbed to 24th place, and although its congestion...