Industrialized and modern contemporary Bahia was the fruit of the planning commanded by Rômulo Almeida in the 1950s of the 20th century under the government of Antonio Balbino. Since then, Bahia's planning has been replaced by occasional interventions by governments that have succeeded each other over time. At present, the State of Bahia is demanding the rescue of systemic and strategic governmental planning that contributes to the promotion of its economic and social development. In the contemporary era, the economic planning of the State of Bahia should promote the utilization of its internal potentialities and its economic interconnections with other regions of Brazil and abroad, as well as the overcoming of its regional imbalances.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR PLANNING OF CONTEMPORARY BAHIA
Fernando Alcoforado *
Industrialized and modern contemporary Bahia was the fruit of the planning
commanded by Rômulo Almeida in the 1950s of the 20th century under the government
of Antonio Balbino. Since then, Bahia's planning has been replaced by occasional
interventions by governments that have succeeded each other over time. At present, the
State of Bahia is demanding the rescue of systemic and strategic governmental planning
that contributes to the promotion of its economic and social development. In the
contemporary era, the economic planning of the State of Bahia should promote the
utilization of its internal potentialities and its economic interconnections with other
regions of Brazil and abroad, as well as the overcoming of its regional imbalances.
In order to identify the internal potentialities of the State of Bahia, it is necessary to
analyze its dynamic foci located in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, in Feira de
Santana, in the North Coast and South Coast, in the Far South and in the regions under
the influence of Juazeiro, Vitória da Conquista , Irecê, Guanambi and Barreiras. In order
to identify the potentialities linked to the economic interconnections of the State of
Bahia, it is necessary to know how they occur with the world market through the export
and import trade and also with the trade exchanges with other states in Brazil. For the
identification of regional imbalances, it is necessary to analyze the causes of economic
regression in the development of the cacao region of Bahia and the underdevelopment
of the semi-arid region.
The main dynamic focus of the State of Bahia economy is the Metropolitan Region of
Salvador (RMS), which includes the municipalities of Salvador, Simões Filho,
Camaçari and Lauro de Freitas, among others, and also the one covered by Feira de
Santana, where 90% Of Bahia's manufacturing industry (chemical, metallurgical,
automobile, food and other sectors), which in turn represents 25.1% of the state's GDP.
In terms of trade flows, RMS accounts for about 90% of exports to Mercosur and about
65% of the State of Bahia exports. In addition, it is densified by the presence of
commercial support and services throughout the State of Bahia and even to other
regions of the Northeast, whose group of activities offers about 60% of jobs in the
formal sector throughout the State of Bahia.
Another dynamic focus of the State of Bahia economy is the region that covers the
North Coast, South Coast and Far South, and also encompasses the Macro region of
Salvador (RMS and Feira de Santana). This area, besides the industries of the Macro
region of Salvador, contains all cocoa production (Southern Region), pulp and paper
production (Far South Region) and absorbs more than 75% of the tourist flow of the
State of Bahia (Salvador, Porto Seguro and Ilhéus), offering 83% of the beds in hotels.
North Coast, South Coast and Far South have an infrastructure network that does not
resemble that of the Macro region of Salvador.
The other dynamic areas of the State of Bahia economy have their production based on
activities related to agriculture, although with diversified production. Barreiras stands
out as the region of greater agricultural dynamism of Bahia as the only one to produce
soy, for the growing bovine cattle, besides producing differentiated fruits. Vitória da
Conquista stands out for coffee production, cattle breeding (Itapetinga) and olive groves
(Jaguaquara and Itiruçu). Irecê, always associated with the largest bean producing
region of the State of Bahia, enlarges and diversifies for vegetables and fruit, using

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modern production processes. Juazeiro employs the most modern production processes
of the State of Bahia in terms of agroindustry, contains a diversified list of fruit
production for export and, to a lesser extent, horticultural production. The Guanambi
region, which specializes in cotton production, has been seeking other alternatives,
including uranium mining in Lagoa Real and wind power generation in Caetité.
It should be noted that the dynamic areas of the State of Bahia economy account for
more than 90% of the Municipal Income Index, occupying an area of only 30% of the
territory, where about 60% of the population lives and accounts for more than 95% of
the collection of the state ICMS. It is in this space, therefore, that the most dynamic and
competitive production units of the State of Bahia are concentrated. Due to its
importance, Salvador must be used as a development pole using its network of
commercial influence that includes the states of Bahia and Sergipe. This network of
influence covers Aracaju; Feira de Santana, Ilhéus-Itabuna and Vitória da Conquista;
Barreiras and Petrolina-Juazeiro; Guanambi, Irecê, Jacobina, Jequié, Paulo Afonso and
Santo Antônio de Jesus; Itabaiana, Eunápolis, Bom Jesus da Lapa, Brumado, Senhor do
Bonfim, Alagoinhas, Cruz das Almas, Itaberaba, Ribeira do Pombal and Valença, and
the west of Bahia.
The overcoming of the economic regression of the cacao region of Bahia could be
achieved with its economic diversification with a consistent endogenous and sustainable
development policy to reverse its decline process. Ilhéus and Itabuna are the
development poles of the cacao region. The creation of a Regional Development
Council with the participation of the federal, state and municipal governments,
entrepreneurs and civil society to deliberate on regional development policies, programs
and projects and the restructuring of CEPLAC as an articulating body would be the
answer appropriate to the process of economic diversification in the south of Bahia.
The overcoming of the underdevelopment of the semi-arid region of Bahia, which
covers 70% of the State of Bahia, depends to a large extent on what is being done to
build an economic axis between Juazeiro, Barreiras, Ibotirama and Bom Jesus da Lapa
along the São Francisco River that also incorporates the Irecê region and the solution of
the water issue with the construction of a large number of dams and integration of the
basins of the São Francisco River with the other rivers of the Semiarid. In addition, the
fact that the Bahia Semi-arid is a transit area for goods and services, through the BR-
116, 324, 407, 242 and 020 highways, should be used as a driving force for regional
development. The economic and social development strategy of the semi-arid region of
Bahia should be based on the cities or economically more dynamic areas (Feira de
Santana, Vitória da Conquista, Juazeiro, Guanambi and Irecê). A Semi-Arid
Development Council should also be created with the participation of the federal, state
and municipal governments, entrepreneurs and civil society to discuss regional
development policies, programs and projects.
The economic interconnections of Bahia occur with the world market through the export
and import trade and also with the commercial exchanges that it carries out with other
states of Brazil. Bahia is commercially interconnected with countries of the European
Union, the United States, Mercosur countries and China, among others. The exchange
of Bahia with other regions of Brazil since 2003 generated positive trade balances. In
interstate commerce, in the Northeast, the states of Sergipe and Bahia are the only ones
to present a positive surplus. São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have the most intense flows
with the other states of Brazil, while Bahia has a small participation. This situation

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shows that there is a need for Bahia to further increase its exchange with the world and
other regions of Brazil.
The structured planning on the bases described above would be the way for Bahia to
face the gigantic economic crisis that currently affects Brazil. To be successful in
planning, it is necessary to implant a model of integrated public sector management in
Bahia that would counteract what prevails today, in which the federal, state and
municipal governments are autonomous in their deliberations and actions, and
politically reactive to the idea of integration. In order to make government structures
work in an integrated way, it is necessary to establish the so-called Network State. The
objectives and operational plans of the components of the network structure must be
established jointly by all its members. The operation of this type of organization would
be based on modern computer and telecommunications systems that would allow the
management and control of all processes.
* Fernando Alcoforado, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável-
Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do
Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social
(Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática
Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015) and As Grandes Revoluções Científicas,
Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016).