Paraná, March 16, 2017 – Klabin held a meeting on March 16 to present the Regional Development Guidelines (DDR) for the 12 cities in the Campos Geraisregion, which will share the additional ICMS (state VAT) tax paid by the Puma Unit, the company’s new plant in Ortigueira, Paraná. The event was held at the Harmonia Clube in Telêmaco Borba, Paraná, in which mayors and secretaries of the cities, as well as business leaders from the region’s wood hub, participated. The work of identifying the guidelines is part of the Social and Environmental Action Plan of the Puma Project and is aligned with the company’s Sustainability Policy, which sets out actions for local development.

The DDRs were divided into strategic dimensions, which were identified by Interação Urbana, a consulting firm engaged by Klabin, and will serve as a guide for the cities to jointly work to improve their indicators by focusing their priorities on four fronts of sustainable development: economic, social, environmental and institutional. “The Puma Unit brought several opportunities and possibilities for the cities within its area of influence. The Guidelines are strategically important for the sustainable development of the region as they align a global, integrated and long-term vision with relevant actions in priority areas for public administration,” said Uilson Paiva, Community Relations Manager at Klabin.

The Guidelines prioritize improvements with major social and environmental impact and, besides driving employment generating activities, promote social inclusion and better distribution of income. The economic dimension, for example, includes proposals such as valuing the produce turned out by family farming and regional tourism. On the social and environmental fronts, priority is given to actions focused on water supply and sanitation, health, construction of housing units and road improvements, in addition to education. The institutional front highlights the importance of managing the DDRs jointly by the cities by uniting efforts and optimizing aspirations that are based on a regional perspective and not just restricted to the scope of each city.

During the event, mayors and secretaries took part in a practical exercise in which they elected priorities and discussed methods for strategic and integrated coordination in order to put the guidelines into practices, taking into consideration a broad vision and long-term planning. Finally, the representatives of cities elected the Wood Agency, now renamed the Médio Tibagi Regional Development Agency, to coordinate the roll-out of the initiatives contained in the DDRs.

The 12 cities included in the Regional Development Guidelines are Cândido de Abreu, Congonhinhas, Curiúva, Imbaú, Ortigueira, Reserva, Rio Branco do Ivaí, Sapopema, São Jerônimo da Serra, Telêmaco Borba, Tibagi and Ventania.