Profile Historic		Where the footwear manufacturing poles are. State of Rio de Janeiro Number of enterprises in 2009: 54 % of Brazil: 0.7 Number of employees in 2009: 1,140 % of Brazil: 0.4 Exports in US$ million in 2009: 1.8 % of Brazil: 0.1 Exports in million pairs in 2009: 0.2 % of Brazil: 0.1 Fonte: MTE/RAIS; SECEX/MDIC e ABICALÇADOS The state of Rio de Janeiro The State of Rio de Janeiro, located in the southeast region of Brazil, through a project developed by local authorities, shall become a footwear pole with very own characteristics. The program called Panorama Carioca aims at developing a new aesthetic of the people from Rio, which could culminate in the production and development of products with the cultural brand of Rio de Janeiro. The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, for example, is known in the entire world, and some products created for this event have great market potential. Members of large samba clubs have shown interest in using shoes from Rio de Janeiro. The estimate is that there are 400 to 500 footwear companies in the State of Rio de Janeiro, all micro in size acting as studios. Around four thousand people work in this segment. The biggest concentration is in the cities of Belford Roxo, Duque de Caxias, Rio Claro, São Gonçalo/Niterói, the mountain region and the capital Rio de Janeiro.