Paulo Antônio Skaf (born August 7, 1955) is a Brazilian entrepreneur and politician, who previously served as President of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP) and the President of the Center of Industries of the State of São Paulo (CIESP), both industrial interest groups and corporate trade unions. Skaf primarily works in real estate and construction.
Skaf ran for governor of São Paulo three times, each time losing in the first round to a member of the PSDB. His best showing was in 2014, when he achieved second place in the first round against Geraldo Alckmin, but won no municipalities.
Affiliated to Republicans of incumbent Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, Skaf previously was a member of the Brazilian Socialist Party and the Brazilian Democratic Movement. Both Skaf and de Freitas are noted allies of Gilberto Kassab, the former Mayor of Sao Paulo.
Biography
Early life and edication
Paulo Skaf was born at Vila Mariana, a neighborhood of São Paulo, son of a Lebanese immigrant and prominent textile entrepreneur Antoine Skaf and Clotilde Habeyche Skaf. He attended the Colégio Elvira Brandão and finished his high school at Colégio Santo Américo. He studied Business Administration at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie but dropped out before completion.
In his teenage years, he started working with his father, but soon decided to become independent. Dedicated in textile, his mid-sized factories were located at the east side of São Paulo – one at Ipiranga, another at Mooca and one at Belenzinho. In order to consolidate all in one unit, years later, it was relocated to Pindamonhangaba, at Vale do Paraíba.
The arrival of the Koreans in Brazil and the downfall of his company's products competitivity caused him to feel the necessity of a drastic measure and redirection of his business. He then focused his investments to the industrial construction sector. After his activities in the real estate business, he decided to become a politician.
Business career
Alongside his business interests, Skaf is known for his roles in the textile sector, at the Sindicato das Indústrias de Fiação e Tecelagem do Estado de São Paulo (Sinditêxtil) and the Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção. As a leader for two mandates, he developed the organizations into an important part in the fashion industry. On September 27, 2004, he was elected, in his first mandate, as the President at Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo, at Ciesp, at Sesi-SP, at Senai-SP, and for the Instituto Roberto Simonsen (IRS).
At FIESP, his management focused on research into Brazil's sustainable growth. The aim was to seek structural changes to provide better public services to society, mainly at education, health, and security. As the head of the institution, Skaf innovated with the implementation of full time education and articulated the integration between high school and technical school. Nowadays, Sesi-SP is the major institution of private school in the country. In 2013, the number of enrollment at Senai-SP surpassed 1.2 Million and 150 thousand at Sesi-SP.
Skaf also actively worked on tax exemption, debureaucratization of processes, increasing the investments of infrastructure, and expanding external markets. He created an “entrepreneurial diplomacy” policy, which helped in the formation of qualified human resources to operate in private sector with international matters and micro and small businesses acting in the external Market, decisively contributing in the international insertion of Brazil.
Skaf also made an action against the CPMF (tax applied in financial transaction). This taxation was implemented in 1997 and abolished in 2007 after a fierce dispute in the Senate. In São Paulo, Skaf demanded that the matter was discussed in the specialized sector. On December 13, 2007, Skaf was able to celebrate the end of CPMF as the Senate declared its end from December 31 of the same year and preventing its reestablishment in 2008. An official notice from FIESP on behalf of Skaf declared a “victory of Brasil”.
It was also under his management in which FIESP led a campaign for two achievements: the creation of the General law for micro and small businesses and dismissing of taxes over products derived from wheat, which led to a decrease in price of bread and pasta.
In 2009, one of the most successful actions of Paulo Skaf was the decrease of 30% over spreads, easing the obtainment of bank credit, therefore, generating employment and production. Another highlight was the leadership at FIESP, defending the receipt, from exporters, of credits related to the legal reimbursement of IPI provided at external sales.