 Gold, manganese, and gemstones mined in the surrounding region are processed in the city.The main industrial district of the city was set during the 1940s in Contagem, a part of greater Belo Horizonte.Multinational companies like FIAT (which opened its plant in Betim in 1974), Arcelor, and Toshiba have subsidiaries in the region, along with other textile like Group Rachelle Textil, Ematex and Cedro Textil, cosmetic, food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, furnishing and refractory companies.