When Natalio Grinman had to explain Argentina to a group of investors, the president of the Chamber of Commerce said that we were world champions, we had Messi, the largest reserves in Vaca Muerta, wet pampas and lithium. “In short, we are a country that seems to have everything”, ironically slipped in front of an auditorium full of businesswomen.
Grinman inaugurated a seminar on Argentina’s role in the world organized by the Ibero-American Association of Entrepreneurs under the leadership of the ever-active Julita Maristany.
Marcelo Elizondo, an expert in international trade, had to describe the country’s participation on the global scene. The fall is alarming.
From the year 2000, Argentina weighs 25% less in international trade. “If you measure what comes from foreign investment, if in 2000 it was 0.9% of the world stock, today it is 0.2%. And of the 15,000 exporting companies that existed, there are only 9,000”, insured. In this 2023 things could be worse if we consider the productive catastrophe caused by drought.
Elizondo referred to a complex world due to the technological revolution, the irruption of global companies that invest and innovate and that are reconfiguring the scene with new geopolitical spaces. This consultant has observed it in Argentina volatility is already structural.
Along the same lines, underlined Marcela Caminos, CEO of the consulting firm Abeceb. “The trend is stagnation, the private sector is the one that can drive growth but economic policy is pure restriction. In this 2023 we are experiencing the accumulation of problems by a government that has decided to procrastinate. We are on the floor today and the good news is that there is a perception of change in the cycle and that businessmen will be able to implement a modern agenda”.
According to Caminos, Argentine businessmen “know it live with the problem and know how to manage cycles. To stagnate is to start afresh,” he remarked to enthusiastic applause.
This morning’s event was an opportunity for many female entrepreneurs to get to know the technological district of Parque Patricios, south of the City, where they arrived for the first time. There the Chamber of Commerce built its university headquarters in a combination of minimalist and high-tech styles. Among others, Beatriz Nofal, María Luisa Macchiavello, Teresa González Fernández, Elizabeth O’Donnell and Laura Velázquez participated.
Source: Clarin
