“The main objective is to build consensus regarding mining, which allows the activity to be carried out with strict environmental controls, enhancing the good things it has (high-paying jobs, federalism, foreign exchange and supplies for the energy transition), and analyzing its risks to mitigate them. ”, they explained from the ministry. “Until now there has been no constructive dialogue on mining, what happened was shouting, a dialogue of the deaf”they added.
On this first occasion, the president of the Central Bank, Miguel Pesce, the Minister of Labor, Claudio Moroni, and the head of the AFIP, Mercedes Marcó del Pont, will speak. “We have to go against the myth that mining leaves nothing in the country”, explained a source from the Ministry. Pesce will mention the impact on currencies: between 2003 and 2021, mining was one of the few sectors that he presented surplus in its exchange balance for u$s 69,338 millionaccording to a work by Gonzalo Fernández, director of assistance to the mining producer.
The presence of Marcó del Pont has to do with the request made by the Ministry of Productive Development regarding taxation levels and anti-evasion systems. In addition, Moroni will tell about the salaries in the sector, which in 2021 they were the second highest in the economybehind hydrocarbons, according to the CEP XXI.
Governors, representatives of universities and environmental organizations will also participate in the meeting. As this newspaper learned, members of Youth for Climate will be present, a benchmark group among young people on environmental issues, which other NGOs that define themselves as “non-partisan” or “leftist” look askance for the oiled dialogue they generated with Daniel Schteingartdirector of CEP XXI and coordinator of the Argentina Productiva 2030 plan.
The first two meetings of the mining table will be in the City of Buenos Aires, but later they will be in different parts of the country. In all cases, they will be broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Ministry of Productive Development to provide greater transparency, after what was the “chubutazo”, a week of marches against the zoning of the areas with the largest silver reserves in the world. In the next few years, the Ministry of Health must present itself, and they asked for a report on the consequences of mining on the population’s health.
tension and changes
The launch of the mining table takes place in a context of changes within the Ministry of Mining. The Friday was the last day of the undersecretary of the area, Andrés Vera, number two of the secretary, Fernanda Ávila. As this newspaper learned, the resignation is due to “personal reasons.” Vera could continue working within the Ministry, and her replacement would also be from the portfolio, although it will be defined this week.
In addition, another of the exhibitors this Monday will be Franco Mignaco, president of the Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM), at a time of tension between the Government and businessmen due to the unexpected income tax. Mignacco has just disembarked from Bariloche, after participating in the Llao Llao Forum, where he spoke before the red circle about the panorama of lithium and its potential.
A week before the announcement made by the Government about a project with unexpected income, the mining businessmen had had several meetings with the Ministry of Economy to seek to modify the withholdings, in a scheme that the Ministry of Economy considers more “progressive”, as is the case of mobile withholdings. From the sector they assure that they are against any type of retention, considering it “regressive”, some companies would see it with good eyes for going up when international prices increase, and going down when they go down. Anyway, the new tax put these negotiations in check.
Source: Ambito
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