Souvenir of Kulfas
Walter Andreozzi, member of the Executive Committee of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA), considered that the departure of Kulfas is “sincerely felt” by the industrial sector. “He and his team had a lot of commitment from day one. The greatest consideration for a minister who was from a permanent dialogue”, affirmed who is also secretary of the Industrial Federation of Santa Fe. Going forward, he considered that the developed policies should be “consolidated”, and that they were “conditioned by external crises”.
Along the same lines, Sergio Kaufman, president of Accenture, considered that Kulfas “did a great job.” He was with Kulfas last Thursday, in the last public meeting held by the now former minister with businessmen, when the relaxation of the stocks for knowledge economy companies was announced. “If we are objective in the entire context of the pandemic, the results of the Ministry are good, without a doubt”he said in statements to Futurock radio.
Antonio Aracre, CEO of Syngenta, described Kulfas as “one of the great pillars and ministers” that had the management of Alberto Fernández. He rescued the presentation of programs such as Argentina Productiva 2030: “It well represented the political conception of the President regarding the importance of dialogue, combining the short and long-term view, we had not seen that in Argentina for many years.”
Although Aracre highlighted the dialogue with the companies, he assured that he was not doing it from a place of friendship, as the vice president, Cristina Kirchner, criticized: “The way he conceived the dialogue in no way put him as the architect of the concessions. I have had to negotiate issues related to imports and I always noticed him very committed to the interests of Argentina, and to the importance of substituting imports”, he added.
Challenges for Scioli
In any case, the consulted businessmen see Scioli’s appointment “with good eyes”, according to Ámbito Román Queiroz, president of the Argentine Federation of the Wood Industry (Faima). “He is an official who understands politics, he spent 8 years as governor of the most important province in the country and two years as Ambassador. He is not a rookie and that gives us hope.”, he claimed. In any case, he announced that they hope to have contact with him in the short term. “Kulfas promised us that he was going to return to the Forestry Table, we will see if we can keep that promise,” he assured.
Daniel Rosato, president of Industriales Pymes Argentina (IPA), asked that Scioli be “the continuity of an objective to be achieved, which is industrialization with more industrial development.” He highlighted policies of the Ministry of Productive Development such as “SME financing, training programs, and measures that regulate foreign trade, favoring the substitution of imports”, but assured that it is pending “to start up the Argentine purchase and recover the 6000 industrial SMEs lost between 2015 and 2020”.
From the General Business Confederation of Argentina (Cgera) they came out with a statement to support the appointment of Scioli. Its president, Marcelo Fernández, stated: “Obviously you will have our support, because he is a person who has extensive knowledge of the reality of the SME industrial sector”. Horacio Moschetto, also from Cgera, anticipated that they are working with Scioli and Brazilian industrialists on installation and investment projects in Argentina for the footwear sector.
political uncertainty
Beyond the good conception that the business community has about Scioli, and despite the photo of unity in YPF, the government’s main problem “continues to be political,” they considered. For a country to develop a firm political power is needed, and not a government that lives from internal to internalbecause otherwise he is more dedicated to that than to people’s problems”, Gustavo Weiss, president of the Chamber of Construction (Camarco), told Ámbito.
“What this does is cause even more widespread uncertainty. It is not possible to carry out a powerful program with the enormous implications of the Argentine economic imbalances that have been coming for a long time without a very strong political support”detailed Weiss, who is part of the Group of 6.
Along the same lines, Aracre stated that “all political noise generates uncertainty in the people who make business decisions”. However, he assured that in this case he rescues that it has been resolved “quickly” and that the election of the successor provides certainty, because Scioli “shares the developmentalist and dialoguist view.” Going forward, he hopes that the work on the gas pipeline can continue and that the work of Martín Guzmán, who works with “party economy ministries,” can be carried out jointly.
Meanwhile, Kaufman opined: “It is to be expected that there will be differences and discussions in a government, but it is necessary that at some point there be fair rules of coexistence”. But he was optimistic: “It is a responsible government for the future, I think reason will prevail over bidding.” In any case, another important businessman in the public works sector who preferred not to be mentioned was pessimistic: he assured that the reading is that “Alberto Fernández handed over a bishop”, and that beyond the measure, “nothing is going to change in terms of coalition unity”.
Source: Ambito
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