The words of one of the most important businessmen in the country were given at the same time that the Government announced an extension of the swap with China to strengthen the reserves of the Central Bank, after the bilateral meeting of President Alberto Fernández with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping , in Bali, during the G20.
Rocca: “We are not Venezuela”
After an extensive speech where he analyzed international geopolitics, Rocca closed with a reference to the country. “Our Group, which has steel in Europe, experienced the disruptions in the energy market from the invasion of Russia very closely. We learned something, but we should all learn, thinking about the next 5 or 10 years, where Western security, independence and integration will prevail. You have to have a clear vision of the values in the design of the strategy towards the future”, she affirmed.
“I realize that in Argentina the problems of every day are different. We are defending ourselves against change of variables so quickly that talking about these changes may seem like an abstraction. But Argentina is neither Venezuela, nor Cuba, nor Nicaragua. It’s going to get back to normal in your economy at some point. So maintaining an agenda that considers geopolitical factors and value chains is very important.”
Rocca started his speech with an international analysis: he stated that there is a “definitive geopolitical change”, where the unipolar world, led by the United States, ended. While now “the main actor in the globalization process is China”, which represents 28% of the world’s industrial production, it incorporated 250 million people into higher productivity structures, and went from representing 13% of global trade to 30%
However, he referred to the negative impacts on Western societies: “There is a process in Latin America of de-industrialization and reprimarization of our economy that is guided by the emergence of the Chinese economy, eager for raw materials, and ambitious to conquer markets, especially in industrial products.”
In this context, he marked a counterpoint with Jorge Arguello, Argentine ambassador to the United States, who participated in the event. “Jorge’s vision, which proposes a non-alignment, a third way, loses some validity. You have to understand the limits, the implications, because cooperation has become competition, and today it is a confrontation between two hegemonic powers”. It’s that in this new world, Rocca He stated that “there are no good or bad”, but that there are important values to take into account: “There are different ways of seeing freedom and democracy in individual rights”.
For this reason, Rocca made his point about what the position of large companies and Latin America should be: “My answer is decided. Latin America has to seize the opportunity to redesign the value chain in countries that can give solidity, security and independence to a Western value chain.”. In fact, he assured that there are opportunities in Vaca Muerta, lithium, the knowledge economy, the pharmaceutical sector and the energy transition.
At that point, he rejected an alignment with China: “The globalization of the 1990s is over, there is a different global dimension where security and independence will prevail. For Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, we must reflect, an internal debate. The BRICS today are not a viable structure to interpret the world”. He even got into the specific issue of telecommunications: “We have to have a 5G that does not depend on China.”
From Bali, since he is participating in the G20, Arguello participated in the same panel as Rocca. Prior to the businessman’s words, he had assured that there is a “hegemonic transition between Washington and Beijing”, where they increasingly compete for primacy, and that in this context Argentina must proceed with “extreme care”. “Some are considering leaving the United States. But it is a false dilemma that we must not fall for. You have to complement links, not replace them”.
China, the US and the business “trauma”
After his speech, Rocca was applauded by a full auditorium located in the Faculty of Economic Sciences, where he was accompanied by businessmen such as Hugo Sigman (Insud Group), Jaime Campos (AEA), Daniel Funes de Rioja (UIA-Copal), Carolina Castro (Guidi Industries), Teddy Karagozian (TN Platex), Cristiano Rattazzi (ex Fiat) or Pedro Reyna (Faima). Rocca assured that global change has an impact on economic groups: “For a large company, a substantial change in the geopolitical balance is traumatic”. In dialogue with Ámbito, not everyone agreed with the view of the CEO of Techint.
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“Very good speech. but I don’t think China wants us more primary. Everyone finds their way. That if, with 50% poverty, we must not forget China and trade with any company”, said Rattazzi, former president of Fiat. As a joke, he assured that he did not agree with Rocca’s view that the Argentine economy is going to normalize: “It will happen, yes, but after the elections.”
Teddy Karagozian, owner of TN Platex, assured that his point of view does not coincide with what is best for his textile company: “You don’t have to have alignments, countries don’t have friends, so you have to do what’s best for them. 40% of the world population is in Asia and they consume what Argentina produces, so we have to work multilaterally”. Regarding the primarization that the Chinese presence generates in Latin America, he opined: “I agree, but the problem lies in our political negotiators.”
For his part, Carolina Castro, director of Industrias Guidi, opined that the Argentine position must be one of “pragmatism.” As an example, he mentioned Brazil’s position in the case of 5G: “They did it differently for private users than for public organizations.” He agreed with Rocca that the tension with China is that “they don’t want added value”, but said that Argentina has to play a role because “it is a buyer of food”. In this sense, he analyzed that “you have to open your mind to new markets, such as Africa.”
Meanwhile, Pedro Reyna, a member of the UIA, expressed his opinion on Argentina’s position with China: “Relations must be managed rationally, and that the criteria be what is best for our country. We don’t have to follow a definitive line, because we need financial assistance from the United States, and we sell food to China”.
Source: Ambito
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