Argentina’s Economy Minister and presidential candidate stated: “We do much better when we negotiate as a bloc.”
The Minister of Economy of Argentina and presidential candidate with the most votes in the general elections, Sergio Massa, described as “a delirium” the possibility of breaking the Mercosur and he once again showed himself against the request for flexibility proposed by the president Luis Lacalle Pou.
Specifically, when considering the possibility of signing trade agreements outside the regional bloc, such as the possible FTA with China, Massa stated: “My personal opinion, which is not intended to be a debate, beyond any particular treaty that I may be working on Uruguay, “It’s just that we do much better when we negotiate as a bloc.”
The Argentine minister proposed in a press conference with foreign media correspondents that advancing the dialogues as Mercosur “allows the other blocks to respect us more” by defending the integrity of the block.
For the candidate, “Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay have an enormous opportunity to integrate and compete together in the protein market, within the framework of a world in which food security is fundamental”, for which he asked to work “coordinated.”
Along these lines, he questioned his runoff rival, Javier Milei, considering that “sometimes in campaigns phrases are said that sound nice to the electorate, saying I’m going to break with China, I’m going to break up with Brazil, without considering that in economic terms it means the destruction of 400,000 or 500,000 jobs in different sectors.”
Massa highlighted the payment system in local currency
Besides, Massa He referred to another issue that impacts Uruguay, when talking about “the agenda linked to trade using our own currencies”, alluding to the payment system in local currency, and recalled: “We have been working hard on it with the Industrial Union of Uruguay”.
The minister recognized that “the difficulty is the situation that arises with production or trade regarding industrial parks that have fiscal or tax benefits.” “If we find the possibility of solving this difficulty, we will be able to move forward very quickly. That is what the presidents of the central banks are working on,” he noted, referring to Diego Labat, from the BCU; and Miguel Pesce, of the BCRA.
Source: Ambito
