Competitiveness and costs, the central claim of the message
“In terms of international insertion, we need to move forward in the signing of trade agreements of different formats and scopes, for which we must seek as an organization of resources in each condition. Regarding logistics costs and connectivity, we propose the importance of reducing the costs of port and airport terminals”, Márquez initially proposed.
Regarding production costs, he continued: “We refer to several points to achieve a real exchange rate aligned with fundamentals to avoid the situation of exchange rate lag that we have experienced in recent times and that has affected us so strongly.”
“We also emphasize maintaining and improving mechanisms that align tax burdens and promote reinvestment and job creation. Mention is made of the reforms that must be carried out to promote competition and avoid situations that make Uruguay the expensive country that we are today,” added the union spokesman.
He also said: “We always say that they should not let us compete on equal terms. This has to do not only with the issue of dollar, It has to do with the infrastructure, with the issue of international integration, with the issue of sustainability and strongly highlighting our differences in order to be able to compete in the rest of the world on equal terms.”
Alvaro Delgado UEU.jfif
Delgado and “integral competitiveness”
The candidate of the National Party, Alvaro Delgado, He did not avoid referring to the issue related to competitiveness, placing the analysis on a higher level. “Perhaps the word I chose to characterize this whole path is called comprehensive competitiveness”, began.
Delgado clarified that “one sees comprehensive competitiveness from the farm when one sows a crop soy, you see it from a technological service, a free zone, When they load a truck with steers or they plant sturgeons in the Black river. “That’s where comprehensive competitiveness begins.”
“And then that has its costs, costs marketing and production, it has its freight, its costs. It sometimes has its industrial process, all the associated industrial accounting. It then has the possibility of exporting, a market “It has to be open from a health point of view and it has to be competitive in order to be able to pay a tariff and be able to enter that market. That is integral competitiveness,” stressed the former Secretary of the Presidency.
Rates and taxes
He also referred to another of the aspects contained in the document, such as the public rates. “Tariffs based on costs and not on cash flow. I think that this has been the hallmark of this government and that we will continue to apply them. We will reaffirm the commitment of no more taxes in Uruguay and we are going to make the commitment to eliminate the consular fee, which is the fee that most of you have to pay when you import supplies to be able to create merchandise for export,” he said.
Along these lines, he indicated: “We are going to secure the means of exploitation, we are going to look for the construction instruments that can be used, but we are also going to talk about structure. The structure has to do with interest rates, with the public enterprises and other things, but it is the structure that has to do with the deficit and the reduction of the cost of the State.”
Guido Manini Rios, UEU.jfif
Manini Ríos and the “monument to apathy”
In turn, the candidate of Open Town Hall, Guido Manini Rios, He began his speech with a diagnosis where he did not hide some nuances with the economic management of the government. “Whoever comes to the government in 2025 will find a large fiscal deficit strongly influenced by the weight of the public debt and a low growth rate of the economic activity”, began.
Manini Ríos pointed out that “then, the competitiveness of the national business seriously affected by the exchange rate delay that exists today” and listed: “An oversized and largely inefficient public administration. At least a third of households cornered by consumer loans at absurd rates. A tax pressure which affects even modest households. Claims and wage concessions that have little relation to the productivity”.
“Crisis in the field of public security and drug addictions with very high rates of homicides and other crimes that are unacceptable even if they are better than in previous periods. And finally, poor results at the level of education, measurable by the PISA tests, by the Student desertion”, exemplified.
The CA representative clarified that “all these problems have antecedents in previous administrations that have wasted historic opportunities through million-dollar projects that failed and were a real disaster.” waste from public funds.”
He gave the example of the failed regasification plant project. Sayago Gas, which he defined as a “monument to apathy” in the Río de la Plata. “Those piles that stick out of the water that I propose should not be touched, that they should always be left, as a monument to what should not be done in the country,” the Cabildo Abierto candidate said ironically and then referred to some of his proposals in specific areas where he seeks to prioritize the national work.
“Recover the competitiveness of Uruguayan production through the confluence of fiscal balance, the reduction of public spending, monetary policy and financial regulation. To this end, a thorough analysis of the functioning of the exchange market and the origin of the capital entering the country is required. Reviewing the fiscal and customs regimes for imports, consular fees and other tariff barriers, regulations and other special regimes that combine equal conditions of entry and between existing participants to promote free competition,” mentioned Manini Ríos among other examples.
Pablo Mieres, UEU.jfif
Mieres and the “fragmentation bomb” of the PIT-CNT plebiscite
The candidate of the Independent Party, Pablo Mieresemphasized at the beginning of his speech the rejection shared by all the parties of the Republican Coalition to the social security reform.
“What has been promoted and is now on the table and will be debated on October 27, would be an element that would blow everything up. Not only the issue of retirements and its deficit, but we would lose the image of legal certainty, we would lose credibility, the investment grade, the certainty of the contracts and we would also be defrauding a million and a half Uruguayans with respect to their savings, which are own savings “By name and surname, people who have their accounts to which they contribute every month with their work to ensure a retirement supplement in the future. All of that is at stake,” Mieres said.
And he added: “They say that this is even more important than who is going to win the election. And I would tell them ‘yes, indeed. I am convinced that this crazy plebiscite is a fragmentation bomb that is placed on Uruguay and in some way is reminiscent of what was done in the neighboring country a decade and a half ago,” he warned when comparing it with what happened in Argentina.
For Ojeda, “the times to come require courage”
Finally, the candidate of the Colorado Party, Andres Ojeda, He made an eminently political speech in which he vindicated the role of the coalition and its current candidates as a team. “We go everywhere together, we just need to rent a minivan,” said the lawyer, which drew some laughter from the audience, which served to prompt an emboldened Ojeda to strongly criticize the decision of the Frente Amplio candidate. Yamandú Orsi not to attend joint activities with other candidates, considering themselves to be in the minority.
“Here we have a small team that plays together and that has no cracks on the most important issues. That is to say, the team that has been around for five years and plays smaller than the other team, which already has a seed full of problems on any issue,” criticized the Colorado candidate, who defined himself as a “coalitionist.”
In a firm tone, he said: “Ask any of the four what they think about the plebiscite of social security. Ask any of the four what they think about the economic direction of these last five years and what is to come. I believe that the times ahead require courage, not hiding.”
“I believe that the only success of the Front candidate in not coming is to be able to avoid the Olympic gymnastics when talking about Venezuela. He did Olympic gymnastics on Twitter, you will have seen everything,” Ojeda continued ironically, and then defined the electoral result in the Caribbean country as “the biggest fraud on the planet.” Reserving a few final minutes for proposals,
Ojeda mentioned among others the idea of signing a free trade agreement with Ecuador either Panama. “Panama likes to eat good rice, rice of the Americans he doesn’t like, he likes ours. I know that suddenly a TLC “With Panama, for a newspaper headline it is not the same as a free trade agreement with Europe, but in the rice growing sector it is life,” he stressed.
And he concluded: “Uruguay XXI It is very important. We have to reclaim this role. Expand digital consulates, similar to what happened in San Francisco. “Innovate the way we do business with the world.”
Source: Ambito
