Daniel Funes from Rioja responded to Javier Milei: “We are victims, not victimizers”

The owner of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA), Daniel Funes de Riojacrossed the president this Tuesday Javier Milei and stated that the sector “is a victim and not a victimizer”: “We are not afraid that the economy will open up, but first they must level the playing field.”

The president was the main speaker at the UIA meeting Industry Daywhere he was accompanied by the head of Cabinet, Guillermo Francos and the General Secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei, among others.

In response, the libertarian leader toughened his speech and referred to the suffering of the sector as a result of Milei’s policies: “If I tell you that the tax pressure on the industry is almost between 40 and 50%, if the logistics costs are more than 40% than neighboring countries. If I tell you that we also have a tax capacity that implies rates of any nature. If you see that the industry is not having a level playing field“You will see that we are not the perpetrators, we are victims.”

“If there have been deals and overprotection in some cases, they are not what we want for the industry,” warned Funes de Rioja after the statements of the libertarian leader.

Industry: warning of a fall in private employment in Argentina

Funes de Rioja also pointed out that the sector “lost in the last ten years 50,000 companies and private employment fell in Argentina”.

“What we intend and what we said clearly is that We are not afraid of opening up the economy, but first we must level the playing field.“because with the distortions we have, that kills any sector,” the businessman insisted.

“We do not defend distortions, we defend corrections and leveling the playing field for production and export,” he said. He added: “If politicians have used this as a factor of tension and distortion, what needs to be done, and I am glad that they want to do it, is to correct the distortion“.

The UIA’s claims

Part of the president’s message was aimed at discrediting the “pro-industrial” economic narrative to which sectors of the business entity subscribe, especially those representing SMEs. Precisely, before the president’s speech, the president of the UIA, Daniel Funes de Rioja, had pointed out that ““The nations considered developed in the world have industry.”

The chief executive of the manufacturing plant said that although businessmen are not opposed to economic openness and competition, he clarified that they intend to do so “on equal terms.” He also pointed out that there are extra costs in Argentina in terms of taxes, logistics, financing and infrastructure.