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Event

Argentina: Getting out of the Economic Crisis

Date & Time

Wednesday
May. 29, 2002
12:00am – 12:00am ET

Overview

Summary of a meeting with Martín Redrado, Argentina's Secretary of Trade and Economic Intl. Negotiations;
Felipe de la Balze, Argentine Counsel on International Affairs; Jorge Campbell, Former Secretary of State of Argentin'as Ministry of International Affairs; Sidney Weintraub, CSIS; Hector Marsili, CEO of Cargill Argentina;
Esteban Bullrich, Director of San Miguel, S.A.; Carlos Yancarelli, CEO of Vargas Arizu S.A.; Patricio Furlong, Cabinet Chief for the Coordinating Minister of the province of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

This conference analyzed the perspectives of Argentina to get out of the economic crisis and to evaluate exportation strategies as a particular method to do so.

The first panel, "The Export Strategy: A Roundtable Discussion" described the macroeconomic alternatives for Argentina to reenter the global economy and participate in the global market. The speakers described the situation in Argentina of the past ten years and the changes that are taking place today, analyzed the causes of the economic crisis, and proposed measures to get out of it. The government's ideas to improve the economic situation are the following: a fiscal reform, a state reform, an increase in efficiency of public expenditure, a new relationship between the federal government and the provinces, and a multipolar strategy of negotiation to increase the offer of argentine products in the world market, amongst others. De la Balze, for example, proposed diversifying the offered products to, for example, tourism directed to high income people and culture. Campbell considered that an increase in exportations is a necessary but not sufficient condition to succeed and that the State should also have clear game rules and consider the social and cultural patterns. Weintrub acknowledged that Argentina had coherent plans, but the major challenge was to put them into practice as soon as possible.

The speakers of the second panel, "Production for the Domestic Market and for Export", were mostly businessmen of companies that produce Argentine goods for export. They described the effects of the crisis in their industry (for example, seeds, oils and lemons), the competitive advantages of Argentina in these fields, the changes they made to be able to affront this new situation, and how these changes affected their production and sales. Furlong expressed the view of a local government and how it approaches the crisis, the exportation of its goods and the reforms undertaken by its provincial government.

Written by Tamara Taraciuk

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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more

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