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Argentine Business Leaders Seek Path to Sustained Growth by Studying Global Models
🇦🇷 Argentina /Economy & Trade

Argentine Business Leaders Seek Path to Sustained Growth by Studying Global Models

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Argentine business leaders are gathering for the IDEA Coloquio to discuss how the country can achieve sustained economic growth, drawing lessons from seven countries that maintained economic stability for two decades.
  • Key factors identified in successful economies include fiscal discipline, strong institutions, and consistent regulatory frameworks, which Argentina has struggled to maintain.
  • Business leaders emphasize the need for competitiveness and stable rules, warning that constant policy shifts lead to increased poverty.

Argentine business leaders are convening for the 62nd IDEA Coloquio, themed "Inverting History. 20 Years: From Promise to Power," aiming to chart a course for sustained economic growth. The central question is how Argentina can finally achieve what at least seven other countries have managed in recent decades: maintaining a consistent economic direction for 20 consecutive years.

We studied what is needed to have years of stability. We will bring international speakers to tell us how those countries achieved it. They all have different characteristics.

— Fabián KonFabián Kon, president of the 62nd IDEA Coloquio, explained the focus of the business gathering.

A study commissioned by the Instituto para el Desarrollo Empresarial de la Argentina (IDEA) examined the economic trajectories of Israel, Peru, Chile, Poland, Uruguay, Australia, and Ireland. These nations successfully reversed periods of stagnation to achieve sustained growth over two decades. Fabián Kon, president of the Coloquio and CEO of Grupo Galicia, noted that while the paths varied, Chile began under a dictatorship, and Israel received significant international support, common conditions emerged: fiscal discipline, robust institutions, and long-term respect for regulatory frameworks.

The countries that developed an industry maintained the regulatory framework, without abrupt changes with new legislation or tax increases.

— Fabián KonFabián Kon highlighted the importance of stable regulations for sustained economic development.

"Countries that developed an industry maintained the regulatory framework, without abrupt changes with new legislation or tax increases," Kon explained. This stability of rules, regardless of the governing party, is a major concern for Argentine businesses. Kon highlighted the lack of a long-term credit market as a critical issue, preventing mortgage lending and genuine business financing.

We are in a process of transformation, which is not free of tensions.

— Santiago MignoneSantiago Mignone acknowledged the challenges involved in Argentina's economic transition.

Santiago Mignone, president of IDEA and a partner at PwC Argentina, focused on the social and sectoral costs of economic model shifts. He acknowledged the inherent tensions in transforming towards a more open economy, where some sectors benefit while others require significant adaptation. Mignone stressed that competitiveness, both internally within companies and through government action like reducing distortive taxes, is key. He warned that Argentina's "yo-yo" economic policies, swinging from one extreme to another, leave more people in poverty.

The countries we analyzed chose a path and sustained it. We cannot go from one bank to the other, because every time we do that, we leave more people in poverty.

— Santiago MignoneSantiago Mignone criticized Argentina's inconsistent economic policies, linking them to increased poverty.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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