Gustavo Bazzan
09/19/2020 - 16:27
Clarín.com
Economy
The decision of the Chilean
Falabella
to undertake the withdrawal from Argentina installed in the public conversation the true
“business climate”
that prevails in the country.
And she also made it clear the view that foreign companies have on the economic course chosen by the government led by Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
The case of Falabella is shocking, also, because Argentina today is the second country in which Chilean companies invest the most outside of their country.
According to a report prepared by the General Directorate of International Economic Relations (Direcon) of that country, the disbursement of Chilean capital in Argentina totaled
US $ 18,437 million between 1990 and 2016,
the second highest amount worldwide after Brazil.
In a country where direct foreign investment (dollars that "sink" for production, not just for financial operations) is on the way to extinction, it matters what Chilean companies that are based in the country do, and it also imports
how Chilean businessmen see Argentina today.
That is why
Clarín
spoke with businessman
Juan Sutil
, president of the powerful
Confederation of Production and Commerce
- CPC -, an entity that concentrates
all the economic sectors
of that country, such as commerce, agriculture, fishing, mining. , industry, construction and banking.
- Did Falabella's decision to announce his withdrawal from the country surprise you?
- I do not want to talk about that case.
But I can say that the general vision of Chilean businessmen about Argentina is not positive.
What I see with concern is that in Argentina
there is no fertile ground to make investments
- Why?
- Because in your country you have a significant amount of informality.
And a difficult tax situation to bear.
Furthermore, there is a daunting complexity to the administrative structure.
There is a high degree of conflict.
- Does that have to do with the imprint that the former president gives the Government, who did not have a good relationship with Chilean companies while she was Government?
- Undoubtedly there is some of that.
This government is taking measures
similar to those that occurred in the past
, especially in the second government of Mrs. Fernández de Kirchner.
We see that Chilean companies leave because there is a
clear anti-market, anti-company bias
.
So, it is worrying that the Alberto Fernández administration continues in that line.
- In this scenario, there are no plans to invest in this country by Chileans?
- It is that when you are looking at all the variables, when you look at the general conditions, nowadays
there is no pro-business, pro-investment policy in Argentina.
That simply does not exist today.
- These are complaints that are usually summarized in a lack of legal certainty. Do you agree with that?
- I believe that in your country there is a kind of significant deterioration of legal security.
There are many official decisions and resolutions that threaten legal security.
- Is it the main reason for the companies to leave, in your opinion?
- It is a country where there is a feeling of great
desolation and lack of investment
.
There is a permanent process of disinvestment, of foreigners but
also of Argentine businessmen
.
We see it every day, even Argentines draw more and more resources, but not only businessmen, but also professionals, the middle class.
People prefer to invest abroad.
Today a baker, to say the least, does not think about expanding production, but about taking his money abroad.
That is unsustainable
.
- Returning to what you said before, do you perceive an anti-business bias in this Government?
- The conditions to generate trust are not in place.
The opinions of its authorities are often unfortunate and not very credible in terms of investment respect.
It is a process that has been going on for many years
.
There was a brief hiatus during the government of former President
Mauricio Macri.
But now companies have been attacked again.
In previous years, Chilean companies have not suffered attacks from the Government, but from a group related to the Government, such as
La Cámpora
.
That doesn't happen anywhere in the world.
And it is inconceivable in the case of Argentina, a very rich country, which has a lot of human talent, which often ends up migrating.
In your opinion, what is failing in Argentina?
- It's no secret what I'm going to tell you.
The companies leave because their country needs stability, legal certainty and to
get out of the prototype of populism and underdevelopment.
- Let's talk promptly about the Falabella case. How did the news impact the Chilean business community?
- The specific news is that the Chilean business community
very much regrets
that a Chilean company of such renown makes the decision to withdraw from that market for reasons probably like the ones I mentioned.
Lack of legal certainty and poor competitive conditions.
There is exchange control, complications to import, lack of financing, which today is managed by the State ... All the conditions to generate a kind of imperfection to the free market.
It is something that, looking from the outside, becomes unintelligible.
- There was talk of very high operating costs and difficulties in turning profits.
- In Argentina what affects the most is that a lot of competitiveness is lost.
It is very expensive to operate.
The companies cannot resist.
It's a problem.
- Do you think there are more cases like Falabella?
- I don't know if there will be more cases in the immediate future.
But I think that the common sense of every company and entrepreneur is that when there are no enabling conditions, the question is simple:
what is the point of being in a country
where the management of the entrepreneur is not valued.
In any case, I would like to emphasize that the entrepreneur never loses confidence and optimism.
But rationality says that what Argentina needs is something more profound than a simple political change
.