It can be said that the political relations between Argentina and Japan are going through a good moment.
In this case, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Hayashi Yoshimasa was in Buenos Aires at the beginning of the year and met with President Alberto Fernández, with the Minister of Economy Sergio Massa, and with Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero.
In addition, Ambassador Yamauchi Hiroshi had prepared rigorous meetings for him with representatives of Japanese companies and members of the Nikkei community in Argentina.
But behind the good diplomatic practices of rigor, hides the
bad investment climate
suffered by foreign companies based in the country, including those from Japan.
Afflicted by exchange controls, by the impediment to take their profits out of the country, and by the permanent change of rules, Japanese companies are in a permanent flight.
Between 2019 and the present, almost 30 left. There were 102 and today there are 70 left
, according to sources from the Japanese embassy in Argentina.
They left, among others, the
Mitsubishi Bank,
known as Mitsubishi
UFJ Financial Group
;
the Itochu Corporation,
which is the second largest trading company in Japan, behind the Mitsubishi Corporation;
Sojitz Argentina,
which operated in the petrochemical sector;
in the miner among others.
Panasonic left
and the manufacturers of the emblematic Asics sneakers left.
"Argentina shows, thus, the worst ratios of foreign direct investment received in relation to its GDP in the region," said consultant Marcelo Elizondo, director of DNI.
He gave an example that if the evolution is compared with its neighbors, the result is remarkable: when the 21st century began (2000), Argentina had a stock of FDI in its territory that was greater than that of Chile, Colombia and Peru (only Brazil and Peru surpassed it). Mexico in Latin America).
Everyone comfortably tops her today.
And perhaps the best explanation of what is happening, he indicated, arises from observing that when the 21st century began (in the year 2000)
Argentina had 19.9% of the total FDI in Latin America, but in 2020 it only had 4, 6% of the regional total.
"The trend, then, is more worrying than the result of a specific year," Elizondo said.
And he said that a country that reduces the relevance of international companies in its economy "suffers from technological decoupling, generates less quality employment, exports less, reduces its total investment and lowers general levels of productivity.
