Alberto Fernández's government confirmed the return of the Conectar Igualdad plan, the program for incorporating educational notebooks that was launched during Cristina Kirchner's management and that exceeded 5 million units delivered throughout the cycle, which had started there for 2010.
"We are finishing work on the project, which already joined 20 companies with the idea of producing laptops with national content."
With these words Carlos Scimone, CAMOCA manager - an entity that brings together manufacturers and distributors of electronic items - confirmed to iProUP the progress of Alberto Fernández's government to reactivate this initiative that was terminated by the macro.
"We already had meetings with officials of the Ministry of Productive Development, which Matías Kulfas directs, and we are also in dialogue with the Education portfolio, in charge of Nicolás Trotta," the director added, clarifying that the plan does not only have the endorsement of officials, but includes the proposals raised at the official level.
"The dialogue is on track. The idea is to continue polishing details in the next meetings that we will have in January," Scimone said. The news of the return of Conectar Igualdad was confirmed by Trotta himself, who said they were "working to relaunch a content plan in all schools."
"In a context of inequality, the State will begin distributing books and computers in the places where they are most needed," said the official.
New job, key
According to the director of CAMOCA, one of the special requests made by government officials is that the initiative has a positive and concrete impact on employment, as had happened during the first edition of the program, before Macri's management deactivated it. .
For the administration of Alberto Fernández, that variable is decisive. That is why it was established as an indispensable condition for any type of project to prosper. In that sense, Scimone said, the 20 participating companies have already confirmed that they will create new jobs to meet the increased demand for laptops.
"The commitment that firms are assuming, at the request of the authorities, is to add 1,000 jobs only during the first year in which it is operational," he said, and then add that "the figure could be higher in the future."
In Argentina, the manufacture of notebooks in general came to employ 7,500 people directly and 20,000 indirectly, according to figures provided by CAMOCA. "Of that total, the Connect Equality plan came to represent 60%, so it had a very important impact when generating an industrial ecosystem in the country," he said.
Exo, Newsan, BGH, PC Arts, Nucleo Group, Coradir, Novatech Solutions and Stylus were some of the players that were part of the first edition of the initiative driven by Kirchnerism. In the good years, more than 1.2 million teams were produced and distributed as part of this educational program.
However, the project suffered a setback in 2017, during the management of Macri, when just over 250,000 computers were delivered and with less local content.
This change was framed in the strategy that the macrismo sought to print to the computer business in general, which consisted of boosting imported competition and discouraging national production, with the aim of making consumers access to technology cheaper.
For this, during the management of the then Minister of Production, Francisco Cabrera, the tariffs for the entry of finished equipment were reduced to zero. "After the arrival of the macrismo and a surprising change of policy for this industry, the results were catastrophic, with an abrupt fall in activity and employment," they recalled from CAMOCA.
Indeed: in 2013 there were more than 2.1 million teams. This figure was achieved by adding the notebooks with the "Made in Tierra del Fuego" stamp, those included in the official program and also those that were marketed outside of said initiative.
However, for 2018, only 218,600 portable lines left the production lines, with the detail that none came from the Fuegian electronic pole, where entrepreneurs dropped that category due to the impossibility of competing against the imported.
With the Connect Equality program deactivated and 0% tariffs that encouraged imports, companies had no choice but to shrink staff.
"Exo had 460 employees, and when the laptop line was deactivated, it dropped to just 150. PC Arts had 960 jobs and then reduced its workforce to less than 200," Scimone said.
The volumes of the project
At what volume of equipment do companies aspire to reach, depending on the meetings held with Alberto Fernández officials? According to the CAMOCA manager, "what was being analyzed is to move forward with a smaller number than in the first edition."
In that sense, he revealed to iProUP that he is talking to go towards a scheme less than 500,000 units per year. That is, the scope of the program would be just under half of the first Connect Equality in its peak year.
Specifically, "we aim for a maximum of 300,000 teams in the first stage, with a floor not less than 200,000".
"We do not intend to return to the volumes that were handled during 2013 or 2014, when the million laptops were exceeded. We know that the current economic reality is very different," said the manager.
Some of this had already been advanced by the Deputy Minister of Education, Adriana Puiggrós, who although confirmed that the goal is to boost the initiative again, warned that it is "an era of economic restrictions."
In addition, the official said the official plan will be complemented by the use of cell phones. That is, in the era of Alberto Fernández it will be "multiplatform", unlike what happened five years ago.
As for the characteristics of the equipment, Scimone mentioned that "four years passed and at that time the technology varied a lot."
In that sense, companies seeking to join promised devices "lighter and faster" and at a price up to 25% lower, in dollars, than the latest distributed within the framework of this initiative.
It should be noted that the last model that was delivered during the management of Cristina Kirchner had an Atom N2600 Dual Core processor with 4 GB of RAM and 320 GB hard disk, in addition to a 10.1-inch screen.
Now, are companies in a position to respond to such an important volume, after all production lines have been deactivated?
According to Scimone, "the reaction time of the industry can be immediate, because the 'iron' is available. The equipment is, almost no installed capacity was lost, you just have to put it back into operation."
According to CAMOCA's survey, of the 12 machines destined to manufacture platelets that came to operate in Argentina, only two were sold abroad, more precisely to the United States.
"There are nine between the City of Buenos Aires and some provinces that are off and one in Tierra del Fuego active but used to produce audio systems," the expert plotted.
"The reason why this whole structure was not dismantled is because they are equipment ranging from US $ 2.5 million to US $ 4 million and when sold as used they lose almost half of their original value. That is why many entrepreneurs they preferred to keep machines off and wait for a new opportunity, which is what appears now, "he added.
According to Scimone, in Argentina there are also six teams to manufacture RAM memories, of which only one is in production. In parallel, of the 14 assembly lines that became enabled, today two work.
"The iron is there and the staff in 30 days you can have it ready to work. So putting everything into operation is fast," he said.
Regarding the special conditions that the sector requires to operate, CAMOCA indicated: "We do not need subsidies or benefits to be competitive. All we ask is that the Common External Tariff for the import of notebooks return to 16% and that components that they are not manufactured here they can enter 0% ".
In addition, he considered it important that the program be accompanied by a "supporting law", so that companies "continue to function, beyond the juncture, because we are going to make a significant investment and it is essential to have long-term support."
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