Changes in the south technological center are expected with the new President. How is the initiative that has the endorsement of the governor and unions
05.11.2019 • 18:43hs • Reconversion
Reconversion
Tierra del Fuego 2020: this is the plan of Alberto F. and Cristina so that the island manufactures from drones to software
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The Fuegian industry is going through the worst moment since the southern electronic pole was relaunched during the management of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner who, at the end of 2009, advanced with a series of tax and fiscal benefits to boost the manufacture of cell phones, televisions and equipment of air conditioning.
Now, with alarmingly low production volumes, the crisis is taking its toll on companies and employment. In total, since the Macri era the blinds were down by about 10 floors and the occupation is at very low levels. According to the Metallurgical Workers' Union, the Fuegian industry now employs 6,100 employees, both permanent and temporary. That is, 8,000 workers less than those in 2015.
However, the triumph of the Front of All in Sunday's elections was received as very good news by the elected governor of the island, Gustavo Melella, who beat Rosana Bertone in the elections last June. And also by trade organizations.
It happens that, the Melella team, together with the trade union entities, have been working side by side with trusted technicians from Alberto Fernández to delineate a plan that gives impetus to the island in industrial terms.
The first meetings date from the beginning of the year, when Melella was mayor of the city of Rio Grande. But it was from his triumph in the elections to governor, in June, that the meetings intensified.
The objective they pursue is extremely ambitious: they want to increase the activity in volume and, in addition, to convert Tierra del Fuego into a platform based on new technologies, including from drones to equipment for the manufacture of turbines for wind power generation and components for photovoltaic panels.
"We had a very good approach with Melella and we have been working on a technical table led by Mercedes Marcó del Pont. We are shaping a project that will give new impetus to the productive matrix of the island," a member who participated in iProUP assures the meetings led by the former head of the Central Bank.
"The goal we are looking for is that the Tierra del Fuego industry is not only dedicated to manufacturing consumer electronics, but a wide variety of items, including high-tech equipment," says the source. He adds that "the plan also includes a very important leg to generate national added value through the creation of a network of input suppliers located in other provinces."
A regime for the next 50 years?
The future of Tierra del Fuego had been a great mystery. It is that the regime, as it is known today, expires in just three years. The new provincial authorities have been trying to guarantee the extension of tax and fiscal benefits so that the electronic pole does not collapse.
The key point is that in Cambiemos they had never played openly because of their continuity. The only one who had expressed himself was Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio, who barely made a slight mention about the possibility of extending it until 2035, but no more than that. The lack of definitions on the part of the macrismo was due to the fact that the special regime collides with the opening nature contemplated in the Mercosur-European Union agreement.
But with the triumph of Alberto Fernández, the situation aims to be different for the island. In fact, in August and in his capacity as governor-elect, Melella participated in the signing of acts of commitment that Alberto Fernández organized in Rosario, when he was a candidate, and in which the main guidelines of work for each province were recorded.
What was Fernández's commitment to Tierra del Fuego in that six-point document? iProUP agreed to the document, which in the first paragraph refers to "boosting the capacity of the industrial production matrix" of the island. Then, it specifically proposes to extend the validity of the regime until the year ... 2073.
For Melella, ensuring that this is embodied in a law is key, given that its objective is to recover employment that has collapsed more than 50% in the last four years, according to the elected governor himself.
In parallel, the official also met with economist Matías Kulfas, a reference for the elected President's team. During the meeting there was fair talk about promoting new industries in the electronic pole, for now basically focused on cell phones, TV and air conditioning equipment.
From drones to software
The sources that have been participating in the various meetings led by Marcó del Pont assured iProUP: "We are working to open the electronic pole to more items and expand the production matrix, incorporating not only new items but also new companies."
"The focus will be on the latest technologies in which there is potential for growth within Argentina," adds a director. As an example, it refers to articles of high added value, such as electronics applied to agribusiness, like all the technological devices that today equip the latest generation tractors.
There is also talk of adding projects related to robotics and software, as well as the production of drones and key components for infrastructure associated with clean energy. On the island they are excited about a kind of relaunch of the regime and a solution to the problem of high idle capacity (40% to 50%) depending on the company.
It happens that to the fall in the demand for TV, cell phones and airs, it is added that in recent years they stopped manufacturing various product categories. A key fact: in its time of splendor, 20 different items were manufactured. However, partly because of the technological change and partly because Change, we advanced with a plan to replace domestic industry with imports, the number was reduced to less than half.
Thus, small appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, razors or epilators, have stopped coming from the plants of the southern pole. Nor are computer devices, such as notebooks, tablets or monitors. To this list are added cameras and audio equipment, which were also discontinued.
In this context, for the new authorities of the island the concept of diversification emerges as the great salvation table for the industrial regime.
And what about the private sector? "We were with the governor-elect on several occasions and he confirmed the commitment to the Fuegian industry installed," a senior manager of one of the firms already installed and who has the license of several important brands assures iProUP. "That does not mean that the future government will explore other economic activities to diversify the productive matrix of the province," he adds.
Local suppliers and export platform
One of the keys will be to develop a network of local suppliers. "The idea is that you do not end up assembling technology with fully imported parts and pieces. Yes it is true that a part of the inputs will come from abroad, since you cannot produce everything in the country. But we look for the components in which yes There are possibilities for national development to be supplied by companies in Argentina, "he says.
During Cristina Kirchner's presidency, when Débora Giorgi was Minister of Industry, an attempt had been made to advance with a network of local suppliers to supply the Tierra del Fuego plants. The initiative, at the time, was thought on a large scale, but in practice the experience eventually ended up being reduced to some inputs, such as cables, motherboards and plastic components for remote controls.
"Now we are in the phase of identifying the parts and pieces that can be manufactured in other provinces. We do not want to make some mistakes of the past," says the source. The other major objective pursued by Alberto Fernández's work team is to turn the southern pole into an export platform, an idea that Giorgi had also pursued at the time, who came to negotiate the placement of "Made in Tierra del Fuego" cell phones in markets like Venezuela, although the idea didn't take off either.
Now, the plan is much more ambitious. "If progress is made with a comprehensive plan, which includes a corresponding tax and tax regime, and the network of suppliers is consolidated, we will be able to provide state-of-the-art technology," says the spokesperson consulted.
But before moving forward with this ambitious agenda, on the island they want to go step by step. And the first objective is to achieve the extension of the industrial regime for the next 50 years.
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