MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina’s industry praises CFK calls for ‘national unity’ to achieve development

De Mendiguren: in twelve years Argentina can triple its GDP

Argentina’s powerful industries union, UIA, called on Friday for dialogue and ‘national unit’ in order ‘to bring together a project of development’, and forecasted that if this is achieved the country could triple its GDP in the next twelve years.

“The country is in need of national unity to bring together a project of development. There should be a constant dialogue between all sectors” stated UIA head Jose Ignacio de Mendiguren, furthering that, “we need this, because of the problems Argentina has suffered, and suffered over so many years.”

The UIA head defined the conflicts as: “the confrontations between the farmlands and industry, between the interior provinces and the Capital, and between the labour and capital produced” adding that “we need to put an end to these dichotomies and in our case, work together: businessmen and workers”.

But to achieve this, “we need to establish new ties with trade unionists”, pointed out de Mendiguren.

On Thursday evening during a dinner to celebrate Argentina’s “Industry Day” which on this occasion counted with the participation of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the head of UIA praised the government’s “productive plan” and highlighted that the Argentine industry “had doubled its capacity, tripled its exports and created over 500,000 new jobs”.

“The basis for development can be explained in these simple words: adding value to national production,” Mendiguren said, stating that “development is a long term plan, it’s neither spontaneous nor free and there will always be resistance because it affects domestic and foreign interests”.

The celebration took place at the Tecnopolis science and technology theme park recently inaugurated by President Cristina Fernandez and geared to promote Argentine research and technology with the purpose of diminishing “foreign dependence”.

Standing next to the President, De Mendiguren said that “the world we get to live in is an opportunity but also a threat”, and emphasized industry’s role in the current government’s plans for the country.

“If things consolidate, Argentina will triple its GDP in the next three presidential terms,” he said emphatically.

When it was the president’s turn to a roomful of businessmen, union leaders, bankers, government officials and Governors, Cristina Fernández in a conciliatory tone vowed to “maintain the current economic plan and correct distortions”.

“My government will check whatever is needed to be checked to move forward. If there are distortions, we shall do the necessary amends. It is impossible not to make mistakes in the economic activity” said Mrs. Kirchner.

However although acknowledging the business community investments the president stressed that Argentina “needs more investment” because the country needs to expand and upgrade its infrastructure to keep growing.

President Cristina Fernandez began her speech by admitting that it was one of the rare times that she arrived somewhere and didn’t have to answer uncomfortable questions and praised UIA head de Mendiguren’s speech because it was “non-corporative and collectively minded”.