MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina says Uruguay should be grateful for all the investments and jobs created

Thank God and thank Argentina for the low unemployment in Uruguay, says Davena

Relations with the Uruguayan government couldn’t be better, with no obstacles ahead, and much of the success of the Uruguayan economy is influenced by Argentina, said ambassador in Montevideo Dante Dovena.

“Investments in construction is formidable and have grown to historic levels; investment in farmland and real estate in Uruguay, investment in tourism, with record number of tourists and spending, this all comes with a great boost from the Argentines”, said the Argentine ambassador during a meeting with the Montevideo press.

He added that they are all positive signals, real investment, not promises, “this is very good and must be shown as something absolutely positive” in the bilateral relation which has no obstacles ahead.

Dovena added that the recently released unemployment index of Uruguay, 5.3% also has a great influence from Argentina: “on the one side the investors who generate jobs in Uruguay but also the many Uruguayans living and working in Argentina and thus not unemployed in Uruguay”.

The Argentine ambassador added that “we have 400.000 Uruguayans documented in Argentina. Several thousands that come and go, I guess we can talk of a million, and the jobless rate in Uruguay is extremely low, thank God and thank Argentina. If the whole million Uruguayans where here (in Uruguay), things would be quite different”.

Something similar happens with Bolivia: “their unemployment situation is contained because many of them are working in Argentina”, insisted Dovena.

When asked about recent criticisms to Argentina, particularly from Vice president Danilo Astori who openly and in private has questioned the Cristina Fernandez administration attitude in several fields, in spite of the “good political relation”, Dovena was caustic and said they are ‘ill informed’.

“They ignore that other sectors of government are working. If you take into account the 2010 agenda when the summit in Anchorena (Colonia, Uruguay) you will see how much has been advanced and not only in affection and political coincidences. There are concrete issues such as the dredging of the River Plate, of the Martin Garcia canal and of the River Uruguay”, pointed out the Argentine diplomat.

Dovena said that the changes in Argentine trade policy are not geared to affect or impact Uruguay or the region rather on the contrary there will be exceptions for those countries.

However Dovena cautioned that the liberation of non automatic licences for imports from Uruguay has been generous, but “we won’t let through any product manufactured in the Far East which is re-labelled as if Uruguayan and we know how to detect them”.

In those countries there is dumping, there is slave work and they turn political prisoners into cheap labour, “Argentina will never accept this”.