Argentina, lagging foreign investment

This growth has also been reflected in the region, but Argentina has lost weight and, in the last report, it accounted for 3.4% of the regional total, well below 17.2% in 2001. Thus, the country lagged behind countries such as Brazil (34.8%), Mexico (24.8%) and Chile (12.6%), but also Colombia (8.1%) and Peru (4%). 4%). Thus, Argentina currently maintains the weakest relationship between the stock of foreign investment and the GDP of the region.

It should be noted that, worldwide, annual FDI flows received increased sevenfold between 1990 and 2017. And, more relevantly, by badyzing accumulated stocks, the stock of FDI received in the different Plan's country has grown from $ 2 trillion in 1990 to $ 31 trillion in 2017. In this context, the stock in Latin America has followed the trend and increased from $ 460,857 million in 2001 to $ 680,548 million. in 2005, then to $ 1.9 billion. billion in 2012. In ECLAC's latest annual register (2017), this figure had risen to $ 2.2 trillion.

Around the world, the major economies are the main recipients of FDI each year (with the United States and China at the top of the list) and in our region, Brazil is the most active country, ranking among the first in the world. Although, according to the report of the international consulting firm AT Kearney, in recent years, Asia, Europe and North America are the most remarkable continents in terms of received FDI. It may be mentioned in this regard that there are already 3,322 investment protection treaties in the world in order to maintain the incentive policies, which shows that countries are making efforts to promote the arrival of FDI, support their support and create conditions for productive internationalization.

Beyond the annual flow, what matters is the accumulated stock of FDI, which marks the degree of internationalization (technological change, competitiveness, innovation) productive. And in this regard, it should be noted that of the world's accumulated stockpiles, the vast majority are sunk in developed countries. Currently, 30% of the total absolute investment in the different countries of the world are foreign, although this percentage is higher in Europe and slightly lower in Latin America.

While the stock of foreign investment in the region from 2001 to 2017 has almost quintupled (a growth of 383%) during this period, it has remained stable in Argentina and without net increase. All of the above shows that the country is having difficulty accessing what is called Globalization 4.0, which positions online businesses across borders to activate productive, commercial, strategic and growth processes. Maintaining the reception of foreign investments as the essential axis of foreign policy is therefore very important for this administration, the next and many future ones. Because it is not difficult to verify that the weak productive link in Argentina has not produced exactly better results than the dynamic relations established by many neighbors in the region as one of the means to advance their progress. and their prosperity.

(*) Director of the consulting firm DNI