Argentina, poorly positioned in the ranking of competitiveness vis-à-vis the EU and the United States

CÓRDOBA.- When
Questions remain unanswered on the agreement signed between Mercosur and the European Union,
President Mauricio Macri announced that they are negotiating with Brazil a free trade agreement with the United States. These advances reactivate the need for an agenda to improve the competitiveness of the Argentine economy; a first diagnosis is proposed by the competitiveness index of the World Economic Forum in Davos (WEF), in which, in 2018, the country ranked 81st out of 140, well below

United States

and European competitors.

A book by economists Marcelo Capello and Vanessa Toselli of Ieral (research institute of the Foundation for the Mediterranean), reviews the challenges of

Argentina

based on this ranking data. From the rest of the Mercosur partners,

Brazil

he is 72nd,

Uruguay

, the 53rd and

Paraguay

-the worst located-, the 95 °. The United States leads with 85.6 points (Argentina has 57.5 points).

From the European Union, for example,

Germany

he is in third place (82.8 points); the Netherlands is in the sixth (82.4);

Spain

it is 26 ° (74.2) and Hungary at 48 ° (64.3 points).

By chapters, Argentina's worst position is "macroeconomic stability", where it ranks 136th (the United States is in 34th and Sweden is in first place). It is also very badly situated on the "product market", where it is in 120th place (the United States is in third position, the Netherlands, the sixth and Germany in seventh position) and on the "labor market", where he occupies the 116th position of a ranking led by the United States; the Netherlands is tenth and Germany ranks 12th.

Argentina is also lagging behind in the areas of "financial system" (97 °) and "commercial dynamism" (84 °). In both cases, the US economy is first and German, respectively 21st and 2nd. In the "institutions", Argentina ranks 77th (the United States in the 13th and Germany in the 16th) and the "infrastructures" in the 68th; in this section, the United States ranks ninth and Germany, the seventh.

The best positions for Argentina are recorded in the "health" (53 °), "human resources" (51 °) and "market size" (34 °) domains. However, the country is better than Brazil in terms of "trade dynamism", "institutions", "technology", "infrastructure", "health" and "human resources". But, for example, it is worse than Hungary in all chapters, with the exception of "health" and "market size".

In the various indicators (which make up the general chapters), the worst positions in Argentina are: imports (138 °), inflation (137 °), hiring practices and redundancies (137 °), flexibility in determining salaries (137 °), domestic credit to the private sector (135 °), distortionary effects of taxes and subsidies (130 °), financing to SMEs (129 °), regulatory burden (126 °), customs duties on trade (126 °) and taxes on labor (123 °). The list still covers the same 140 economies worldwide.

Another ranking that helps to define the outstanding rights of Argentina is that of:
To do business from the World Bank. In this report, the 190 most disadvantaged countries of Argentina are: building permits (174 °), payment of taxes (169 °), creation of a business (128 °), foreign trade (125 °) ), ease of transactions (119 °) and the registration of the property (119 °).

In all these indicators, the country is also below the most advanced countries in Europe and the United States, but also those belonging to the former Eastern Europe.

"It is clear that a general competitiveness plan must be defined as a state policy setting objectives for improvement over time, with responsibilities in the various spheres of government, at the three levels of government. the State and with the participation and control of representatives of the private sector, "Marcelo Capello describes.

For the economist, next year opens a "new opportunity" to create an economic model "with a balanced growth between domestic and foreign market, which does not stem from an anti-export bias and allows for a sustained expansion" economy.

In this line, he stresses that structural reforms are needed in the areas of taxation (taxes and expenditures) and labor and "to ensure a competitive economy, both in terms of foreign exchange and structural". Mercosur's agreement with the European Union and possible progress with the United States will require "prioritizing this strategy" to make better use of local production of goods and services.