The Spanish lesson for Argentina to overcome the urgency of exports

This Monday I attended Argentina Exports, meeting organized at Casa Rosada Museum with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain and the Spanish Confederation of Professional Organizations, whose incumbents have outlined the progress made Spain will develop and increase its exports of its industrial SMEs.

The key to this growth was, as they explained, the decisive and constant support from the Spanish State the export sector, which was above all the conflict between parties and which was decisive, also enabled the country to overcome the deep crisis that it experienced between 2008 and 2014.

During the meeting, the representatives of the two chambers, José Luis Bonet and Antonio Garamendi Lecanda, examined the growth of Iberian exports: in 2000, the export participation in GDP Spanish was 12%, while this number increased by 34% in 2018. An impressive leap

But not only has the flow of export increased; as well did the number of companies exporters, which went from 50 000 in 2000 to almost Current 150,000.

By seeking possible solutions to the recurrent crises that Argentina is undergoing, Spain is the lighthouse we should be observing and carry on. For now, after defining the export growth as a state policy, is what allows them today grow at 3.5% a year, with a generation of 500,000 jobs a year.

More risks: it is not possible for Argentina to overcome poverty and get out of underdevelopment without an export revolution like that of Spain. It is absolutely essential (and urgent) to work in this direction. In this sense, it should be noted that in Spain, 90% of new jobs are generated by the private sector. And of these 90%, the 80% is generated by SMEs.

At the same time, Argentina has grown from 12,000 exporting companies to 9,800. That is to say that as long as Spain has tripled number of companies selling their products abroad, we lost 18%.

This lack of strategic vision has led to another drama: while the world average of exports in relation to GDP is 28%, in our case, it happens barely 10 percent.

The Spanish example it shows us a virtuous combination from which to learn. They could overcome the deep crisis that began in 2008, by redoubling the exporter's commitment they had done it at the beginning of the millennium.

Of course this bet included update your labor and union lawscreate financial instruments to facilitate sales abroad, perform logistical reforms and create tax incentives encourage SMEs to export. All these measures resulted in a multiplication and diversification industrial exports, which today support the growth of the economy and employment.

If we want to change the direction of our country and overcome the recurrent lack of dollars of our economy, we must focus on placing our industrial products outside our borders. Once again, the world is showing us a effective roadmap to becoming the country we want to be. It is in us to learn this lesson.

(*) Martín Rappallini is President of the Industrial Union of the Province of Buenos Aires; Chairman of the PYMI Committee on Regional Development and Transport of the UIA; and head of Ezeiza's industrial pole