The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Buenos Aires / AFP
Argentina opened a major investment conference, seeking to persuade executives from the world’s top multinational corporations to bet on Latin America’s third-largest
economy and its new center-right government.
With Argentina stuck in recession, President Mauricio Macri is keen to show foreign investors that things have changed since he took office.
The former businessman took over in December from Cristina Kirchner, a leftist known for protectionist economic policies and a nasty, long-running dispute with creditors.
“We are welcoming the world,†Macri told a crowd of more than 1,000 executives from 67 countries as he opened the three-day forum.
Argentine media have dubbed the event a “mini Davos,†for the annual gathering of corporate big shots and world leaders in Switzerland.
The guests of honor in Buenos Aires include the chief executives of Coca Cola, BP, Siemens and Dow Chemical. Key sectors in the spotlight include oil and gas, renewable energy, mining, industry, agriculture, transport and telecommunications.
The first big deal came on opening day: Canadian miner Pan American Silver’s CEO announced a $1 billion investment in a project in the southern province of Chubut, home to the world’s largest silver deposit, Macri’s office said in a statement.
Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris meanwhile told Macri he planned to continue investing in petrochemical and wind projects in the south.
Like much of Latin America, Argentina is shaking off a painful hangover after a global commodities boom that fueled strong growth in the 2000s. Macri arrived on the scene with a flurry of reforms, overhauling 12 years of leftist policy under Kirchner and her late husband Nestor.
He triggered a devaluation of the peso, announced an end to subsidies for electricity, gas and water, and slashed high export taxes for the key agricultural sector.