Aduana News: How do you see integration with Brazil in light of the opening with the FTAA?
Answer: The hemispheric negotiation for the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) can be another instrument in the deepening of our relationship with Brazil, and it is with this objective that we are participating in the process. The four countries of the bloc will negotiate, together, our integration into the FTAA, as was resolved at the presidential summit in Miami. This agreement will be compatible with the WTO. On the other hand, the impact assessments that have been carried out show that the hemispheric negotiation yields positive results for Argentina, allowing not only an increase in the Gross Domestic Product, the level of activity, exports and imports, but also a diversification of export destinations and of the Argentine exportable supply, in greater proportion than the reduction of our exports to Brazil, a consequence of a regional opening.
Aduana News: Are the MERCOSUR and FTAA agreements compatible?
Answer: The coexistence of both agreements has been planned since 1997, as long as the rights and obligations provided for in the subregional agreements – MERCOSUR, in our case – are deeper than those achieved in the hemispheric sphere. The inclusion of this possibility has been the product of an arduous discussion, mindful of our intention to maintain subregional integration as a priority and starting point for relations with third countries and blocs. Consequently, the agreements are compatible, as long as the countries of MERCOSUR – which has a greater objective than the FTAA project, which aims at the creation of a free trade zone – continue working on the consolidation and deepening of the bloc.
Aduana News: How do you view the trade balance for 2002?
Answer: A preliminary assessment allows us to be optimistic and to affirm that the Argentine trade balance for the year 2002 will show a larger surplus – approximately 8.000 billion dollars – than the one estimated for this year 2001 – calculated at 6.000 billion dollars. These results arise not only from the commercial performance of our country, in which an improvement in Argentine exports of around 5% is expected for next year, but also from a slight fall in imports, following the trend that has already been registered in the last half of this year. The increase in Argentine exports would be favored, among other variables, by the behavior of the international market, in which a growth in the volume of the participation of developing countries in world trade of close to 6% is expected.
Aduana News: From your last trips with the President, what reception do you think the economic measures adopted by Argentina had in Europe and the United States?
Answer: The press has been very forthcoming on this subject, but the interpretations do not seem to have been entirely accurate. I understand this because the trips took place at a very critical time for the world and our country. At a time when the highest political authorities are focused on issues that go beyond the economy. Issues that have to do with world security, with war, with the future of humanity. And in this context, these countries had a space for Argentina. I think this fact speaks for itself. This support has been made clear, among others, by the Group of Seven (G7) – made up of the most important countries in Europe – Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain -, the United States, Canada and Japan -, by the President and the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, George Bush and Paul O'Neill, by the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder and by economic institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Aduana News: What message of encouragement can you give to the sector linked to Foreign Trade?
Answer: There are two important and positive facts that we can distinguish: First, an increase in the export of cereals and oilseeds, due to the constant technical development of the sector and an increase in the consumption of agricultural implements such as plows, seeders, harvesters, and other inputs, which, because they are produced in the country, multiply domestic activity. Second, is the participation of SMEs. Although it is difficult to generalize, since they can operate in a transformation of the good that adds a lot of value or simply in a service, they are, as a whole, those that generate the greatest number of jobs in Argentina. In this sense, if each year a greater number of SMEs join the export activity, it will generate an increasingly dynamic effect on the economy, at the same time that, through the diversification of exports, it will be possible to reduce the influence of the sharp fluctuations in the prices of raw materials. On the other hand, Argentina must insist on the current process of reorienting its productive structure towards the exterior, to become a country with a high rate of exports per capita. Only in this way will a high degree of economic development be achieved. There is no economically strong country in the world that does not have a significant external trade relations scheme. The main message for the sectors linked to foreign trade is that we are more committed than ever to the promotion of our exports abroad, an element that we consider essential for the growth and development of our economy. With this objective, we are working hard on the negotiation of bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements that improve the conditions of access of Argentine products in external markets – currently made difficult by the existence of tariff and, mainly, non-tariff barriers – and establish common and/or harmonized norms and disciplines that provide security and certainty to trade relations. As regards trade promotion, and without ignoring the particular situation facing our country, we aim to permanently increase our participation in fairs and exhibitions and to develop trade missions that allow us to maintain our place in traditional markets and increase our presence in new markets, in order to position an "Argentine brand" that identifies us and makes us even more recognized abroad.
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