Business in Argentina, Buenos Aires

The objectives of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in Argentina” are the following:

1. To analyse the Argentinian Economy and Foreign Trade (Import, Export, FDI)
2. To know the business opportunities in Argentina
3. To explore the Argentinian trade relations with the country of the student
4. To know the Argentinian Free Trade Agreements
5. To examine the profile of the Argentinian Companies
6. To develop a business plan for the Argentinian Market

Preferential Access and Free Trade Agreements of Argentina

1. Argentina and the Latin American Economic Area
2. MERCOSUR
   1. MERCOSUR Free Trade Agreements (FTA): Andean Community, Mexico, Peru, Chile, India, Egypt, Israel, European Union, Southern African Customs Union (SACU)
3. Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
4. Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)
5. Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA)
6. Argentina-Mexico Economic Complementation Agreement
7. Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP)
8. Andean Community (associate member)
9. Central American Integration System (SICA) (observer country)

Trade Facilitation Programs

1. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
   1. WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
   2. WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
   3. WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
   4. WTO Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI)
   5. WTO Agreement on Safeguards (SG)
   6. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
2. World Customs Organisation (WCO)
   1. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)
3. International Road Transport Union (IRU)
   1. TIR Convention
   2. Guidelines on Safe Load Securing for Road Transport

American Trade and Economic Organisations

1. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
2. Organisation of American States (OAS)
3. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
4. Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC)
5. Summit South American-Arab Countries (ASPA)
6. Africa-South America Summit (ASA)
7. Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
   1. European Union-CELAC Summit

Global Economic Organisations (Argentina)

1. United Nations (UN)
   1. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
   2. International Trade Centre (INTRACEN)
   3. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
2. World Bank (WB)
3. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
4. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
   1. OECD anti-corruption measures
5. African Development Bank (AfDB)
6. Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (observer country)

The Argentine Republic (America).

1. Borders of the Argentine Republic: Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay
2. Argentinian capital: Buenos Aires
3. Argentinian official language: Spanish
4. Argentina has a population of 42 million people
5. Argentina is the eighth largest country in the World
6. Currency of Argentina: Argentinian Peso
7. Abolition of Slavery in Argentina 1853
8. African Diaspora in Argentina: 0.1% of the Argentinian population
9. Independence of Argentina from Spain: 1816, recognised in 1857

Main religion in Argentina: Christianity (Catholicism: 38 million, Maronites: 750,000)

Argentina belongs to the Latin American Economic Area of the Western Civilisation

Buenos Aires is one of the largest cities in Latin America.

1. Including its metropolitan area (Greater Buenos Aires), Buenos Aires has 13 million people, one of the ninth most populated urban conglomerates in the World.
2. Buenos Aires is the thirteenth urban centre with the largest revenue in USD in the World, ahead of Hong Kong, Miami or São Paulo, and its growth forecasts are excellent
3. Buenos Aires is home to big Argentinian companies.

The main economic sectors of Buenos Aires are:

1. Creative industries
2. Software
3. Pharmaceutical industry

Argentinian Economy.

Economic recession

1. Argentina is a Frontier Market
2. The compound annual growth rate was 8%, below China (10.7%) and India (8.4%)
3. 1,000 foreign corporations are in Argentina, including 50% of the Fortune 100 firms
4. The Argentinian Automotive Industry is a key contributor to the manufacturing production and exports
   1. The Automotive sector represented 2.5% of the Argentinian GDP (including the automotive parts manufacturing), 8.5% of the industrial output and 10% of the total exports.
   2. Ten car makers in Argentina: Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Iveco, Mercedes-Benz, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, Renault, Scania, Toyota, and Volkswagen
5. The Argentine Republic counts with an extensive competitive food and beverage industry, with total sales of USD 53 billion (31% of total manufacturing sales production) and exports USD 21 billion (30% of the total manufacturing export production)
6. Software and computer services industry in the Argentine Republic has 40,000 workers in near 1,000 companies
7. Creative industries are principally concentrated in Buenos Aires (7.5% of the district's Gross domestic product and 8% of the total employment).
8. Other big cities in the Argentine Republic, Cordoba, Mendoza or Rosario, are also developing the creative industries sector
9. Significant cumulation of reserves
10. A fixed monetary policy
11. A competitive exchange rate
12. Argentina has significant natural resources
13. Argentina is a member of the MERCOSUR

Argentinian Emerging Sectors:

1. Biofuels
2. Software
3. TV
4. New technologies

Foreign Trade of Argentina.

1. Argentinian exports decreased by 12% (cereals, fuel, energy, industrial manufacturing, slowdown in Brazil) and imports decreased by 11.4%
2. The Services export sector registered a record-high volume of 12 billion dollars (one of the highest levels in Latin America)
3. The largest Argentinian trading partners are Brazil, China, Chile, the United States, and Germany
4. Records of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in twenty-five years

Argentina is a member of the MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), having access to a widespread market with 295 million people and the chance of exporting to and importing from the MERCOSUR economies without having to pay customs duties.Since the creation of the MERCOSUR, foreign trade between Argentina and the other members of the MERCOSUR went up by 500%