Ministers, governors, executives, and economists gathered last August 26 for the seminar of the Council of the Americas. The event was organized by the Americas Society Council of the Americas and the Argentine Chamber of Commerce, with the support of Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, a member of the business group led by Eduardo Eurnekian.

The local elite and many major icons of the global economy participated in the session of the Council of Buenos Aires, thus turning it into a forum for serious top-level discussions. One of the panel members concluded his address with a phrase that could well describe the spirit that prevailed during the event: “One day, a group of men made the surprising decision of being reasonable,” Jorge Luis Borges.
During the seminar, the lecturers concurred that the international crisis has already reached the deepest bottom and that this new era in the economy is a new era for Argentina.

This time, the theme for the meeting was “Argentina: Economic and political prospects.” A number of ministers, governors, officials, and business executives addressed the audience. In addition, the chair of the Americas Society Council of the Americas, Susan Segal, and the Western Hemisphere Department Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nicolás Eyzaguirre, also addressed the participants.

The president of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce (CAC, from the Spanish: Cámara Argentina de Comercio), Carlos De la Vega, welcomed the audience and said, “We need to find ideas that may help us build. We are more interested in the future than in the past. We need projects rather than leaders. We want to see the political and social leaders help us in our effort to find common views, as this is what most of the Argentine society is demanding.”

On her part, Susan Segal, the host of the event, stated, “The world underwent a severe recession from which it is just beginning to recover. We are strongly confident. Besides, we can see the markets have recovered more swiftly than the actual economy. We cannot still assert how this recovery will be like or how job creation will continue. Yet, I believe the emerging economies should experience more growth than the developed countries.”

For the director of the Central Bank, Martín Redrado, Argentina has not been severely affected by the international crisis. This is due to the definition of the correct policies and a sound financial system. “We have not experienced any financial nightmare and savers could make the right decisions in the light of their personal situation. Then, he concluded: “Both the banks and the dollar are no longer a problem for Argentina or its citizens. We need to develop flexible frameworks based on our reality. Yet, they need to be strong. It has not been merely luck; there was a good underlying economic analysis.”

In his address, the IMF director, Nicolás Eyzaguirre, asserted that the international crisis that started in September last year has been “the most severe one after the Second World War,” where “the free fall came to a halt,” and there are “regions in the world where the elevator is moving upward”.

Eyzaguirre warned that although the big hold-off ceased, there could be new storms, though not as strong as the ones from this last year. He also pointed out that the scenario is not the same all around the globe. Therefore, some countries are improving its performance, while others “are not falling as deep as the European countries or even the United States, and others “are still amid a strong hold-off, as is the case with the countries from Eastern Europe.”

He ensured, “There should be less official presence and a stronger involvement of the private sector.”

He also believes “the Western Hemisphere should move backward, while the Eastern Hemisphere should give a step forward. As consumers, the time for the prevalence of markets such as the Chinese, Brazilian, Indian, and Russian markets has come.”

Moreover, he added that, “Latin America was better positioned to resist the impact in the light of its sound financial system. In the region, the Caribbean and Mexico are still quite affected. Yet, prospects are better for the commodities producing countries such as Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Argentina, after the rise in demand from China. This shows us a quite heterogeneous prospect.”

To conclude, he asserted that, “The art of economic politics is to carefully think about the parameters and dials as to position ourselves the best we can.”

Ernesto Gutiérrez Conte president of AA2000, described the approach to the IMF as a positive event because the agency has “matched the times. It has changed. It has a clear understanding that the growth we have experienced in our country in the last few years has been the result of heterodoxy and not of the orthodoxy they promoted in the last decade.” He also expressed his concern about the political confrontation the country is experiencing.

The Ministers’ Head, Aníbal Fernández; the Governor of the City of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri; the Council Head, Susan Segal; and the president of the CAC, Carlos De la Vega, formally opened the event. They were followed by the addresses of the governors of the provinces of Salta and Chubut, Juan Manuel Urtubey and Mario Das Neves, respectively.

As far as panels are concerned, the first was made by successful entrepreneurs, namely: Susana Balbo from Dominios del Plata winery; Martín Migoya from Globant; Marcos Galperín from Mercado Libre, and Adolfo Rouillon from Congelados del Sur.

The second panel discussed the vision of the law-making leaders, and gathered Francisco de Narváez (Representative from Unión PRO); Agustín Rossi (Representative from Frente para la Victoria); Ernesto Sanz (Senator from the Radical Party or UCR). Eduardo Amadeo, president of the Social Observatory, moderated the panel.

In addition to the panels, the event was featured by the following keynote lecturers: Débora Giorgi, Minister for Production; Martín Redrado, president of the Central Bank; Nicolás Eyzaguirre, IMF Director of the Western Hemisphere Department; Mario Blejer, Director of Banco Hipotecario, and Amado Boudou, Minister of Economy.