Argentina has a population of 40.913.584 people, a great natural wealth and abundant fertile soil for agriculture. It is a dynamic country that can attract investments for its economic and industrial growth, as well as being a member of MERCOSUR, a program for a most dynamic economic integration of South America countries at a regional level.

In 2008, Argentina’s economy recorded a GDP of about 257.8 billion dollars. The main economic and industrial sectors, producing 51% of GDP, are: agriculture, hunting and forestry with 20%, mining and extraction with 13% and construction with 11%. The rest comes from the production of gas, water and fisheries.

In 2009, reported FDI amounted to 20.036 million dollars. Most privileged sectors are: the extraction of oil, gas and minerals, manufacturing, services, transport, power industry and gas distribution, construction, trade and agriculture. The origin of these investments is mainly from Spain, Brazil and Canada, while Patagonia is the region that has benefited more, especially with regards to mining industry (particularly the provinces of Neuquen, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Rio Negro); the rest of the investments have been mainly located in the central region of the province of Santa Fe.

Argentina also guarantees a high production of sunflower seed oil, honey and horsemeat, pears, ranking in these fields as one of the top producing countries in the wolrd; moreover it ranks at fifth place for production of wine.

Sectors of investment opportunities in Argentina

Food and Beverage

• Argentina is a major exporter of food and has a particular interest in continuing to promote innovation in food and beverages in order to maintain a certain level of competitiveness in the market, giving priority to the initiatives in the field of biotechnology applied to food, where 10 companies and research centres already work.

• The main areas where there are good opportunities for investment are: all the technologies that give surplus value to the production of vegetable oils, cereals and dairy products, meat, fish and fruit drinks (including mineral water, energy and sport drinks), nutrients, natural and organic-food industry, food production development industry and, finally, all processes involving the recognition of food originating from Argentina.

Wine production

• Argentina has a total of 225.846 hectares for the production of grapes for the wine industry, for a total of 14.8 million hectoliters in 2008, ranking fifth worldwide.

• There are good opportunities of investment with new cooling technologies, new technology of the mills, grape, stainless steel tanks, oak barrels, glass bottles, labels, cardboard boxes and specialized packaging for wine bottles, corks, production of chemical materials (such as acids, nutrients, stabilizers, preservatives).

• There are companies offering technologies and services throughout the production chain of wine, from monitoring and control of IT equipments to the cooling process.

Entertainment industry

• The Argentine talent for creating music, film, visual arts, publishing and design industry is the sector that seeks to develop collaborative arrangements in different parts of the world. This sector is concentrated in the central-western provinces of Argentina such as Cordoba, Mendoza and Buenos Aires.

• Entertainment industry has grown by 14.5% annually over the past 5 years, reaching an export of 214 million US dollars. In this sector, the main aim is to attract businesses that support the development of companies and popular brands and the exchange of talents in events and activities of high international level.

- Publishing. There are great opportunities in the segment of the printing and publishing. Currently there are 63 publishing houses.

- Music. This field involves four of the most important production companies worldwide: Universal, EMI, Sony and Warner. Currently there is a strong interest to the development of local enterprises.

- Film & Visual Arts. 5 worldwide-known companies have deployed 75% of the copies of the film: Buena Vista Disney, Columbia Tri-Star, MGM, UIP and Warner/Fox. There is a strong interest to attract companies that develop the production and post production by exploiting the natural environments of the country. To this end, there are several incentives for the National Film Institute (INCA), which bears the costs of production, and the Argentina Film Commission (AFC), which promotes the use of natural sceneries and historical film production, media and related paperwork and taxes.

- Fashion. A new impetus has been developed especially in the fashion industry, involving significantly textiles, footwear, leather goods and new materials. In this area, the main aim is to attract companies that support the development of firms, or recognized brands and the exchange of talents in events and activities of high international level.

Automotive Industry

• The main activity in this sector is the development of production through investments in companies like Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Iveco, Mercedes Benz, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault, Scania, Toyota, Volkswagen. Argentina is strongly interested in attracting investments in new technologies for spare parts.

• The increase of population able to lead trucks and motorcycles makes Argentina a nation ready to receive investments from companies interested in producing these products, answering to a national market supply which, only in 2007, has achieved an amount of total sales around 680.000 units of motorcycles.

Biofuels

• Argentina has developed a strategic alliance with Brazil in the production of biofuels, which is regionally well ranked.

• Argentina has focused on the production of biodiesel from soybeans and products of the second generation, while the production of bioethanol is obtained from sugar cane and is expected to be produced also from maize and sorghum.

• In this area, Argentina points at developing local technology for the development of biofuels and technologies for second generation biofuels.