citi logo
My Account
PERSPECTIVES

Discussing 'The Business Agenda' at the Argentina Business and Investment Forum"

September 22, 2016
Alexandra Ravinet, Director of Corporate Communications, Citi Latin America

Last week, Citi Latin America CEO Jane Fraser headed to Buenos Aires for the first-ever Argentina Business and Investment Forum. The forum was an important opportunity for the Argentinian government to reengage with the global investment and financial communities, as it gathered nearly 2,000 global investors, government leaders from around the world, and Fortune 500 CEOs from a variety of sectors for three days of discussions about the country's economic future. Jane participated in a panel entitled "The Business Agenda," alongside Argentina's Secretary of Interministerial Coordination, Mario Quintana, and executives from Boeing, Lazard, Total E&P Americas and the Trevi Group.

The panel, led by Gonzalo Lissarrague, President of Thomson Reuters' Global Growth Organization, discussed and debated a number of critical issues potentially impacting Argentina's dramatic economic transformation, while also delving deeper into the specific sorts of changes that global businesses are seeking in the country.

"I think what we see is that Argentina is on the right path, and has – incredibly, successfully and speedily – tackled the urgent. Now, we need to tackle the important," Jane observed, in the context of remarks regarding specific policies Argentina will need to act on to transform. These include fiscal adjustment, tackling inflation and reversing the chronic underinvestment in the country that occurred over the past several years.

"From the financial side, what we're seeing is a significantly undersized financial system here," she continued. "You'll see many banks, ourselves included, looking to grow their businesses significantly in Argentina, and trying to provide the credit necessary."

Citi recently announced the extension of $3.5 billion of new credit for corporate and institutional clients in the country – including both multinationals based in Argentina and Argentinian companies.

"Getting the financial system working again is going to be very, very important," Jane added, "which will require confidence from the general population as well as from investors. And that confidence will need to be coupled with the clarity and transparency required to get the SMEs, the PYMEs, and the middle market all working together to address the many opportunities and challenges here."

The panel also discussed examples Argentina can learn from, not just in Latin America but around the world. Considering the amount of work that Argentina still has to do to prepare for the technological and social transformations sweeping the financial industry worldwide, she offered Australia as an example of the country that has successfully transformed its economy from one based largely on natural resources to one that also includes a strong and fast-growing services sector.

As Jane highlighted in her remarks at the forum, the future of Argentina is extraordinarily promising. And at Citi, we're committed to supporting the growth of Argentina and our clients in the country.

Sign up to receive the latest news from Citi.

Select Preferences