In La Nación, Campo Supplement of August 19, 2022, an interesting article was published, which reviews the recent strategic decision made in a 120-year-old Agro-Livestock Company in Argentina..

The article that, with the title of «It gives employment to almost 30% of a town and set foot in Uruguay: «Here they criticize us for producing«, reviews the history of a company that is currently managed by the fifth generation of a family of immigrants who, in 1902, settled in the Core Zone of Argentina. The note tells that «La Barrancosa» has decided to internationalize its operations.(https://www.lanacion.com.ar/economia/campo/le-da-empleo-a-casi-el-30-de-un-pueblo-y-puso-un-pie-en-uruguay-aca-nos-critican-por-producir-nid19082022/).

Specifically, they have begun to operate in Uruguay, with 120 animals with which they plan to «extend the rodeo», and its CEO states that «starting in Uruguay is much easier than in Argentina”.

The article, which is based on an interview with the CEO of the Company, details in his words the advantages that starting a business in Uruguay would bring to an “entrepreneur”, in relation to the difficulties encountered in Argentina. The objective data outlined by Carlos Fuchs Facht, are real and irrebuttable (restrictions of the local market, retentions to the exports of the sector, administrative difficulties).

But the essential difference between the interviewee and his predecessors is that La Barrancosa, which he manages today, is a consolidated company, over more than a century, and has the capacity to continue growing..

The logical growth of a Company that manages 40,000 hectares of agricultural-livestock production in Argentina, due to similar climate, soil and idiosyncrasy, is to expand its activities in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. I will come back to this topic.

On the other hand, in La Nación on 10.02.2022 an article is published with another interview, in this case a successful professional who returned to Argentina 9 years after leaving the country, and after settling and having professional success in Europe (https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/emigro-a-europa-y-9-anos-despues-volvio-a-instalarse-en-la-argentina-por-un-motivo-especial-me-dicen-nid01102022/).

The clear message that emerges from the interview with Manuel Butty, Bachelor of Social Communication (UCES), after almost a decade of training and working in Europe is that Argentines, especially the professionals trained in our classrooms, are trained, and therefore so we can work abroad, competitively.

With certain difficulties that we can face, we can insert ourselves in the market, in almost the whole world, but it is easier, due to knowledge, and due to idiosyncrasy, to work here. And Manuel returned to the country to work and start a new venture in South America.

My personal conclusion, after having had a life and professional experience similar to that of Manuel Butty, in Europe and the United States, and working in the countries of the region, I could summarize it in these points:

  • Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay, within South America, especially in the agricultural and livestock sector, can be treated as a single market. This is what is seen from the outside, with a macro vision, when investing and taking a regional strategic position.
  • There are political barriers between countries, which generate differential competitive conditions between them, due to the different local economic policies. But these differences, given the volatility and contingency of public policies in our countries, are transitory. The structural changes that are generated in one administration of government can be reversed in the next, both for the worse and for the better..
  • Businesses in the sector overcome geographical and political barriers. The case of La Barrancosa and many others that are known, demonstrate it.
  • But it is not simple or easy to “go international” from Argentina or from any of the other countries, as La Barrancosa is doing, if there is not an important platform established in the country of origin. A company or business can expand and cross a border when it is large and consolidated in its country of origin.
  • In this context, Uruguay, for the livestock and agricultural sector, is the natural and perfect complement for the expansion of activities of a successful company in Argentina.
  • But Uruguay does not replace Argentina. And the Argentines who go out into the world, and in many cases succeed, happily return in significant numbers to Argentina, a place where, despite the difficulties mentioned, they know how to develop a business and make it grow.

Landing in Uruguay may seem simple; but it has difficulties and complexities, which require a prior study, in view of the effort involved and the size of the market, which is not large.

Uruguay, as highlighted in an article in La Nación, also has its internal problems («Uruguay’s B side. Insecurity, drug trafficking, suicides and violence are alarming.» La Nación, 09. 10. 22, Pag, 10 https://www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mundo/el-lado-b-de-uruguay-la-alarma-por-la-inseguridad-el-narcotrafico-la-violencia-de-genero-y-los-nid08102022/-).

The successful Government of President Lacalle Pou, now in its second half of term, must face important challenges, both internal within its governing group, as well as national and international ones: people close to it involved in acts of corruption, challenges due to the social security reform, non-consensual educational reform, increasing insecurity, complex relations in the ruling coalition, etc. (https://www.elpais.com.uy/que-pasa/lacalle-pou-llego-mitad-mandato-son-desafios-problemas-delante.html; https://www.elpais.com.uy/ovacion/futbol/alerta-auf-escalada-violencia-fallas-lista-impedidos-cuantos-son-medidas-incidencia-crimen-organizado.html; y https://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/politica/atropello-republicano-cosse-votacion-juicio-politico.html)

At the same time, not everything is closed or lost in Argentina. It is possible to do business and it continues to be, for many entrepreneurs, a promising place to start a new challenge that, if successful, can be internationalized..

As our elders, with Hispanic ancestors, used to say, “all that glitters is not gold”, and “fava beans are cooked everywhere”.

Maldonado, (Uruguay), October 16, 2022