The need for a pro-export orientation of policies in Argentina

Despite its abundance of natural resources, the possibility of Argentina achieving sustained economic growth largely depends on being able to diversify its export structure towards more differentiated goods with higher value added. However, the last 15 years have shown no progress in this direction. The country´s real exports (net of prices) are stagnant and persistently concentrated in a small number of commodities, while the number of exporters is one third lower than at its peak in 2006. This paper describes in detail this meager performance and analyzes its causes, among which the country´s persistent macroeconomic instability and highly restrictive trade policy stand out. Nevertheless, another cause of export stagnation is the lack of a decisive pro-export policy orientation, which would allow taking advantage of opportunities for international insertion based on product differentiation that exist in agriculture, industry, and knowledge intensive services. This paper thoroughly develops the content of such orientation, describing the policies that compose it and the need to coordinate their implementation under sectoral strategies for international insertion.