The governor of the Province of Santa Fe, Maximiliano Pullaro, participated this Thursday in the 111th Annual Congress of the Argentine Agrarian Federation (FAA), which is being held until Friday in Rosario under the slogan "Unity is our sowing; the future, our harvest".
In his presentation, Pullaro stressed the importance that "federalism is not only stamped on our legislation, but also that it can be complied with and carried out. We are and we are in the most productive province of the Argentine Republic. We are in the heart of the Central Region, which together with Cordoba and Entre Rios concentrate 80% of the grains and exports that leave through the ports. We are proud to say that we are the countryside, because our collective identity contains the history of our agricultural producers".
For this reason, "we also ask the national government to look at this productive hinterland. If Argentina were much more like the productive interior, it would be different and it would do much better. We cannot think of a country that can develop if the roads are in a bad state, as they are at the moment. We need a national state that can plan alongside the countryside and industry to move forward. And of course, once again, we demand an end to the damned withholding taxes.
In this sense, the governor explained that "none of our agricultural producers are thinking about taking the money they earn from a harvest to a tax haven. They are all thinking about how they can invest it. If those 2,500 or 3,000 million dollars that Santa Fe contributes were to remain with the agricultural producers, it would undoubtedly generate economic growth in each of our towns and in our small cities that would allow us to move forward".
Long-term public policy
Pullaro then referred to withholding taxes and valued "the reduction that took place this year. I was the first governor who in February last year stood up to the national government when it wanted to increase withholding taxes on the countryside and industry. This year, together with the governors of Córdoba and Entre Ríos, we also asked them to lower withholding taxes, because we were coming from three years of drought and cereal prices were much lower.
"We want to work alongside the agricultural organisations to achieve a public policy that allows us to have a future and long-term perspective, which will allow not only the countryside, but the whole of Argentina to move forward. Here you have a government that is an ally of the countryside," concluded the governor.
Enhancing the agricultural industry
The president of FAA, Andrea Sarnari, said: "We want to be part of the institutional dialogue to contribute the best of each one of us and gain in quality, health and markets that enhance our efforts and our work. Argentina needs a specific agricultural policy that addresses, projects and promotes the development of the sector. It is time to think about policies that encourage production in favour of the men and women of the countryside, of production and work".
On the other hand, the National Undersecretary of Agricultural and Forestry Production, Manuel Chiappe, said: "Our doors are always open and we are always willing to work to sit at specific tables with proposals. Let's continue sowing because we will continue harvesting".
Finally, the Minister of Productive Development, Gustavo Puccini, said that "the producer who was not reached by the benefit of lowering withholdings is still punished with taxes. This is what needs to be changed and we ask the national government to provide predictability.
Attendance
The Mayor of Rosario, Pablo Javkin; the 1st and 2nd vice-presidents of FAA, José Luis Volando and Claudio Angeleri; the presidents of Mutual Federada 25 de Julio, Juan Pivetta, of CAFER Juan Balbi, and of Agricultores Federados Argentinos, Darío Marinozzi, also took part in the activity; the Minister of Bioagroindustry of Córdoba, Sergio Busso; the Minister of Agricultural Development of Buenos Aires, Javier Rodríguez; the Minister of Production of La Pampa, Fernanda González; among other national, provincial and local authorities.
