Global Players from Emerging Markets: Strengthening ... - Unctad

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CHAPTER II
TABLE OF CONTENTS 13
OUTWARD FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT BY
ENTERPRISES FROM ARGENTINA*
A. Introduction
This paper examines the trends, drivers,
motivations, policy developments and challenges
relating to outward foreign direct investment (OFDI)
from Argentina. It also highlights how OFDI has
increased the competitiveness of selected Argentine
firms.
B. OFDI from Argentina: Trends
and development
Until the 1980s, Argentina – like other
countries in the region – pursued inward-oriented
industrialization policies. At that time, OFDI was not
0
Source: UNCTAD FDI database.
Figure 1. Argentina: OFDI flows, 1980-2004
(Millions of dollars)
* This paper was prepared by Márcia Tavares, Unit on Investment and Corporate Strategies, United Nations-ECLAC, Santiago, Chile.
The author wishes to thank Bernardo Kosacoff, Michael Mortimore, Álvaro Calderón, and Gustavo Baruj, for important insights and
information. The views expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECLAC.
13
considered a priority and there was no specific policy
dealing with enterprise internationalization. However,
the Government’s support to indigenous private sector
development facilitated the growth of a small number
of companies that were domestically strong, with the
capability to internationalize their operations. Once
the country started to open up, enterprises looked at
the benefits of internationalization in an increasingly
integrated global market.
Argentinean overseas investments from
the 1930s to the 1970s were negligible. Domestic
enterprises had the following general characteristics:
(i) firms were often family businesses related to the
personal skills and visions of recent immigrant
entrepreneurs and their families;
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