The president of the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology, Leonardo Loureiro, told CRONICAS that if the Free Trade Agreement with the trans-Andean country is approved, the industry he represents would not experience major changes, but, anyway, he pointed out the importance of any action to boost the business environment, especially considering that 60% of exports go to the United States.
The agreement of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between our country and Chile will be discussed again in the Plenary of the Frente Amplio, awaiting a possible approval, on which so many voices have been raised against, as in favor, but for the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) the future of the same, would reveal a neutral result.
However, for the president of the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI), Leonardo Loureiro, any commercial opening that Uruguay has is positive for the sector, in the understanding that it energizes the business environment, providing more opportunities to market technology, as he said in an interview with CRONICAS.
Even so, he said that business between Chile and Uruguay will continue to be conducted normally. "What we already have as a country by itself, enables Chileans to settle here. If they have not done so, it is because they have understood that it is not the market," he said. He said that although there is a trans-Andean company in our country, it is a company of high international expansion consolidated.
Currently, Chile is in the ninth place of the markets to which this industry exports, representing 2% of total exports. The leader of the Chamber explained that Chile has more human capital, as well as a more dynamic and open business environment, so Uruguayan companies find more benefits to settle in the trans-Andean country than to work from Uruguay. "There are several Uruguayan companies working in Chile, but they are only 5%," he added.
The ICT sector continues to grow, but in a structural way, without any implications of a substantial change. Uruguayan companies, if they do not find a resource in our country, leave for new destinations to look for them, Loureiro stressed.
Meanwhile, 60% of the sector's exports go to the US market. After Donald Trump's inauguration and the protectionist policies carried out by the president, the Uruguayan technology industry began to set its sights on other regions. In this regard, it is worth remembering that the FTA is part of a possible linkage strategy between Uruguay and the Pacific Alliance, which includes Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Chile.
Of this group, Mexico is one of the nations that generates more interest to CUTI, given the business environment that motivated the chamber to carry out a business mission to this country in the second half of the year. Peru is not left behind because in the last years it has been one of the countries that has grown the most in technology consumption. Between 1% and 2% of exports go there every year. "For us it is also important. In this sense, during the diversification work, CUTI is positive in the fact that other markets are also growing. "Last year we conducted a mission to Argentina, and earlier this year we did it to China."
An industry without people
According to an internal study of the Chamber, the sector needs in the order of 1,300 to 2,500 new people in the industry in the coming years. However, each year about 760 young people graduate from careers directly related to this industry. That is, even in the best case scenario, where all of them were incorporated into related companies, would continue to need between 540 and 1,740 people.
For Loureiro, the big question is how to convince the new generations that working in the ICT industry is attractive and allows the development of people, both technically and humanly. "We have been working on all this, through a process of sensitization," he admitted, while saying that he thinks this is the right way to go. Although he said that all the support that implies generating positive environments is welcome, he pointed out that it is not the right thing to promote public policies, since "you cannot force people to study engineering".
The Chamber is implementing training projects in conjunction with the National Institute of Employment and Business Training and the Ceibal Plan, and as of yesterday Thursday has the Jacarandá program, which seeks the installation of equipment throughout the country, to work from Uruguay to the world. In addition, they are already planning to promote more actions like this, said Loureiro. "If we want to grow and we want to provide more work, there is always something new to do".
More technology in business
Uruguay ranks first in the region in terms of ICT development. However, a report by the Inter-American Development Bank -IDB- points out a lag in the adoption of technologies in Uruguayan companies compared to other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. In view of this, Loureiro warned that from CUTI there has always been a strong relationship with the rest of the industries, where they emphasize the importance of the rest of the companies to become digital companies. "We are working with the various business chambers to make a process of awareness and that companies begin to invest in technology," he said.
Source: Crónicas
By Anahí Acevedo
Connect