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Mauricio Macri does not want to end the interview without talking about what he lived last week, on the tour that took him to India, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates. Beyond the trade and cooperation agreements he signed with these countries, the President was captivated by the mission's minimal stories, with 85 entrepreneurs, mostly SMEs, but also figures such as Eduardo Elsztain (IRSA), Gustavo Grobocopatel (Los Grobo) and Sergio Nardelli (Vicentín), among others. "The truth is that I am very happy because many SMEs from the Interior came and encouraged them to travel and some of them already did business on their first trip," said the head of state, who has two enthusiastic cases.

First, that of Yerba Mate Piporé, a Misiones cooperative that traveled to try to land in India: "They traveled and mixed the herb with Indian herbs to get in. They gave it to prove to the Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and he liked: took all the mate, "smiles. The second is that of two Mendocines from Nimbus, a firm in Maipú, Mendoza, that bet to place a special product for India, where alcohol consumption is low and even in several states is prohibited. What surprised Macri was the impetus and adversity that the partners faced to pay for the trip to India to try to sell and finally to sell the first four containers of "Santa Sangría", a Sangria with natural juice packaged in tetra brick.

"I want the Argentines to know that India and Vietnam are two very important partners, with both of us having a trade of the order of three trillion dollars, a strong surplus and this is just the beginning," says the President, more political, and as a balance of the tour. For Macri, India has to become a must for Argentine entrepreneurs. "We think that these are countries that are growing at 7 percent per year, and India, with 1300 million inhabitants, is going to end up being one of the two or three most important economies in the world in a few years. amount of food they need and that's where we will have an incredible opportunity to bring more products, "he says.

In the last hours, Macri heard the message given by Grobocopatel, the "King of Soy", who warned that Argentina has the possibility in India of opening with the legumes a similar market, in terms of volume of exports, the last decade, with the sale of soybeans to China. The head of state will instruct his secretary of Agroindustry, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, to analyze in detail the plan of entrepreneur boss Carlos Casares.

But the head of state warns that Argentina has to think about developing in other areas in trade, beyond seeking to be the "supermarket of the world." "We are already making a radioisotope plant in Mumbai that ends in 2020, but they want to do more things. And in Vietnam they also asked us the same thing, and they are going to travel to our Defense factories to see what we can do together, "he says.

Macri does not take any notice of the criticism he received from some sectors for understanding that he overestimated the agreements signed with India and Vietnam to begin to introduce citrus fruits like lemons and grapefruits. "This is a process and we must follow, step by step: the results are not overnight, but the important thing is to open a market and give more possibilities to Argentine producers and regional economies," he insists.

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Published by: www.clarin.com