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NEW DELHI.- "It's an opportunity equal to soy!" Said Gustavo Grobocopatel. For the president of the agroindustrial group Los Grobo, the projection of vegetable consumption from India represents an unparalleled opportunity for Argentina.

"Five years ago they were two million tons, now they are six million and the projection is that they will be 20 million tons of legume imports (for 2030 it could be worth US $ 10,000 million)," he described.

He added: "This type of countries are historically protectionist, but at a certain moment, due to the pressure of consumption and demand, they began importing more proteins: China, soybeans, and here, legumes, which means that in the future, India will need an equivalent to a whole crop of Argentine soybeans, someone is going to take care of that, who, we Argentines can take charge, but there are also other competitors.

To achieve that, says the entrepreneur, the country needs technology to produce pulses, productivity, seeds and changes in logistics, among other issues. But, in addition, it demands to the Government to remove the retentions to that product and to negotiate with India a regulation that avoids the modifications in the tariffs of the import tariffs.

"We have to think of legumes as commodities, which is why this trip is so relevant," he explained.

"I'm desperate!" He launched with a laugh as Grobocopatel opened his arms and moved his hands to give more dimension to his words. At this time, his enthusiasm is focused on infecting that opportunity that he sees clearly in others.

"We have a very big advantage: we know how to make legumes and, second, it is that pulses in Argentina can be made as a double crop with high productivity," he said.

A few months ago he proposed to the Government to move forward in the creation of a Vegetable Institute, with private funding, but the idea did not prosper. "There is still no awareness of what we have going forward, we are going to assume that India needs 14 million tons, that's about 10 billion dollars, India will need to import 10 billion dollars of pulses in 2030. We have to decide what percentage of that we are going to produce, "he said.

The request to Macri

In the extensive talk he had with LA NACION, the businessman also analyzed the economic reality and spoke about the electoral future of Mauricio Macri.

"Entrepreneurs do not stop investing because of the possibility of Cristina [Kirchner] winning, they stop investing for a lot of things, such as rates and inflation, there is no macro agreement on where to go. turn the page, "said Grobocopatel.

For the president of the Grobo, "the government in these years was entertained in tackling criminal, some who do them and others because they made them themselves." He also handed out criticism to the opposition. "They do not have clarity and they get lost in speculations and Chicanas," he said.

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Published in: www.lanacion.com.ar