The Ministry of Productive Development, together with the National Bank, launched today a new line of financing for the acquisition or construction of new ships and naval devices manufactured in shipyards located in the national territory, for which it will allocate an investment of $ 10,000 millions.
“The line for the naval sector provides financial predictability to national ships, also strengthening the enormous potential of the Argentine naval industry,” said Desarrollo Productivo in a statement.
The measure is carried out thanks to the contribution of the BNA and the Ministry, through the National Fund for Productive Development (Fondep), which accompanies the financing by subsidizing the rate provided by the financial entity.
Said bonus will be greater in the event that the ships to be built are powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), in order to stimulate the generation of the fleet powered by alternative energies.
The loans will have a term of 120 months, and with the possibility of obtaining an 18-month grace period applied to the capital in the case of construction.
The launch of a financing line for the naval industry, worked within the sectorial tables of the Economic and Social Agreement of the Ministry of Productive Development, is a response to the historical claim of the entire Argentine naval sector: to have financing for long term for the construction of ships in our country.
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A fallback.
In this regard, the president of the Argentine Naval Industry Chamber (CINA), Silvia Martínez, told Télam that “the announcement from the Ministry was well received,” and stressed that “it was the result of a joint work between the authorities and the Banco Nación and the chambers to recognize the naval mortgage as a guarantee and then improve the financing rate.
He stressed that “financing after the prior government veto of the financing fund that was stated in the articles of the law is a very valuable tool.”
Former President Mauricio Macri vetoed by Decree 1076/2017 two main articles of Law 27,418, sanctioned by Congress for the promotion of the naval industry.
It was Article 10, which established an annual allocation of $ 1,500 million updated according to the basic internal price index under the name of Fund for the Development of the National Naval Industry (Fodinn), and Article 13, which established obligations to maintain benefits if the shipbuilding regime lost force within 10 years of enactment of the law.
“That veto left us devoid of financing, promotion, stimulus, industrial development,” Martinez recalled for his part.
Instead, he argued that the measure announced now by Productive Development “places the naval industry at a superlative level in the face of the demands of competition and the market, placing us in the changes demanded by globalization regarding the incorporation of technology and new systems for all the players in the sector, such as shipyards, workshops, input suppliers “.
The head of the CINA pointed out that “the financing is for the construction of local shipyards”, and remarked that it is also for the development “of the transformation in transport to new energies, as in this case, propulsion to LNG, on which the Chamber has a project to reach all vessels “.
“Today we have the urgent need to set objectives for the recovery of the fluvial and maritime cast, we always talk about the recovery of the participation of the flag in the Waterway, for example. With this possibility we can form a modern, competitive fleet, friendly with the environment, “Martinez said.
He also pointed out that “this benefit impacts and favors export activity because by reducing logistics costs, our production can reach new markets,” thereby indicating that “even producers can be encouraged to produce more.”
He concluded that the government’s measure “then helps industrial reactivation and the creation of many jobs, along the entire value chain, and applying it to the Hidrovía, to all regional economies.”
For his part, the Secretary General of the Center for Patrons and River Officers, Fisheries and Maritime Cabotage, Julio González Insfrán, told Télam that “the credit line that the Ministry of Productive Development is promoting is something very interesting, it is a an old struggle that we have been managing so that Argentina has credit to build ships “.
“Macri vetoed the law precisely in the part where the construction of ships was financed, so it is interesting that this process is resumed for the manufacture of ships in Argentina,” said González Insfrán, who stressed that “it is a way forward for to be able to have a merchant marine “. (Télam)
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