This June 27, International Day of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, there is nothing to celebrate. The Assembly of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (APYME) issued a red alert: Argentine SMEs are «in danger of extinction.» According to the entity, the government’s economic direction has caused the closure of more than 26,000 companies since late 2023, an average of 30 per day. And what is coming is worse: from APYME Santa Fe they warn that, if conditions do not change, another 40,000 firms could disappear before the end of the year.
«The numbers we are talking about today are as if we were in the pandemic. And the numbers to come are much worse,» said Mario Galizzi, head of APYME Santa Fe. The leader pointed to the collapse of the domestic market and the uncontrolled increase in costs: «Taxes have not dropped a peso, services have increased, gas, water, electricity; electro-dependent companies are going under.»
The Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) joined the criticism. Its president, Ricardo Diab, denounced a process of economic concentration that «recalls stages already experienced by Argentina, where small businesses lose ground to large market players.» Diab called for more balanced conditions: «It is not about preventing investments, but about generating more balanced competition conditions.»
Business entities target the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI), which they consider a «privilege framework for concentrated groups and foreign corporations.» APYME maintains that «regulations such as the RIGI and the current ‘Super RIGI’ design a privilege framework that systematically leaves national suppliers out of the game.» The entity added that «this strategy does not generate value or employment, but rather deepens unsustainable social and regional asymmetries for the majority of the population.»
The trade surplus is also under scrutiny. For APYME, it is «a mirage»: «The dollars from primary exports do not translate into development, but are drained through capital flight and payment of an external debt that grows unabated.» Meanwhile, manufacturing, commerce, and regional economies continue to operate with low installed capacity, and the domestic market weakens due to the loss of purchasing power of wages and pensions.
SMEs represent 99% of the country’s firms and generate about 70% of formal private employment. Therefore, their deterioration directly impacts the labor market. APYME warned that «there is no possibility of genuine development with social exclusion or with the extinction of those who drive activity and employment in every place.» Additionally, it denounced the defunding of strategic organizations such as INTI and INTA, «fundamental pillars of our technology transfer.»
Projections are not encouraging. While the government celebrates the recovery of some sectors such as energy, mining, and agriculture, the majority of SMEs remain in intensive care. «We want to be optimistic, but today the tools being implemented do not address the concrete needs of small and medium enterprises,» Diab concluded. SME Day finds a sector fighting not to disappear.
para mi esto es culpa del capitalismo y los politicos vendidos 26 mil pymes cerraron y vienen 40 mil mas los unicos q laburamos somos los laburantes los empresarios chotos se merecen la quiebra viva la lucha obrera kukas destruyen la economia
kermán estos zurditos de apyme lloran x las pymes pero son los primeros en bancar impuestazos y al kirchnerismo q nos fundió para mi son unos parasitos q se vayan a laburar argentina no necesita planes VLLC