Contribution to International Economic Promotion

The Program coordinates local government contributions towards the positioning of the city in the regional and international context, focusing on economic and commercial aspects.

Objective

This objective is followed with the priority support of the International Relations area. The overall objective is to contribute to local productive development by integrating technical teams that may develop initiatives of international scope. These teams are identified based on their specific jurisdictions such as the Secretary of Production and joint instances, including the Rosario Region Development Agency, the Rosario Tourist Board, the Rosario Exhibition Consortium and the Rosario Council for Professional Training and Education.

top

Corporate institutional trade missions to foreign countries

The purpose of this initiative is to organize, with coordinated efforts from the Secretary of Production, a set of corporate and institutional trade missions to show to the world the economic strengths and potentialities of Rosario and its region. These efforts add to the systematic support that city companies receive from the local government to attend foreign trade, regional and world trade fairs and shows.

Specifically, efforts focus on fostering public-private partnerships based on a common agenda for the internationalisation of production-related initiatives such as FIAR, the International Food Trade and the PRO ROSARIO Program, just to mention but the two more important. Besides, focus is on disseminating the city potentialities to host trade fairs, meetings and conferences and on providing information concerning investment opportunities so as to open new channels for business development.

Business associations representative of the different productive sectors of the city and companies from different industries were called to participate in these missions, always accompanied by local government key officials.

Besides, efforts are on entering into cooperation agreements of institutional nature to channel cooperation between Rosario and actors from the visited cities and regions.

Mission to Italy

The first trade mission within the business and institutional nature above described was to the north of Italy: regions of Piemonte (Alessandria), Emilia Romagna (Parma) and Tuscany (Firenze and Vinci), in the first months of 2005.

The City Mayor was accompanied by the President of Rosario Board of Trade, Federico Boglione, the President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Rosario, Franco Tirelli, FIAR General Coordinator, Ricardo Diab, the President of COMITES (Comitato degli Italiani all’Estero), Giuseppe Angeli, the President of the Tuscany Cultural Association, Dino Chiapetta, the Secretary of Production, Employment Promotion and Foreign Trade, Oscar Madoery and the General Assistant Director of International Relations, Sergio Barrios.

The delegation’s activities started with a reception offered by the Argentine Deputy Consul in Milan, Eduardo Estanislao Mártire. Then, in Alessandria, Piemonte, there was a presentation of Rosario delivered at the Alessandria Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Craftsmanship for fifty local and provincial businessmen.

After that, at a working meeting with the Sindaco Mara Scagni, members of its government team and of the Consiglio Comunale, the twinning agreement was ratified and the guidelines for the Project for Decentralised Cooperation in Support of the Health Policy of the Municipality of Rosario were agreed. This project materialized in the remodelling of Guard III, Carrasco Hospital and is currently procuring the equipment for the Intermediate Care Unit of Víctor J. Vilela Children Hospital.

Furthermore, there were technical visits to management experiences on waste recycling (AMIU, Azienda Multiservizi Igiene Urbana S.p.A. di Alessandria) and on transport (ATM, Azienda Trasporti y Mobilitá). The Delegation also visited Guala Clousures, a company that manufactures container closure systems and lids, as well as Marengo, a food company.

In Firenze, Tuscany, the Delegation was received by Sindaco Leonardo Domenici. Then, there was a presentation of Rosario followed by a business encounter in Promofirenze.

The Delegation then paid a visit to the Vice Chairman of the Consiglio Regioanle della Toscana, Enrico Cechetti. The visit was the occasion to enter into an agreement to integrate Rosario to a consortium of cities and regions sponsored by Tuscany in order to tap European funds under the terms of the Euro Social Programme.

There were also meetings with the Sindaco de Vinci, Dario Parrini and visits to the Tuscany agro-tourism experiences.

In Parma, Emilia Romagna, the delegation visited Sindaco de Parma, Elvio Ubaldi followed by a presentation of Rosario and a business encounter in the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Craftsmanship and Agriculture of Parma.

Then, the delegation had a meeting with the President of the Province of Parma, Vincenzo Bernazzoli, and subscribed a Bilateral Cooperation Agreement between Rosario and the province of Parma. Finally, technical visits were paid to the European Authority on Food Safety and to the city Exhibition Centre.

Mission to Brazil

These trade missions continued in the first months of 2006, this time to the south of Brazil, namely, to Curitiba and Maringá, in the State of Parana.

Rosario City Mayor was accompanied by the Minister of Production of the Province of Santa Fe, Roberto Cereto, Rafaela City Mayor, Omar Perotti, the Secretary of Production, Employment Promotion and Foreign Trade, Oscar Madoery, the General Assistant Director of International Relations, Sergio Barrios and the Brazil Honorary Consul and FIAR Coordinator, Ricardo Diab.

The Delegation included the following business associations representatives: President and Secretary of FISFE, Santa Fe Industrial Federation, Carlos Garrera and Carlos Capizano; President and Treasurer of Rosario Business Association, Elias Soso and Eduardo Fenouil; Vice Chairman of Rosario Board of Trade, Juan Carlos Silvestri; Vice Chairman of Union Federation of Commerce and Industry, Agustin Berazategui; Vice President of Garantizar SGR, Sergio Lamas; Human Resources Manager of La Capital newspaper, Jose Petrocelli; President of Rafaela Foundation for Regional Development, Osvaldo Audagna; CGI-Litoral Secretary, Roberto Yacuzzi; on behalf of FIPRE Program, Walter Andreozzi and journalists working in different local media.

The Delegation started its activities with a reception offered by Leopoldo Costa Meyer, Prefeito of São José dos Pinais – Parana, the city that holds the international airport serving the region. The Prefeito was accompanied by Carlos Sanches Vargas, Argentina Deputy Consul in Curitiba.

In Curitiba, there were presentations of Rosario and exchanges with companies associated to each host institution at ACIM, the Commercial and Industrial Association of Maringa, at FACIAP, the Federation of Commercial, Industrial and Farming Associations of the State of Parana and at FIEPR, the Federation of Industries of the State of Parana.

The Delegation also held important working meetings with institutional and business referents of the region, including Roberto Requião, Governor of the State of Parana; Carlos Alberto Richa, Prefeito of Curitiba; Silvio Barros, Prefeito of Maringa; Jefferson Nogaroli, President of ACIM; Liana Vallichelli, President of FACIAP and Rodrigo Costa da Rocha Loures, President of FIEPR. A Bilateral Cooperation Agreement was signed with Curitiba.

FIPRE, the Rosario Program for Strengthening Regional Productive Institutions took the opportunity to put forth an initiative, the creation of the Promotion and Distribution Unit for Products of Rosario and its region in the State of Parana. The Unit's main purpose is to support export efforts of small and mid-size companies and will start operating by mid 2007.

It has the active participation of 30 companies of the Santa Fe export offer.

Last but not least, the Delegation paid technical visits to the Industrial City of Curitiba, to Curitiba S.A. —agency responsible for attracting investments and for providing assistance to investors—, to Consirup Tecnologia —highly technological and innovative company in charge of monitoring Curitiba city transit—, and to certain management programs on public services, specially in matters relative to waste management and transport.

The Delegation also attended a seminar delivered by SEBRAE-PR on the Brazilian experience on technical and financial assistance to the small and mid size companies in Parana.

Mission to Chile

By mid 2007, a trade mission visited the central region of Chile. This is the most dynamic region of the trans-andean country and includes the cities of Santiago and Valparaiso.

The Delegation was presided by Rosario City Mayor and integrated by the Mayor of Roldan, Jose Maria Pedretti; the President of the Production and Employment Promotion Commission from Rosario Municipal Council, Fabio Gentili; the General Consul of Chile in Rosario, Jose Miguel Menchaca; the Secretary of Production, Employment Promotion and Foreign Trade, Oscar Madoery and the General Assistant Director of International Relations, Sergio Barrios.

The Delegation included representatives form the following business associations: Jorge Romagnoli, President of AAPRESID, Direct Tillage Association; Alfredo Angiulli, President of the Hotels and Restaurants Chamber; Marcelo Fernandez, President of the Argentina-Chile Chamber of the Litoral; Sebastian Nardone, President of Rosario Conventions Bureau; Hugo Vazquez, Treasurer to the Rosario Board of Trade; Jose Rallo, Vice Chairman of the Union Federation of Commerce and Industry; Guillermo Civeta; Manager of Rosario Technological Pole; Federico Boglione, former President of Rosario Board of Trade; Alberto Rosandi, on behalf of FISFE, Santa Fe Industrial Federation; Maria Laura Galitelli, on behalf of Rosario Travel Agencies Association and Ricardo Diab, Coordinator of FIAR.

The Delegation also included a number of companies that took active participation in business meetings: La Sibila (dairy products); Borsellino S.A. (stationery and services); Transatlantica (tourism); Daminato (tourism); Alambres Confin SA (metal products); Max Decor SA (curtains & poles); Risler SA (hydrocarbon transportation services), Ultracongelados Rosario SA (frozen food products) and journalists working in different local media.

The Delegation started its activities with a reception offered by the Argentine Ambassador in Chile, Carlos Enrique Abbihaggle, who detailed bilateral relations. Then, the Delegation took part of the Argentine Chilean Business Forum, jointly organized with the National Chamber of Services, Commerce and Tourism with presentations of Rosario and its region, of Chilean economy and business opportunities existing in both regions. The main activity of the Forum were business meetings for members of Rosario Delegation and companies called by the National Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Section of the Argentine Embassy.

The Delegation also held fruitful meetings with political, institutional and business key actors from the central region of Chile, including former President of the country and current President of the Foundation for Democracy and Development, Raul Alcaino, Santiago City Mayor; Aldo Cornejo, Mayor of Valparaiso —Rosario twin city—; Pablo Yrarrazaval Valdes, President of Santiago Stock Exchange; Pedro Corono Bozo, President of the National Chamber of Services, Commerce and Tourism; Ingrid Antonijevic, Federal Ministry of Economy and senior executives from LAN Airlines.

The last meeting was the opportunity to agree on a marketing plan for Rosario in the central region of Chile, promoting Rosario as a destination of incoming tourism. Action plans towards this end are being developed and coordinated by the Rosario Tourist Board and several business associations within the industry.

The Delegation finished its activities with technical visits to Valparaiso Port Authority, facilities and offices of companies that took part in the business meetings.

Mission to India

By mid 2006, the City Mayor accompanied by Carlos Cerrutti, President of Rosario Technological Pole and Alfredo Mc Clymont, President of Autologica, a company producing software for car dealers were part of a trade mission organized by the Chancery of Argentina and led by Chancellor Jorge Taiana. The mission included 40 businessmen and institutional key actors from technology, food and metal working industries. The purpose was to expand bilateral relations with India at political level, discuss commercial and economic complementary agreements and appreciate India sound experience in these industries.

The Delegation was received in Mumbai and New Delhi by officers of the Argentine Embassy in India. In both cities, the Delegation attended seminars on the commercial exchange between Argentina and India and on business opportunities for Argentine companies, followed by business meetings specially organized for members of the Delegation and Indian counterparts.

After New Delhi, Rosario representatives followed their own agenda in the city of Bangalore, south of India. Their purpose was to get to know the significant experience led by the local technological park and identify technological companies —counterparts of those that integrate Rosario Technological Pole. Bangalore’s companies are leaders in outsourcing worldwide, and Rosario intends to be their software supplier.

India is currently a major force in the export of software thanks to the active public policies of the past 10 years. Bangalore, India Silicon Valley, is home to the tech elite of the country. Bangalore's university and development centres are premises where technology innovation thrives. This led to a bilateral cooperation agreement for the exchange and transfer of experiences between the two cities and their respective technological parks.

Focus was also in becoming familiar with the technological innovation in software development and in biotechnology and in establishing contacts with their related institutions and companies.

Bilateral exchange between India and Argentina clearly favours India and ranks first of the so-called “emerging markets” since exports grew fourteen times and imports, twenty. In the list of Argentine customers, India moved up from 45 to be number 15.

Besides Chancellor Taiana, the Delegation included the Governor of Rio Negro, Miguel Angel Saiz and Rosario City Mayor, Eng. Lifschitz; the Under Secretary of Food Policies from the National Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing and Food, Fernando Nebbia; the Under Secretary of International Trade from the Chancery, Luis Maria Kreckler and the Ministry of Economy of Mendoza, Laura Montero.

Mission to Peru

End of 2006, the was a trade mission to the most dynamic region on the west coast of South American, Metropolitan Lima in Peru.

The Delegation led by the City Mayor included Anuart Jarma, President of the Agency for Rosario Region Development; Anibal Ivancich (son) and Federico Boglione, First Deputy Secretary and former President of Rosario Board of Trade, respectively; Oscar Madoery and Sebastian Chale, Secretary and Director of Economic Promotion from the Secretary of Production, Employment Promotion and Foreign Trade; Sergio Barrios, General Assistant Director of International Relations; Julio Castillo, former consul of Peru in Rosario; and a set of important companies from the city and its region: La Sibila (dairy products), Indupan (baking machines and ovens), Agrinar SA (farm equipment), Rigecin (laboratories, large volume solutions) and Hanshi (orthopaedic devices).

The Delegation started its activities with a reception offered by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Argentine Embassy in Peru, Jorge Lidio Viñuela who delivered a presentation on Argentina-Peru bilateral commercial relations and on the business opportunities for companies located in Rosario and its region.

Then, before a significant audience of entrepreneurs, there was a presentation of Rosario followed by a business meeting.

The Delegation also had a number of important working meetings with political, institutional and business key actors of Lima metropolitan region, namely the Mayor of Lima, Luis Castañeda Lossio; the Mayor of San Borja, Alberto Tejada; the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Lima, Samuel Gleiser Katz; the President of the Foreign Relations Commission from the Congress of the Republic of Peru, Luis Javier Gonzales Posada Eysaguirre; Lima Stock Exchange General Manager, Federico Oviedo and the Executive Director of Economic Promotion from Peru Chancery, Marcela Lopez Bravo.

Companies that integrated the Delegation had a number of business meetings with their Peruvian counterparts, specially identified by the Office of the Commercial Attaché of the Argentine Embassy, headed by Roberto Potente Vides.

In order to complete the mission, technical visits were paid to certain management experiences in Lima, specially those on public spaces for leisure, sports, youth care and programs to put in due form street trading and micro-credits.  

Mission to USA

In the first months of 2007, there was a new mission to California, the most dynamic area in the west coast of the United States, including the cities of San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and the Silicon Valley.

The Delegation led by the City Mayor included representatives of city main institutions, the President of Rosario Board of Trade, Jorge Weskamp; the President and Director of Fundacion Nueva Generacion Argentina, Diego Sueiras, Mario Milano and Ciro Castagnino; the President of Rosario Technological Pole, Carlos Cerruti; the Secretary of Production, Employment Promotion and Foreign Trade, Oscar Madoery; the General Director of International Relations, Marcelo Romeu; members of the City Council, Horacio Ghirardi, Victoria Ramirez and Jorge Boasso; Director of Fundacion Libertad, Marcelo Fernandez; Directors of Rosario Port Authority, Guillermo Beccani and Juan Carlos Vilanova, and the Advisor to Rosario Municipality for promoting the city as model of technological innovation, Alberto Garcia Carmona.

The Delegation also included representatives from the National University of Rosario; the Dean to the School of Law, Ricardo Silberstein; the Dean to the School of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Claudia Balague and the Dean to the School of Exact Sciences, Engineering and Surveying, David Asteggiano.

Business representatives included a number of city companies, Airoldi (wholesale and retail computers); Wiener Lab (health research and technology); Coa Consultora (IT solutions) and Kit Ingenieria Electronica SRL (IT systems commercialization, training, technological support, R&D) and journalists working in different local media.

Among the many contacts established with several Californian Universities, the most important accomplishment was setting up the guidelines for a cooperation agreement between the prestigious Berkeley University and the National University of Rosario.

There was a presentation of Rosario delivered in San Francisco, Sacramento and the Silicon Valley and fruitful business meetings held at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce with counterparts specially identified by the Chamber.

The Delegation also paid several technical visits, including, in San Francisco, to the transport system, to several projects for a digital city, to San Francisco port, to Berkeley University, to the company Google and to the wireless city in Mountain View. In the Silicon Valley, to Intel, Sun Microsystems and Oracle. In Los Angeles, to the Simon Wiesenthal Center and to the ports of Los Angeles and of Oakland.

The mission also had numerous working meetings with institutional, university and business key actors in California, including, San Francisco Mauor, Gavin Newson; California Vice Governor, John Garamendi; President of the House of Representatives of California, Fabian Nuñez; President to the Budget Commission of California Senate, Denise Moreno Ducheny; the Chancellor of Berkeley University, Robert J. Birgeneau; presidents to the San Francisco and Los Angeles Chambers of Commerce, Steven B. Falk and Gary Toebben, respectively and with Bill Bratton, former Los Angeles Chief of Police.

The mission enjoyed a wonderful closing at the reception given by the Argentine General Consul in Los Angeles, Jorge Lapsenson in the company of local institutions and business representatives, as well as Argentine residents in California.

top

International positioning of Rosario and its region

The purpose of this initiative is to articulate the contribution the International Relations area can make with public and private actors determined to position Rosario and its region in the world scenario, helping in the standardization of visions and strategies, putting forth initiatives and plans concurrent to the efforts currently developed within the scope of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan.

The Plan for Positioning Rosario started two years ago. It was the result of a public private articulation that, on the initiative of the City Mayor, aims at potentiating the positive scenario of the city economy to position the city and its region at national and international level. Rosario should be a trademark with institutional and media campaigns coordinated by a Foundation specially created to centralise the task and to be basically funded by the private sector.

Actions focus on strengthening the attributes that, from the cultural, productive, education and tourist perspective, support the city identity.

top

Rosario, a city to invest, innovate and produce

Excellent connectivity and logistics

Rosario has a privileged geographical location. It is a neural hub of the Central Region in Argentina and one of the main links to reach neighbouring countries.

The city emerges as a strategic hub for the region. It links the country with Mercosur to the north, through the Parana-Paraguay Waterway into Brazil and with the Argentine humid pampas to the south.

This hub articulates to the east and west through the Central Bioceanic Corridor across the province of Cordoba into Chile and the Pacific and across the Rosario Victoria Fixed Link to the province of Entre Rios across Uruguay and Brazil to the Atlantic.

Rosario ’s hinterland features an agriculture, industrial and service provider profile; it is a neuralgic crossroad of the Argentine humid pampa. Thanks to its location, the city emerges as a strategic hub and a communication node in the MERCOSUR bioceanic connection, as a crossroad of commercial routes and service provision centers.

This features clearly impact on the city daily life. The city provides a very dynamic mobility. There are no major time losses when commuting to work or going to enjoy leisure. The city offers a wide range of transport options for people and goods to the four cardinal points, roads, highways, the port and the international airport.

Besides, Rosario in at the center of the fiber optic ring deployed in Argentina; main telecommunication operators provide efficient, high quality services.

A growing region

The present scenario shows an upward trend for every indicator of Rosario productive dynamics.

The design and implementation of public policies and the expansion of Rosario productive mesh have allowed the city to rank among the first in terms of genuine economic and employment growth in Argentina. Furthermore, Rosario shows the best social equality levels compared to other large urban conglomerates in the country.

Economic expansion features an increased labour demand in different industries, both manufacturing and service industries. Manufacturing added to the demand of construction and retail shops. There is an additional labour demand that results from Rosario becoming the preferred host city for many international events.

Rosario and its region are now positioned as an attraction pole for national and international investments. Multiple initiatives confirm this upward trend in investment and development.

This phenomenon directly relates to favourable expectations that result from a set of economic, social and institutional conditions proper to our area. It is but a symptom of detected favourable business expectations.

The stock market is becoming increasingly important in the region. Stocks are traded at the Rosario Stock Exchange and Board of Trade, that ranks second in grain trade worldwide.

The Stock Exchange negotiates approximately 10% of the total volume traded in the country. It therefore ranks second in Argentina. The Rofex, Rosario Futures Exchange, is the most important in Argentina.

Favourable conditions for business

Tariff promotion emerges as a pillar of public policies to lure productive investments. A strategy that links type of investment, area for development, employment and sustainability and allows point to point agreements that reinforce predictability and commitment.

Investments in high technology for telecommunications is one clear example. High tech investments have significant tax credits for 10 years, to be extended indefinitely based on the company performance and number of jobs created.

Labour Law

The province of Santa Fe enforces the Federal Law on Employment Contracts that sets forth equal employment terms for tariff promotion provinces and non tariff promotion provinces. Besides, Provincial Law 10,599 sets forth and provides for the registration of employment contracts for an indefinite term, a very useful tool to hire workers based on fixed term commercial agreements. The Government Secretary of Employment and Social Security of the province of Santa Fe is available to help any company that has to take the necessary steps or needs to streamline the process of registering the company contract, new employees, traineeship programs, etc. Likewise, the Secretary of Production, Employment Promotion and Foreign Trade of the Municipality of Rosario offers its services to facilitate all necessary steps.

Low operating costs

The fact that office rentals are 30/50% lower than in Buenos Aires is noteworthy; it provides more competitive conditions for business. Similar cost advantages exist in property and municipal tax rates as well as in subsidiary service providers (logistics, technology, advertising, etc).

Administrative agility

The efficiency and agility achieved with the modernisation of the local government structure has been recognized internationally. Rosario offers a government concerned with investors' needs, with a decentralised structure to speed and free from red tape official responses when it comes to channel private initiatives linked to the growth and the development of the region.

Adequate infrastructure

Rosario and its region is linked through a wide network of transport and communication options. It offers good productive, logistics and technology platforms (Rosario port, twenty private port terminals and Rosario International Airport). Rosario is one of the most important logistic nodes of MERCOSUR.

Funds for production

Rosario Municipal Bank has an SMC Department to provide consultancy services, foreign currency transactions and financial solutions to companies.

All the above mentioned together with available qualified human resources and a good urban quality of life were decisive factors to have large companies and multinational agencies locate in the region, including the Binational Centre of Vegetal Genomics, Rosario Agrobiotechnology Institute (INDEAR SA, Bioceres-Biosidus-AAPRESID and CONICET) and the Quality Center of IT Technology (Rosario Technological Pole-INTI).

Innovation and knowledge node

The entrepreneurial tradition together with our natural resources, production and scientific competence have created a new dynamics that is driven by knowledge.

In scenarios that demand fast resolutions and competitiveness, Rosario offers the consolidation of an Innovation and Knowledge Node that allows a territorial management of production as well as value transfer and value creation based on applied innovation.

The management of development policies that articulate education, science, production and technology is a pillar for territorial integration and social wellbeing.

As a consequence of public policies and private initiatives emerges a consolidation process of tech companies (IT, software, biotechnology, electronics) as well as new companies in the same field, which results in a regional tech cluster of pre-eminent companies, some with branches and offices in other provinces and abroad. This cluster gathers 30% of tech companies operating in Argentina. 

These companies employ over 1,500 professionals and technicians to provide their services to companies and industries in the region and worldwide. The increasing trend of new jobs, larger billing volumes, productive diversity and bigger market share show the vitality, vigour and strength of this significant value chain.

This node enhances competitiveness based on three key factors:

An outstanding example is http://www.polotecnologico.net/ (the Latin American Economic Commission said this is the only case in Argentina that successfully integrates universities, government and private companies).

Trust in public involvement and private initiative allowed domestic and foreign capitals to choose our city and establish here one of the most important innovation and knowledge complex in Latin America: the CeBiGeVe, Vegetal Genomics Research Argentine-Spanish Binational Center and INDEAR, Rosario Agrobiotechnology Institute, an association between Bioceres and BioSidus.

2004 saw the creation of the Promoter Group of Rosario Technological and Scientific Park (the PCTR&R), integrated by CERIDER, CONICET, the National University of Rosario, Rosario Technological University, Rosario Technological Pole, the Municipality of Rosario and the government of the province of Santa Fe.

The PCTR&R is planned to be a platform to foster creation and to strengthen and attract innovative undertakings for the transfer of technology. It will have positive impacts on the region, including economic diversification, new jobs for skilled workers, talent retention, increased competitiveness for local companies, positive image of Rosario as a business center with high value added and committed to protect the environment.

A Virtuous public private articulation

Rosario undertakes its competitive development by integrating diverse productive profiles in innovative value chains and under public private organizational platforms that reflect a culture of cooperation.

Fostering an institutional environment to favour the sustainable development of Rosario and its region as well as the wellbeing of local society, that is the commitment of the public sector and of social and business associations and institutions.

Our region features certain peculiarities that consolidate its local potentiality for development:

The city has become a promoter of a number of experiences on strategic planning that have deserved national and international recognition.

The United Nations Prize on Governance and Advancement has crowned the city’s hard work. Hard work marked out by a set of public initiatives driven by social and business actors.

These institutional features build experiences that consolidate the development model. Rosario Strategic Plan (the PER), Rosario Region Development Agency, Rosario Urban Plan and the Metropolitan Strategic Plan are some examples of the local associative culture.

Human Resources Training and Quality

Rosario offers adequate conditions for the development of technical, productive and scientific activities, for business, for culture and education with high international standards as well as a good entertainment offer. A critical mass of human resources supported by one of the most important Argentine university campus and faculty is noteworthy.

This University city houses over 80,000 students (8.73% of the total population) in six different universities. Currently, 15% of Rosario residents attend or have attended university courses, one of the highest rates in the country.

Education standards attract students from all over Argentina and from foreign countries that come to the city to follow undergraduate and graduate courses.

There is a wide range of courses on different fields that shape a mesh of professionals to meet diverse labour and technical requirements. A high percentage of university graduates majored in health sciences and economics.

Besides, Rosario shows a very positive rate of people dedicated to science and technology (18 out of every 10,000 residents), above the provincial and national rate. The city also features renowned tech research, development and transfer regional centers.

Rosario, a favourable environment for production

Rosario and its region concentrate most of the economically active population residing in Santa Fe and contributes over 50% of the provincial gross product.

Its productive mesh features multiple profiles:

Rosario and its region has emerged as the first agro-industrial center in the country thanks to its strong leadership in grain and grain-related exports, the number of food companies, the hotel and restaurant equipment manufacturers, the leading farm equipment manufacturers, so competitive in the global market, the dynamics of tech innovations applied to production, and the favourable institutional framework built along the years.

We can mention productive chains in the following industries:

The third sector is basically represented by real estate agents, business and financial undertakings, trade fairs, meetings and conferences, the hospitality industry, retailers and wholesalers, transport and communications.

The entrepreneurial mesh features shows diverse scales. Manufacturing features a great number of small and mid-sized companies with a significant know-how for processing regional resources.  In the last decade, these companies developed a sound strategy for the commercialization and positioning of their products in interesting shares of the domestic and international market.

Furthermore, the quantity and quality of human resources existing in the region allow the deployment of technological activities, including software development, IT equipment production, biotechnology applied to many industries, for instance, food, health, electronics, process automation as well as IT technologies for agriculture and industrial production.

Multinational companies also discovered the material and intangible advantages of their presence in the region and have designed several strategies towards that end: location of industrial sites or technological partnerships to strengthen local value chains.

Rosario offers an attractive environment for human settlement and community life. The city has an infrastructure of good quality, offers services linked to education and culture, entertainment, trade and health and is at the same time free of the stress, pollution, violence and crime that are typical in large South American metropolis.

The city is the most important economic and cultural center in the provinces because of its drive, its academic, productive and recreational dynamics that results in an adequate balance between human quality and urban quality.

Urban quality combines a complex, modern infrastructure of green, public spaces (10 square meters per resident), open access to the riverbank and to the Parana river, a well preserved urban and historical heritage highly recognized and appreciated worldwide.

An urban mesh with a logical design that allows fast daily travel, reduces commuting times and distances from and to residential areas and working districts.

The social pattern is varied and complex; the city offers a set of social advancement programs and an excellent public health system to meet the needs of its residents. Sustainability and quality of life are also strategic pillars of local politics.

A productive and healthy city that guarantees excellent security levels and mechanisms of social protection that foster economic wellbeing for those who build and project the city on a daily basis.

Rosario is a metropolitan city located 300 km north of Buenos Aires and 170 km south of the city of Santa Fe, the capital of the province. It is at the core of an urban and rural conglomerate known as Metropolitan Rosario. 1,500,000 people live here. Friendly weather and geography. The city is on a wavering plain of warm climate; annual average temperature ranges from 11.6° to 23.4°Celsius. Rainfall is 1,038 mm yearly. There are no earthquakes, no twisters, no snow storms, no volcano eruptions.

Besides, there is an ongoing process to consolidate metropolitan relations at regional scale to recover the once strong productive ring by linking the farming hinterland to the grain terminals and port facilities that export the production of the humid pampa. Grain terminals and port facilities extend along 60 km of the Parana river.

top