Ministry of Productive Development


The Ministry of Productive Development of Argentina was a ministry of the national executive power overseeing and advising on the promotion of industrial policies and foreign trade in Argentina.
Starting from its establishment in 1949, it was variously called Ministry of Industry, Industry and Commerce, Industry and Mining, Production, and Production and Labour. The ministry received its last name in 2019 in the cabinet of President Alberto Fernández; its last minister is Daniel Scioli. It was dissolved in August 2022 as part of a cabinet reorganization process; the Production portfolio currently stands as a secretariat of the Ministry of Economy.

History

The Ministry of Productive Development was originally founded as the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in 1949, during the presidency of Juan Domingo Perón. Perón was especially interested in industrializing the Argentine economy, which at the time was heavily dependent on agriculture. The first minister in the portfolio was José Constantino Barro, who served during Perón's first presidential term from 1949 until 1952. In Perón's second presidential term, the ministry was renamed to simply "Ministry of Industry", a name that was retained by the military governments of Eduardo Lonardi and Pedro Eugenio Aramburu.
Successive administrations revived the ministry under various names and with various additional responsibilities, including that of commerce and mining; otherwise the industry and production portfolios were organized as secretariats of the Treasury Ministry. Since 2019, the Ministry's official name is Ministry of Productive Development, with Matías Kulfas at its helm.

Structure and dependencies

At the time of its dissolution in August 2022, the Ministry of Productive Development counted with a number of centralized and decentralized dependencies. The centralized dependencies, as in other government ministers, were known as secretariats and undersecretariats, as well as a number of other centralized agencies:
  • Secretariat of Domestic Trade
  • *Undersecretariat of Domestic Trade Policies
  • *National Competition Defense Commission
  • *Undersecretariat of Consumer Defense Actions
  • Secretariat for Small and Medium-sized Businesses and Entrepreneurs
  • *Undersecretariat of Pyme Financing and Competition
  • *Undersecretariat of Pyme Productivity and Regional Development
  • *Undersecretariat of Entrepreneurs
  • Secretariat of Industry, Economy and Foreign Trade Administration
  • *Executive Unit for the Argentine Foreign Trade Single Registry National Regime
  • *National Foreign Trade Commission
  • *Undersecretariat of Industry
  • *Undersecretariat of Commercial Policy and Administration
  • *Undersecretariat of Knowledge Economy
  • Secretariat of Mining
  • *Undersecretariat of Mining Development
  • *Undersecretariat of Mining Policy
  • Secretariat of Energy
  • *Undersecretariat of Electric Energy
  • *Undersecretariat of Hydrocarbon Fuels
  • *Undersecretariat of Energy Planning
Several decentralized agencies also reported to the Ministry of Productive Development, such as the National Institute of Industrial Technology, the National Institute of Industrial Property, the Buenos Aires Central Market, and the Banco de Inversión y Comercio Exterior.

Headquarters

The Ministry of Productive Development was headquartered in the Palacio de Hacienda, located in the Monserrat barrio in Buenos Aires, which has historically housed the Ministry of Economy as well as other ministerial portfolios such as public works and transport. The building was built in two stages from 1937 to 1950 and stands on Hipólito Yrigoyen street, across from the emblematic Plaza de Mayo square and the Casa Rosada, seat of the Presidency.

List of ministers