An opposition governor who rejected the RIGI is now seeking to join amid the decline in industrial employment in his province

The president’s original position had been, some time ago, reject the large investment regime and not incorporate Tierra del Fuego among the included jurisdictions, but the destruction of jobs In the local industrial framework that includes the promotion regime, the administration now explores that other sectors carry out productive projects, mainly oil and gas, the forestry industry or even tourism.

“At the beginning I was opposed to the RIGI, then we worked on it, we saw it, even advising each other and convincing us that it is positive and companies asked for it“Melella assured in dialogue with Clarion and other media during the inauguration of the French TotalEnergies wind farm in Río Cullen, 130 kilometers from Río Grande. He mentioned, as provincial advisors, the economists Martín Redrado and Miguel Peirano.

The provincial leader announced in March of this year, when he inaugurated the ordinary sessions of the local parliament, that the Fuegian Executive would send a bill to discuss joining the RIGI. Last week the commission discussions began, the body obtained an opinion and This Thursday it would be discussed on the premises.

The political climate is not favorable to the governor in recent weeks. As explained ClarionMelella – whose origin is not Peronist, but from the radical FORJA party, allied to Kirchnerism – broke with La Cámpora. The last chapter that dynamited the relationship was the repeal in the Legislature – with a Peronist majority – of the law that calls for reform of the provincial Constitution.

In this context, the Fuegian Legislature will discuss joining the RIGI this Thursday, according to local media. In this case, it is a project from the La Libertad Avanza block. “Our bloc fully supports,” Melella said to the press.

“Less mining, which we are prohibited by the provincial Constitution, but both hydrocarbons, energy, and if it opens for other sectors such as aquaculture, there is a very great potential“said the governor.

The economic framework is also critical for the province. According to the president, the industrial promotion regime – a special tax scheme for Tierra del Fuego that the Nation established by law 54 years ago to populate the province – lost 45% of its staff due to the opening of imports and the drop in activity.

The regime does not only include the electronics industry, but other areas such as plastic or textiles. This last subsector is the most affected: in the province they mention that Of 10 companies that were part of the special tax scheme, only 2 remain standing. In electronic industrial companies there were no massive layoffs, they say, although staff numbers were reduced due to non-renewal of contracts or employees retiring and not being replaced.

According to data from the national Ministry of Labor, in Tierra del Fuego formal salaried employment fell 9.8% in the last yearwith information until last January. There were 3,600 positions, from 36,500 workers to 32,900 in twelve months. In comparison with the moment of the change of government, the drop in provincial employment was 5,000 positions.

A study by the consulting firm Politikón Chaco, specialized in finance and economics of the provinces, mentioned that the Ushuaia-Río Grande urban conglomerate is the one with the highest percentage of formal salaried employees in the country compared to total employment. 83% are salaried and only 13.4% are self-employed. It is a third compared to Formosa, the province that appears at the other extreme, with 63% salaried workers and 34% self-employed.

The southernmost province of Argentina experienced a marked deterioration of its public accounts: went from having a comfortable surplus in mid-2024 to having a financial deficit of 16% in relation to provincial income, according to Politikón data based on official information.

At the end of last year, in the midst of difficulties in paying bonuses, the governor asked the companies of the Fuegian industrial regime for an advance on a provincial tax and collected $2.3 billion.