Ministry of Productive Development


The Ministry of Productive Development of Argentina is a ministry of the national executive power that oversees and advises on the promotion of industrial policies and foreign trade in Argentina.
Since its establishment in 1949 it has been variously called Ministry of Industry, Industry and Commerce, Industry and Mining, Production, and Production and Labour. The ministry received its current name in 2019 in the incumbent cabinet of President Alberto Fernández; its current minister is Matías Kulfas, since 10 December 2019.

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

The Ministry of Productive Development counts with a number of centralized and decentralized dependencies. The centralized dependencies, as in other government ministers, are known as secretariats and undersecretariats, as well as a number of other centralized agencies:
Several decentralized agencies also report 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 is headquartered in the :es:Palacio de Hacienda|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