Complementación Productiva Industrial y Desarrollo en el MERCOSUR

This article discusses what kind of productive complementarities are needed between the Mercosur’s countries, in order to maximize the contribution to industrial development of the integration process, taking into account the international restrictions related to the Peripherical structural characteristics of the region. “Laissez faire” or “spontaneous” complementarities, explained by conventional international trade theories, resulting from the way in which “structural reforms” were applied in the last decades, are not sufficient to drive a long run development, decreasing productivity gaps between the region and the industrialized countries, and including population broadly in this process. After looking at the trajectories of industrial adjustments, a question is made about the future of this process, and the limited possibilities of a sustainable expansion within the actual restrictions and without changes in the Mercosur’s structural policies. Some sectors are selected to show some possible complementarity oriented industrial policies. Finally, this document includes some reflections about the opportunity for this kind of policies in the context of the present political process known as “Relanzamiento del Mercosur (Mercosur’s relaunching)”.