Por Rodolfo Pollini

We know that the pandemic had a strong impact in all areas. How do you analyze this impact from FECOBA and in the various sectors you represent?
That question is key, because not everyone has the same needs. FECOBA represents 240 chambers, of which 183 are national and we have about 70 neighborhood, local shopping centers. We have a vision of commerce, industry, services and tourism, because we represent all four sectors. From day one of the pandemic we started with a crisis committee and signed an agreement with the Argentine Epidemiological Association, chaired by Dr. Omar Sued, to work on procedure manuals, which were repeated in other places. My sector, footwear, spent 100 days with shoe stores closed, like clothing stores. Bars, restaurants and pizzerias, 150 days. In the City of Buenos Aires, 24,000 businesses closed permanently, 20% of the total.

In which sectors did these closures mostly occur?
Those that closed the most are from the clothing sector, also the gastronomic sector and a key factor, although it is not multiplied by the number of businesses, are the tourism agencies. There are extreme situations, because going 150 days without billing anything is something that does not happen anywhere in the world. I do not criticize it, I simply transmit it because my job is to have ten ears, listen and take what I hear to the administrators of the State, both the national Government and the City of Buenos Aires.

There are sectors that could remain open from the first moment. How did it go for them?
When with the first DNU it was allowed to leave essential businesses open, the first thing we did was the procedures manual for pharmacies, where there could be a greater number of infections. After the first two months, speaking with the president of the Chamber of Pharmacies, we found out that they were billing 43% less than last year. It seemed like a sector that was going to benefit and that is not the case.

How much did you estimate the real percentage turnover of the businesses that were able to open?
Between 20% and 25% on average. At the beginning of August we reached 32% year-on-year on the statistics that we have been taking since last year, which together with the previous one were very bad years. There were interest rates above 100%. For SMEs, which account for 97% of national production and generate 80% of employment, that is lapidary.

I imagine that although the State help arrived, it did not cover all of anyone's needs.
The ATPs were a help that came in very handy, because they covered 50% of the salary. Now we are asking for a moratorium for the City of Buenos Aires. These issues are value chains, because if you want to take out a loan, no matter how low the rate, the Central Bank requires compliance with a series of regulations. If you have tax debt, they won't give it to you, and in a pandemic like this the first thing that stops being paid is taxes. All the pieces have to be arranged and that is our job.

Among that number of businesses that have already closed, do you see alternatives or possibilities to return?
We are entrepreneurs, we reconstitute ourselves and get back on track, the thing is that this does not find us all at the same age. Every person who calls me is because they are in trouble and one has to have the courage to give them a word of encouragement, to transform anguish into hope in the possibilities that one can generate.

What actions did you take in addition to the procedure manuals to help businesses continue working?
Last year we launched FECOBA digital and when the pandemic started we had to accelerate everything because there was no more time. We created the estocerca.app tool, a free application for businesses and customers in which the merchant enters their products and whoever needs them finds them by geolocation, along with the comments of those who have already purchased there. Now we ask the Head of the City Government and the Chief of Staff of the national Government to help us spread it to the masses, because it took time, it cost a lot of money and we need people to know that it is there and load it on their phone. We also have to solve the logistics, which are very expensive, and ensure that with this application the product arrives in the shortest time and cost possible.
Within the crisis committee we created a security table. We are trying to get the bars and restaurants to open and speaking with the Madrid Chamber of Commerce they tell us that they set up everything on the street, even making pedestrian streets, with tables, bars and benches with a certain separation. The problem here, with people sitting outside, is to avoid being attacked by a motorcycle jet. We have to look for solutions that are not also a problem.

We already saw what happened, what is the expectation going forward?
The world has changed, now we have to sell in a different way and we don't just have to complain. When there is a process we transform it into a procedure. We are going to sign an agreement with IRAM so that everything we do has a technical format, standards and control over the responsibilities that are taken. The data we have on the number of closed stores and the situation by sector comes from our Ciudad Productiva SME Research Center (CIPBA), because we try to professionalize leadership and go towards digital, which is where the consumer is going now.