Talking about investment in Argentina is always challenging. Those who look at the country with a long-term vocation usually find two parallel scenarios: on the one hand, resources, talent and sectors with enormous potential; on the other, a regulatory, tax and exchange rate reality that discourages or directly prevents planning at scale.
In this context, the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), recently regulated by Decree 749/2024, appears as a tool that - by design - seeks to break with this logic. Unlike other more limited or imprecise promotional regimes that Argentina has had in the past, the RIGI has a different structural vocation: defined sectors, concrete benefits, a designated application authority and active procedures, and represents a serious institutional step, aimed at attracting large-scale projects, both local and international.
This regime is aimed at companies planning investments equal to or greater than USD 200 million, in strategic sectors such as Infrastructure: logistics, transport, public services, health, education, telecommunications, defence; Real estate with a structural vocation: tourism, urban or integrated logistics projects; Energy and oil/gas: generation, storage, transport, LNG plants, refineries; Mining: lithium, copper, gold, among others, from prospecting to export; Technology: from AI and software to sustainable mobility, satellites or nuclear industry; Forestry industry, steel industry, tourism: with a focus on exports and sustainability.
To gain access, a Single Project Vehicle (VPU), a legal entity that will exclusively channel this investment, must be set up. From there, the project applies through certain specific procedures to undergo a technical evaluation, with certain and determined deadlines.
In practical and summary terms, the RIGI offers a powerful combination of tax, customs and exchange rate incentives, including:
- Income tax reduction at 25% for the VPU
- Accelerated depreciation of capital goods.
- Import duty exemption for inputs and equipment.
- Free availability of exported foreign exchange, progressively up to 100%.
- International arbitration regime to resolve disputes.
- Regulatory and tax stability for 30 years, even in the face of provincial changes (if the province adheres to the regime, as Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, Cordoba, among others, have already done).
The logic is clear: to facilitate intensive investment, with concrete economic impact, in a country in need of capital, employment and infrastructure.
But RIGI cannot be analysed in a vacuum. It must be put in context and analyse the structural barriers to doing business still in place in the country: high effective tax burden, multi-jurisdictional regulatory pressure, foreign exchange restrictions, excessive bureaucracy to start or scale up projects and legal uncertainty, among other aspects, which even in early 2025 were holding Argentina back in the rating of international funds in their "watchlists", not for lack of opportunities, but for lack of basic conditions to execute and protect investment.
It is true that the recent modifications to the exchange rate regime have allowed a further step to be taken on this path of foresight and legal security for investors, since the limitations to transfer capital abroad have been one of the main obstacles and a constant in business climate reports and international competitiveness rankings.
Indeed, after a period of more rigid exchange controls (2019-2023), where regulations were oriented towards strict capital controls with the obligation to repatriate and settle foreign exchange for exports in the official market (MULC), limiting the ability to keep funds abroad, and restrictions on the payment of dividends to non-residents, which in practice operated as a prohibition, From 2024 onwards, a notorious period of opening and flexibilisation has begun, first through the unification of the exchange rate system and then through the deregulation of payments abroad, including the possibility of transfers abroad of profits, provided that they come from effective accounting profits, especially for those generated from 1/01/2025 onwards.
In this context, although the RIGI is not the solution to all problems, it does materialise a vocation to establish a predictable investment policy that is complemented by a whole series of deregulations in activities and in particular in the flow of funds abroad.
However, the RIGI provides a unique opportunity, a legal and fiscal bypass for companies that are in a position to invest on a large scale and need contractual and tax predictability.
The key, in these cases, is in the structuring. Because adhering to the regime requires more than just complying with a form: it requires properly articulating the investment project, defining its legal, financial and tax framework, foreseeing licences and permits, correctly calculating the investment plan, demonstrating a non-distortive impact on the local market, and incorporating a plan of Argentine suppliers that meets the regime's standards.
From the point of view of professional practice, this process requires strategic accompaniment, with a strong legal and fiscal focus, and from a broader logic: operational feasibility, regulatory compatibility, legal structure and financial design aligned with long-term objectives.
Sectors that could capitalise on the scheme include infrastructure, real estate with a logistics or tourism anchor, renewable energy, mining and technology applied to industrial processes. Even real estate developments or industrial parks exceeding USD 200 million, if they are well structured and meet the RIGI criteria, could be eligible. It is key to understand that this regime is not for everyone, but it can be a game changer for those who are already thinking about integrated projects of scale, with regional or international projection.
Argentina did not become an easy country to invest in from one day to the next, but it is rapidly moving towards greater agility and transparency, which represents a great opportunity in a market with expectations and needs for growth. These opportunities can be captured if projects are executed with adequate foresight, not only from a technical point of view, but also with the necessary expertise in the field.
If well executed, it can make a difference.