At a press conference in Buenos Aires, IDEA president Santiago Mignone clearly set out the main task of the upcoming 62th colloquium: "We aspire to ensure that those who come build on what has been done, respect the commitments undertaken — RIGI and the debt — and do not revisit what brought us here."
Fabián Kon, the head of the colloquium, added: many of the transformations now being implemented were discussed for years; what matters now is to consolidate them for the long term and to ensure that society perceives them as a fundamental value.
The colloquium will be held in Mar del Plata from 30 September to 2 October 2026 under the slogan "Inverting history: from promise to powerhouse." The programme covers geopolitics, education, the labour market, competitiveness and, tellingly, a session on justice featuring prosecutor Diego Luciani, who prosecuted Cristina Kirchner in the Vialidad case.
On the agenda are an analysis of the models of Israel, Australia and Uruguay, speeches by Margaret Myers on the world order and Nicolás Aguzin on global capital markets, as well as the closing of the first day by former Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou. Government officials and politicians close to the current course, including Patricia Bullrich, are also listed as speakers.
Behind the talk of "stability" and "twenty years of growth" lies a concrete calculation: the business elite, which for decades has watched cycles of populism and nationalisation, now sees a chance to institutionalise change while the political window is open. They are not merely supporting current policy — they want to make it irreversible.
Among the topics under discussion are investment, international integration, demography, artificial intelligence and strategic resources. Particular attention is being paid to ensuring that "society buys into the concept" as a fundamental value rather than a temporary measure.
The presence of CGT representatives at the colloquium and the discussion of the future of labour show that businesspeople are ready to engage in dialogue, but on their own terms — without a return to the old disputes over models.
This strategy of a reform "bunker" lays bare the deep-seated fear of Argentine business: not so much of economic failure as of the next political cycle once again wiping everything out. They are trying to turn the current moment into a new norm that can no longer easily be undone.
In the end, the colloquium in Mar del Plata becomes not merely a forum of ideas but an attempt by the business community to lock in the rules of the game for decades to come — while the window of opportunity has not yet closed.
