By Law No. 27,570, published in the Official Gazette on October 26, 2020, certain amendments were made to the Law No. 27,506 that had established the Regime for the Promotion of the Knowledge Economy in Argentina (hereinafter the RPKE).

The RPKE has the goal of promoting economic activities that apply the use of knowledge and the digitalization of information, supported by breakthroughs in science and technology, to obtaining goods, providing services and / or improving processes (article 1).

The RPKE is effective as of January 1, 2020, until December 31, 2029.

1. Included activities and promoted fields

The PKER, in its article 2, makes an extensive listing of the activities included and fields promoted, subject to the detail the regulation will make about the scope of the activities and fields.

a) Included activities

According to article 2, the PKER includes the following activities:

(i) “… creation, design, development, production and implementation or adaptation of products and services and their associated technical documentation, both in its basic and applied aspects, including that which is prepared to be incorporated into processors and/or other technological devices … “; and

(ii) “… engineering, exact and natural sciences, agricultural sciences and medical sciences related to research and experimental development tasks”.

The scope of the PKER is much broader than software and ICTs (information and communication technologies) and extends to fields not strictly related to technology.

b) Promoted fields

As to fields, the PKER promotes:

a) Software and computer and digital services, including:

(i) Development of software products and services (SAAS), existing or to be created in the future, applying to activities such as e-learning, interactive marketing, e-commerce, application providing services, electronic edition and publication of information; as long as they are part of an integrated IT offer and add value to it;

(ii) Development and fine-tuning of original software products that may be registered as an unpublished or edited work;

(iii) Implementation and fine-tuning for third parties of proprietary software products or those created by third parties, and of registered products;

(iv) Customized software development when this activity allows for the distinction of the created added value, even though in the relevant contracts the intellectual property is assigned to third parties;

(v) Value-added computer services aimed at improving the security of equipment and networks, the reliability of software programs and systems, the quality of systems and data, and the management of the information and knowledge of the organizations;

(vi) Development of parts of systems, modules, routines, procedures, documentation, provided that they complement or integrate software products that may be registered;

(vii) Services of design, coding, implementation, maintenance, remote support, resolution of incidents, conversion and/or translation of computer languages, addition of functions, preparation of user documentation and guarantee or quality advice on systems, among others, all of them to be made to software products destined to external markets;

(viii) Development and fine-tuning of software that is designed to be incorporated into processors (inserted or embedded software) used in goods and systems of various kinds;

(ix) Video games; and

(x) Cloud-computing services;

b) Audiovisual production and postproduction, including those of digital format;

c) Biotechnology, bio-economy, biology, biochemistry, microbiology, bioinformatics, molecular biology, neurotechnology and genetic engineering, geoengineering and their testing and analysis;

d) Geological and prospecting services and services related to electronics and communications;

e) Professionalservices only to the extent that are for export and fall within the scope of the following[1]:

I) Legal services, general accounting, consulting management services, management and public relationsservices, auditing, regulatory compliance, tax and legal advice;

II) Translation and interpretation services, management of human resources (search, selection and placement of personnel);

III) Advertising services, creation and implementation of advertising campaigns (content creation, institutional communication, strategy, graphic/web design, advertising);

IV) Design: user experience design, product experience design, user interface, web design, industrial design , textile design, clothing and footwear, graphic design, editorial design, interactive design;

V) Architectural and engineering services: architectural consulting (elaboration and design of projects and plans and schemes of works, urban planning), machinery and industrial plant design, engineering, project management and technical activities in engineering projects.

f) Nanotechnology and nanoscience;

g) Aerospace and satellite industry, space technologies;

h) Engineering for the nuclear industry; and

i) Manufacturing, fine-tuning, maintenance and introduction of goods and services oriented to automation solutions in production that include feedback cycles from physical to digital processes and vice versa, being at all times, exclusively characterized by the use of industry 4.0 technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and industrial internet, internet of things, sensors, additive manufacturing, augmented and virtual reality.

We will deal with other aspects of the current Regime for the Promotion of the Knowledge Economy in Argentina in future publications.

Mario E. Castro Sammartino

[1] This subsection was modified, limiting the professional export services to the ones listed.

For additional information on these or any other issues related to doing business in Argentina, please, sign up for our Legal Blog or contact us at any time. Our publications exclusively express the author´s opinion and do not purport to be legal counsel on any case. Should you need it, you must consult with your trusted lawyer.

More publications on companies