So far, of the 27 initiatives presented, the authorities have approved 10 projects for a total of USD 25.479 billion, with a promise of 32,539 jobs between direct and indirect. The figure, in absolute terms, is impressive and allows the ruling coalition to showcase a concrete portfolio of investments in strategic sectors. The decision by the national government to extend the validity of the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) until July 2027 has once again put a key discussion for the Argentine economy at the center: whether the large volume of capital committed to energy, mining, and infrastructure can translate into a labor recovery capable of compensating for the deterioration in employment. In the same province, Minas Argentinas is pushing the Nuevo Gualcamayo project, with USD 665 million to reactivate a gold mine and a projection of 4,500 jobs. Also in lithium mining, significant movements are being recorded. In Salta, Rio Tinto was approved to expand Rincón de Litio, with an investment of USD 2.744 billion and an estimated need for 1,985 workers. To this is added another uncomfortable fact: some of the sectors today celebrated as engines of the future, such as mining and energy, have also felt the brake on construction associated with investments and the loss of jobs in complementary activities in recent months. In this context, the great bet of the Government seems clear: to trust that the arrival of capital and the consolidation of large export projects will ultimately drive employment, foreign currency, and growth. The extension of the deadline until July 8, 2027, officialized by Decree 105/2026, responded precisely to that logic: to give more time to structure complex projects, especially in energy, mining, and large industrial developments. Nevertheless, the optimism of the announcements coexists with a rougher labor landscape. It also reaches heavy industry, renewable energies, and port infrastructure. That figure makes it the project with the highest projected labor impact among the approved group, a fact that explains why the Government often shows it as an example of the regime's ability to radiate activity beyond the extraction of natural resources. With this set, the ruling coalition gains political volume to defend RIGI as a tool to attract long-term capital in sectors where Argentina needs scale, infrastructure, and predictability. But at the same time, it opens a question that is already circulating insistently in official offices, companies, and consultancies: whether that volume of projected employment will be enough to revive a labor market that has been hit by recession, the paralysis of works, the closure of companies, and the retreat of several traditional productive sectors. Within that universe, the strongest core appears in mining and hydrocarbons, two areas that concentrate a large part of the regional bets. To this map have recently been added other mining developments approved under the regime, consolidating the Cuyo and NOA regions as one of the main attraction poles of the scheme. In the energy front, the weight of Vaca Muerta and export projects is again decisive. Different specialists have been warning that a large part of these projects require long maturation periods and that their impact will not be immediate. In Catamarca, Galan Lithium was authorized to advance with Hombre Muerto Oeste, an initiative valued at USD 292 million with a promise of 670 jobs. In San Juan, the copper project Los Azules, driven by McEwen Copper, plans an investment of USD 2.672 billion and the creation of 7,391 jobs, placing it among the projects with the most weight in occupational terms. In San Nicolás, Sidersa approved an investment of around USD 286 million to develop a 'green' steel plant, with a projection of 3,800 jobs. In the same province, Southern Energy projects the installation of an LNG barge in the Gulf of San Matías, an initiative of enormous scale, valued at USD 15.156 billion throughout its useful life, with an estimated creation of 1,900 jobs. The scope of RIGI does not end in mining and oil. Therefore, although the numbers of RIGI offer a powerful picture and a narrative of the future, the underlying challenge remains the same: to turn approvals into concrete works, works into production, and production into genuine and sustained employment. But between promise and reality, time always mediates, and in present-day Argentina, economic time and social time do not always advance at the same pace. The Vaca Muerta Sur pipeline, led by the VMOS consortium and integrated by YPF, PAE, Vista, Pampa Energía, Pluspetrol, Chevron, and Shell, plans an investment of USD 2.900 billion in Río Negro and the generation of 3,108 jobs. In Mendoza, YPF Luz received approval for the El Quemado solar park, for USD 211 million and 384 jobs, while in Olavarría, PCR and Acindar advance with a USD 276 million wind park and 165 jobs. Among all, one of the most striking data comes from Santa Fe, where the Multipurpose Terminal Project Timbúes, presented by Terminales y Servicios S.A., contemplates an investment of USD 277 million but an estimated generation of 9,700 jobs between direct and indirect. In addition, the potential creation of 32,539 jobs still looks modest compared to the dimension of the deterioration accumulated in the formal labor market.
