BUENOS AIRES – Argentine President Mauricio Macri urged on Monday private companies and public universities to work together on behalf of improving education and accelerating the “digital process” in the South American country. 

“Education is fundamental, it should bring all of us together to create jobs because that’s the road to reducing poverty,” he said during the inauguration of the Center for Development and Technological Research at La Matanza Universidad Nacional in Buenos Aires province. 

Macri likened his vision for digitalization in Argentina to what he observed during his recent trip to the United States, where, he said, companies have achieved cost reductions as a result of a revolution in logistics.” 

“With intelligence, we have to provide our youngsters with the tools to be part of that future world,” the president said. 

As an example of what he would like to see happen, he pointed to Argentina’s Mercado Libre, an e-commerce platform he compared to US-based giant Amazon. 

“Small firms can grow to be medium-size firms, and medium-size firms can grow to become big,” Macri said, described that as the path to economic growth. 

The new center at La Matanza will be equipped with 3D printers, robotics, advanced programming capacity and virtual reality tools. 

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