On her second day in Santiago de Chile, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino was received by her counterpart, Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alberto van Klaveren, with whom she discussed matters on the broad political bilateral and regional agenda, as well as economic and integration issues.
Both ministers initially discussed the joint work related to the program of activities to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile that will include political, cultural and artistic activities from August to November of this year.
During the working meeting, Mondino and van Klaveren agreed on the need to redouble efforts in terms of integration and border facilitation, including the use of new technologies and ports, to optimize the movement of goods and people along the more than 5,000 kilometers of land border between Chile and Argentina.
Both countries regularly hold Border Integration Committee meetings between the bordering provinces and regions, and high-level technical meetings to optimize the operation and infrastructure of the 78 international crossings.
Concerning economic and trade matters, Foreign Minister Mondino expressed Argentina's interest in continuing to work to expand trade flows of goods and services, as well as diversifying the exportable supply. In this regard, she described the reforms implemented by the government on economic and trade matters, and highlighted the VI Meeting of the Binational Trade and Investment Commission that took place last April at the San Martín Palace, when a full work agenda was consolidated.
Trade with Chile stands out as the largest Argentine trade surplus for the seventh consecutive year. In 2023, the surplus was USD 4,217 million, based on exports of USD 4,950 million (-1.4% compared to 2022) and imports of USD 733 million (-5.8% compared to 2022). On an aggregated level, the main export items to Chile in 2023 were fuels and mineral oils, which totaled around USD 1,640 million (33.2%). Natural gas remained the main export product, accumulating USD 753 million (+8.64% compared to 2022). In the first six months of 2024, the surplus in goods amounted to USD 2,550 million, the result of USD 2,835 million in exports and USD 285 million in imports.
At the meeting, Mondino was accompanied by the Secretary for International Economic Relations, Marcelo Cima, and the Argentine ambassador to Chile, Jorge Faurie. The Chilean delegation that accompanied Foreign Minister van Klaveren was made up of the Chilean Ambassador to Buenos Aires, José Antonio Viera Gallo; the Secretary General for Foreign Policy, Rodrigo Olsen; the Director of the South American Division, Ricardo Bosnic; and the Director of Bilateral Economic Affairs, Sebastián Gomez Fiedler.
