After participating in the meeting of the OECD Ministerial Council yesterday, Foreign Minister Mondino held a number of meetings with high-level political authorities and company executives, with a view to consolidating and expanding political and economic ties with France.
First, Mondino was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Stéphane Séjourné. They highlighted the historical ties between Argentina and France—which have been given the status of “privileged relationship”—and the excellent state of the current bilateral relations. In addition, they discussed the common agenda and current global issues, in line with the work done last February when Séjourné visited Argentina during his first trip to the Americas as France’s Foreign Minister.
Foreign Minister Mondino stressed that Argentina is seeking to strengthen its trade and investment ties with France, with two main goals: increasing Argentina’s exports and the flow of French investments (8th top foreign investor in our country) in sectors such as infrastructure, the manufacturing industry and energy, among others.
For that purpose, Mondino offered details on the state of the reforms promoted by President Milei’s administration, in particular those aimed at facilitating trade, business and investments, as well as creating an environment of predictability and confidence. For his part, Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné commended Argentina’s decision to initiate its accession to the OECD and expressed his interest in learning more about the stage of the process after the adoption of the Roadmap, the day before their meeting. Finally, both Foreign Ministers discussed issues on the regional and global agenda, including the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine.
In the afternoon, the Foreign Minister met with the Minister of Economy of France, Bruno Le Maire, who expressed his interest in learning more about Argentina’s economic situation, as well as his willingness to contribute to the positive bilateral cooperation relationship. Mondino offered an overview of the reforms promoted and their implementation status and expressed Argentina’s interest in strengthening exchange and cooperation with France.
Regarding investment opportunities, they discussed the importance of continuing to work on energy transition vectors (gas, renewable energies, critical minerals, hydrogen and low-carbon derivatives), of which Argentina is a reliable and trustworthy supplier.
The Foreign Minister also met with Estella Brachlianoff, CEO of VEOLIA, a business group with presence across the five continents that develops solutions for water, waste and energy management. VEOLIA has been operating in Argentina since the 1990s and has 2200 collaborators throughout the country. Its activities mainly include waste management and treatment, street cleaning and industrial waste management. VEOLIA employs 220 thousand workers worldwide.
Following their meeting of last December on the occasion of her first trip abroad, the Foreign Minister was received by Emmanuel Bonne, President Emmanuel Macron’s Diplomatic Counsellor on international issues. At this meeting, the Foreign Minister offered details on Argentina’s political and economic situation, particularly on the government programmes and the ongoing reforms. Both authorities discussed the current regional and global situation and Argentina’s prospects based on the measures implemented by the Argentine Government.
