An inter-ministerial and business delegation travelled to Moscow. The two countries seek to strengthen their strategic partnership
Two weeks after the official visit by President Mauricio Macri to the Russian Federation, the 13th Meeting of the Argentina-Russia Intergovernmental Commission for Economic-Trade and Scientific-Technological Cooperation concluded today in Moscow. The purpose of the meeting was to boost the trade relationship and cooperation in different key areas, such as transport, agro-industry and science and technology. In addition, a delegation of Argentine companies participated in PRODEXPO, one of the largest agri-food exhibitions.
The Argentine inter-ministerial and business delegation was coordinated by the Foreign Ministry and headed by the Secretary for International Economic Relations, Horacio Reyser.
Among the outcomes of the meeting, 28 Argentine fisheries companies were granted authorization to export their products to Russia. Furthermore, the phytosanitary requirements to place Argentine fruit in the Russian market were established, and negotiations were conducted to achieve the opening of the fertile eggs and fish meal markets.
"The bilateral trade structure of our countries clearly shows that our economies complement each other. Considering the high competitiveness of Argentina's agro-industrial products and the huge demand for these products from Russian consumers, we can expect bilateral trade to grow fast," Reyser stated at the opening of the bilateral meeting.
Within the framework of this 13th Meeting of the Commission, Argentina presented the strategic railway modernization plan and a "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Railway Transport" was signed between Trenes Argentinos Sociedad del Estado (ADIF.SE), an Argentine state-owned company, and Russian Railways (RZD). Also successful were the negotiations between the National Administration of Drugs, Foods and Medical Devices (ANMAT) and the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) to work jointly.
This was the first meeting of its kind to address cooperation in science, technology and productive innovation, as a result of which cooperation agreements will be signed between the Argentine Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation and the Skolkovo Foundation, and between the Argentine Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) and its Russian counterpart.
The countries also expressed their interest in cooperating on space matters, and, in that vein, the Russian satellite navigation system known as GLONASS will be developed in Argentina.
Secretary Reyser was joined by Guillermo Fiad, the President of Trenes Argentinos, which reports to the Ministry of Transport; Jesus Silvera, the Undersecretary for Industrial Markets of the Ministry of Agro-Industry, and Alejandro Sruoga, the Secretary for Electric Energy of the Ministry of Energy and Mining.
PRODEXPO
In parallel, a group of Argentine agri-food companies participated in PRODEXPO, one of the largest agri-food exhibitions in the region, held on 5-9 February in Moscow. This 2018 edition is marked by an increased participation of producers of meat products, dairy products, wine, olive oil, dried fruit and other commodities of regional economies, all gathered at the Argentine pavilion in "meeting point" format. Last year, the exhibition featured 2,188 participants from 58 countries and 29 national pavilions, in addition to a great number of professional visitors from other post-Soviet countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.
Press release No. 041/18
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