"Argentina is integrated with the world," Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie stated this afternoon in Resistencia, Chaco, on the occasion of the North-east Regional Meeting of the Belgrano Plan, which was opened today by President Mauricio Macri. "We were isolated for twelve years. Now, we are integrated again. The world has welcomed us with great expectations, because we can prove to be a constructive voice."
Within the framework of the panel discussion titled "Productivity boost in the Northern region," alongside Ministers Francisco Cabrera and Luis Etchevehere, and the President of the Argentine National Bank, Javier González Fraga, the Foreign Minister explained that "when negotiating over market access for agricultural products, efforts have been put into promoting regional economies and zero-tariff treatment has been obtained for several products from different provinces, whose exports will undergo a qualitative change."
Faurie also listed the "network of agreements" on "foreign trade" on which the Foreign Ministry is working: "with Chile, we entered into a significant economic complementarity agreement last November. We have also done so with Colombia in part, and we are currently negotiating with Mexico. We are holding talks with Egypt, North Africa, and with the Asian markets, in order to take our agricultural products not only to the large Chinese market, but also to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam."
Faurie referred to the "strategic" MERCOSUR-EU negotiation, which opens up the "possibility of accessing a market that accounts for 500 million people with purchasing power and that will also benefit us in terms of investment." Faurie further stated that "we are working to hold rich and constructive dialogue with the United States, with a focus on economic-trade issues but also with a political side to it" and underscored that "in the wake of the international situation arising from the discussion on trade barriers, Argentina managed to be exempted from tariffs on steel and aluminum. As regards the United Kingdom, we are building a relationship based on trust and, through this dialogue, there have been gestures of goodwill, such as the day on which the Relatives of the soldiers travelled to the Malvinas Islands. We are forging closer links, in order to enable the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands to be in touch with the mainland. But this is not all: we are also working on scientific-technical cooperation, and we are seeking investment." He further highlighted that Mercosur is conducting negotiations with other blocs and countries, namely: EFTA, ASEAN, Canada, South Korea, and Japan.
Finally, Faurie underscored the scope of Argentina's smart insertion into the world, "because if we are isolated, we will never fulfil our potential or reduce poverty, which is our highest priority. Nothing can be achieved in isolation, and this is why we are conducting negotiations with countries accounting for 50% of global GDP."
