Today, Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie was received in Singapore by his counterpart, Vivian Balakrishnan. Both Ministers signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Technical and Triangular Cooperation and continued the talks being held between Argentina and Singapore on economic and trade issues at the bilateral and regional levels.
At the bilateral level, the Argentine Foreign Minister and his Singaporean counterpart expressed their intention to sign, as soon as possible, the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BID) and the Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation (ADT), the negotiation of which is at an advanced stage. In that regard, Balakrishnan underscored that the execution of these agreements will give a clear signal to Singaporean investors in terms of investment opportunities available in Argentina.
Faurie, for his part, stated that Argentina has high expectations for an increase in bilateral trade, especially as regards Argentine agro-industrial product exports to Singapore.
With respect to technical cooperation, the Memorandum signed will enable the organization of joint training activities for the mutual benefit of both parties and of third countries in fields such as agro-industry and the use of information technologies in management and public services.
At the regional level, the Argentine Foreign Minister highlighted that MERCOSUR considers it a priority to reach an agreement with ASEAN, an economic bloc comprising the ten Southeast Asian nations, which will be chaired by Singapore next year.
Finally, Faurie and Balakrishnan agreed on the great complementarity between both countries and undertook to work on the economic and political relations so that they may reach their full potential.
Following the meeting with his counterpart, Minister Faurie visited the headquarters of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), where he was received by its Assistant Managing Director, Lim Swee Nian.
The main goal of the EDB, an agency under the authority of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is to promote business in Singapore through support programmes for local actors and foreign businesses wishing to exert influence in the entire region from Singapore. Examples of these foreign businesses are Tenaris and Bagó, which have already opened sales offices in the Asian country.
In addition to expressing his support and encouragement for the EDB to engage more Argentine businesses to set up offices in Singapore, the Argentine Foreign Minister highlighted the Argentine Government's special interest in boosting cutting-edge technological advances already achieved in the country.
Furthermore, Minister Faurie discussed the advances made in the partnership between INVAP and the Singaporean company ADDVALUE -whose contract is currently in force-, through which the Argentine company provides consultancy services in order to "spatialize" the Inter- Satellite Data Relay communications system (IDRS) for low earth orbit satellites. In that regard, Faurie and Lim highlighted the importance of reaching a general agreement on satellite technology, which is already under negotiation.
At the end of the meeting, Faurie stated that Argentina must benefit from and strengthen the relations between the EDB and Argentine actors, both public and private, especially technological, agri-business and biomedical companies, in order to foster the expansion of its businesses in Asia.
At his last meeting before returning to Argentina, Faurie met with the Singaporean Minister for Trade, Lim Hng Kiang, with whom he discussed the shared goal to support the multilateral trade system and the progress in MERCOSUR-ASEAN dialogue, in addition to addressing their mutual interest in boosting bilateral trade.
Lim also highlighted the interest of Singaporean investors in commencing or increasing their participation in the Argentine economy through bidding processes or projects especially pertaining to the fields of infrastructure, transport, logistics, energy and new technologies, among others.
Press release No. 367/17
Press Office: 4819-7375 / 8296 / 7388
@CancilleriaARG
