Today, Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie and his counterpart from the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, chaired a meeting to relaunch the Cooperation Committee for Border Area Development (CO.DE.FRO, in the Spanish acronym), which seeks to promote integration and economic, cultural and social development along the Argentina-Uruguay border.
"Borders should not be a barrier or a mere checkpoint; borders should be an area for people's movement, so that we can choose on which side of the border we want to do things and move freely and reasonably, and for facilitating the movement of goods. Those are the goals that CO.DE.FRO must have," Foreign Minister Faurie stated today during the meeting held in Salto to relaunch the bi-national committee, which was also attended by the Governor of Entre Ríos province, Gustavo Bordet, the head of the Argentine delegation to the Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay (CARU in the Spanish acronym), Héctor Mauro Vazón, and several auhtorities of the two countries.
Faurie stated that the committee "should introduce initiatives for greater freedom in the movement of people and goods" and that "every project that we plan must be grounded on the idea of closer links."
"For this relaunching to meet expectations, -Faurie continued- it is paramount to update the agenda relating to the projects and needs of the border towns. We are highly positive about the very ambitious agenda that has been set."
"Both Argentina and Uruguay are inserting our countries into the world based on agricultural efficiency. We need to think about how to be more competitive and how to make production more efficient, which gives us continuous opportunities as a country," Faurie stated during the relaunching of this bi-national committee established in 1987 but inoperative since 2004.
In this regard, the Argentine Foreign Minister stated during "this first talk on the committee, whose operation should have never been interrupted," that "differences between Argentines and Uruguayans were inconceivable. We are you on the other side of the border and you are us. Therefore, we should never have differences."
For his part, Foreign Minister Nin Novoa highlighted that "the committee had not held meetings since 2004" and stated that "to us, this is very important: Uruguayans and Argentines share a common future."
"This is a region where exchange and cooperation have a considerable impact on our countries' current agenda, not only because of the major population centres on both banks of the River Uruguay, but also because of the region's productive weight," the Uruguayan Foreign Minister stated.
CO.DE.FRO. is a Committee that promotes integration and economic, cultural and social development along the Argentina-Uruguay border. The Committee is made up of 5 members representing each country (representatives of the Foreign Ministries, other governmental offices and the towns concerned) and the representatives of the Foreign Ministries alternate in holding its Presidency on a yearly basis. Its main goals include promoting integration and development in the border areas along the River Uruguay of the two countries (including, on the Argentine side, the border areas in Entre Ríos and in the southern region of Corrientes, and, on the Uruguayan side, all coastal towns except Colonia), a priority region that offers opportunities for integration activities.
During the Foreign Ministers' meeting held last 3 August 2017 in Montevideo, the Ministers reiterated their countries' interest in relaunching the activities of the Committee, on the understanding that it is useful as a forum to address high-impact issues for the River Uruguay region.
Press release No. 552/17
Press Office: 4819-7375 / 8296 / 7388
@CancilleriaARG
