Today, Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra inaugurated the customer service facilities of the Certifications Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship. The remodelling works carried out are based on computerizing the procedure, communication with the public and the physical space.
"One of the first things I did when I started working at the Foreign Ministry in December 2015 was to go around the building and one of the first offices I visited was the Certifications Office. I was appalled; just by having a look at it, you could see the conditions in which our staff were working, which were really bad. It was very hot, there were three fans on and yet air did not circulate," said the Foreign Minister.
She continued: "Also, customer service, which is our main function, was terrible. That very same day I gave instructions to promptly remedy that situation. It was remedied eventually, though it took longer than I would have liked. But the goal has been achieved."
Malcorra underscored that: "What we are doing today, and I am glad to say this before I leave, is a tribute to those who are in the front line, those who provide customer service to our citizens every day and are the face of the Foreign Ministry that people can see; and this is also about respecting the people that come here to have their documents duly certified, in a proper environment and with appropriate systems and mechanisms; all of this allows us to improve every day."
We also reached an agreement with the Association of Notaries Public so as to increasingly use the Apostille to avoid the need for applications to be made in person. "Now it is up to you to propose ideas and make things even better. I will leave with the feeling that I have worked both for the internal aspects of the Foreign Ministry and for its external aspects, as illustrated by this example. We have shown that we listen, we serve and we understand. And the fact that this was done before I leave brings me joy. Today is a day to celebrate," concluded Malcorra.
ANALYSIS
In addition, in statements to the press, the Foreign Minister stated: "I leave with the feeling that there are still things left to be done. If you leave with the feeling that everything has been done, you have to worry. The commitment made with the President was to quickly insert Argentina into the world, that is, to position Argentina within a wide range of countries, both in terms of bilateral relations and multilateral relations. I believe we have successfully accomplished this. But this does not mean that everything is solved; it is necessary to strengthen the agreements reached and implement them, and we also have to go to places where we have not been yet: India, some parts of Africa, Southeast Asia.
"In the course of 18 months, we have beaten every record: we have met with two Heads of State or Government per month on average and even more Foreign Ministers; we have undertaken 15 trips abroad (almost one trip per month); we have reached several agreements; and we have held multilateral meetings. I think that can bring us satisfaction," said Malcorra.
As regards Ambassador Faurie, she stated: "I will give him a folder with an assessment of what we have done so far. He will work in his own way, with his own style. What we have done is just the basis, the foundations. It is far from being the full completed work. And I believe President Macri wants to work on that basis and accomplish goals and concrete results that have a positive impact on Argentine people. That is what he asked of me, and that is why I attached priority to work as a central element in eradicating poverty. Now, there is further work to do to turn these actions into jobs for the people.
CHANCELLOR MERKEL'S VISIT
"It is a very important visit. It is key. The Chancellor comes with two main agendas. Firstly, there is the bilateral agenda. Germany is a particularly important country for us. We will succeed them in the G-20 Presidency, and this is part of what Chancellor Merkel wants to discuss with President Macri," stated Malcorra.
"Merkel is coming right after the G-7 meeting, and that will allow the President to have a first-hand idea of the meeting and how we have to prepare ourselves, and it also places us at the centre of negotiations. When there are deadlocks and differences to be solved, it is the host country that has to deal with them. That places a major responsibility on us, and the fact that President Macri can draw on the information provided by Chancellor Merkel herself about how this has worked in the context of the G-7 and how the G-20 is prepared means a lot," Malcorra highlighted.
Lastly, she stated: "There is a large business delegation coming with Chancellor Angela Merkel, and what we want is to follow this path of strengthening investment opportunities. There are two fields in which we are particularly interested as regards Germany: one has to do with SMEs development and their integration into the value chains of large enterprises, since this has been a key feature of the very interesting German model and we are working on that; and the other field has to do with reintegration into the labour market and retraining: Germany has developed a really interesting model of educational interaction between the business sector and the Government, and we are working to replicate this model as appropriate, which will also be one of the topics of our G-20.
Press release No. 222/17
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