Argentina – Japan: Malcorra and other Argentine ministers received a group of business representatives

“We highly value the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister and we believe it will make a positive contribution to the process of building the Argentina of the 21st century, in which development, infrastructure, service provision capacity and exports of value-added products are essential,” said Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra this morning at the Palacio San Martín, where she received a delegation of business persons and officials who accompanied Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his first official visit to Argentina.

“Your presence here fills us all with great optimism and we hope that Japan will be interested in including Argentina in its investment portfolio. The rules that obstructed trade, entry to the financial market and the basic conditions for integration into the international community have been modified. Argentina is undergoing a long-term transformation for good,” added the Foreign Minister, who was accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Alfonso Prat Gay, the Minister of Transport, Guillermo Dietrich, the Minister of Energy and Mining, Juan José Aranguren, and the Minister of Production, Francisco Cabrera, among others.

Minister Cabrera stated that “our intention is to continue working together to strengthen trade relations and promote new projects so that Argentine products may reach more markets. We hope we will conclude the negotiations we initiated in August to promote a Bilateral Investment Treaty as soon as possible. There are some very important Japanese companies in Argentina, which follow the best international practices and provide jobs for thousands of Argentines. The increasing confidence in Argentina is translated into investments that create quality jobs.”

Argentine Minister of Transport Dietrich addressed the distinguished delegation of Japanese business representatives —which was led by Eiichi Hasegawa, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, and made up of CEOs and high-ranking officials of Mitsubishi, Marubeni Corporation, Mitsui, The Bank of Tokyo, NEC, Nippon Signal, Toyota Argentina, and Honda Motor Argentina— and explained that “we are implementing a USD 33 million investment plan over the next 3 years in order to double the number of motorways, recover freight trains, increase the volume of the domestic air trade market twofold, reduce logistic costs in Argentine ports, and transform transport in the cities. This will be achieved through transparent bidding processes that may be accessed on the Internet.”

It is worth highlighting that Argentina requested Japan’s collaboration to organize the WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Buenos Aires in December 2017 and the G20 Summit, which will also be held in Buenos Aires in 2018. Argentina also requested Japan’s support in its initiative to become a full member of the OECD.

After the meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was received by Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra at San Martín square for the traditional wreath-laying ceremony in honour of General San Martin.

Press Release No. 406/16

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