While this Monday the approval of the agreement with the IMF was being debated in the Senate, and after the controversial vote against ultra-Kirchnerism and La Cámpora in Deputies, the Foreign Ministry heads a trade mission in the Middle East that seeks to seduce capital from multi-million dollar investment funds and increase bilateral trade.
More than 13,500 kilometers from Buenos Aires, in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, the Foreign Ministry yesterday announced investment projects for US$ 1,000 million in the country to finance infrastructure works in the next two years, according to a statement that the chancellor replied in a tweet santiago cafieroat the head of the mission.
The president was going to participate in this trip Albert Fernandez, but a week ago made it known that he was leaving due to the war in Ukraine and in the midst of the arduous legislative debate over the agreement with the Fund, that has been showing the deep crack in the ruling ruling party.
The trade mission has political and economic volume: National officials, five governors of the Great North and representatives of more than 35 companies participate. It will continue until Thursday, until this Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates and the following days in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Foreign Ministry, with the Arab funds “it was agreed to work on a portfolio of projects that would top $550 million by 2022 and potentially a further $450 million of approvals by 2023.”
The strategic sectors targeted are the hydrogen agenda, climate change, energy generation and transmission, sustainable mobility, water and sanitation, housing, health and education, as reported. Financing for the works will come from the Funds for the Development of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The announcement was made after a relationship event, in which Argentine and UAE companies participated. In addition to Cafiero, the tour includes the ministers of Science, Daniel Filmus, of Productive Development, Matías Kulfas, and Tourism, Matías Lammens.
The governors are: Gerardo Zamora (Santiago del Estero, which holds the pro-tempore presidency of the Norte Grande Regional Council), Raul Jalil (Catamarca), Jorge Captainich (Chaco), Gerardo Morales (Jujuy), and Ricardo Quintela (The Rioja). There is also the general secretary of the Federal Investment Council, Ignacio Lamothe. Morales was from Jujuy last week, before traveling to the UAE, in Deputies, where he firmly defended the debt agreement with the Fund during the debate in commissions. And he warned of the risks that a possible fall in cessation of payments entails for the provinces.
Last Saturday there was a tour of the governors and officials through the Argentine stand at Expo Dubai, which had been inaugurated in December, with a visit from Lionel Messi, “ambassador” of the Expo since 2016.
Cafiero met this Monday in Dubai -the emirate city of the UAE- with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They discussed the possibilities of trade expansion, investment projects and technical cooperation. “Argentina considers the UAE as a key partner in the Middle East,” said Cafiero and underlined our country’s interest in “expanding and diversifying bilateral trade.”
The governors of the Great North, meanwhile, held meetings with international companies to present Argentine products and learn about the necessary conditions to trade in the United Arab Emirates, and from there to neighboring regions.
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Within the framework of the mission, announced the creation of an Investment and Foreign Trade Agency.
“We have a great capacity to export food. For this reason, we created the Agency in our provinces and we want it to be based here, supporting all the businessmen in our region who want to make their offer exportable”, said Zamora, from Santiago. Jujuy Morales said that the idea of the Agency is to be installed as an office of imports, exports and investments in the UAE.
In the last five years, bilateral trade with the UAE has been on the rise, with favorable trade balances for Argentina. According to the Foreign Ministry, in 2021 Argentina exported goods and services to the Gulf country for 773.5 million dollars (year-on-year growth of 42.8%) while imports reached 337.6 million dollars (increase of 268.8%) , a surplus of 436 million dollars.
