Mercosur has concluded a free trade agreement with the richest region in Europe

The national government announced Friday that Mercosur had concluded a free trade agreement with EFTA, the country badociation composed of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, with a per capita GDP of $ 82,000 per year.

Minister of Production and Labor Dante Sica said the agreements with EFTA and the EU open up "almost the entire European market" to Argentine companies.

Therefore, said the official, these treaties "constitute an excellent opportunity to increase investment" in Argentina.

EFTA and the EU are the main source of foreign investment in Argentina, with a stock of 37,000 million dollars.

Exports from Argentina to EFTA currently exceed $ 1.3 billion per year.

"Over the last three months, we have come to fundamental negotiations to integrate Argentina into the international arena," Sica wrote on his Twitter social network account.

And he asked to "continue to work together" to generate more and more export opportunities for all productive sectors of the country.

Horacio Reyser, Secretary of Foreign Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and chief negotiator for the mission, announced the signing of this agreement.

"I congratulate the bargaining teams of both blocks for the excellent work done. Why is this link with EFTA so important? These are countries with a per capita GDP of more than $ 82,000 and a high, diversified and sophisticated mode of consumption, "said the official.

According to the diplomat, the EFTA countries are open and developed economies, with much larger trade flows than one would expect from a sparsely populated market: in 2018 they imported goods and services for more than $ 530,000 million and exported more than $ 630,000 million.

Reyser said that, as in other ongoing negotiations, the objectives of the Argentine government were: to open more markets for industrial and agricultural SMEs; integrate global value chains; increase services exports; Attract productive investment.

He also pointed out that Switzerland and Norway have "great potential" in terms of investment.

"That's why we're also focused on creating the right conditions for foreign direct investment (FDI) in key sectors such as mining, manufacturing and energy. Norway has the largest investment fund in the world, "said the manager.