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JOHANNESBURGO.- At a meeting with high-level bilateral meetings,
Mauricio Macri
today met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in the hope of attracting new investment for the country. Later, the Argentine head of state will meet the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
In the Argentine delegation did not pass the detail: in an afternoon, the president could talk about trade and investment with the leaders who govern half of the world's population.
The meeting with Putin was close to falling, because of the Russian's delay. The meeting was scheduled for 16 (11 in our country), but it took 45 minutes before Putin gave permission to the Argentine delegation to leave the Hilton at Four Season, where the bilateral is held.
It is a constant Putin, who keeps the record to have waited 45 minutes for American Donald Trump, more than an hour for Pope Francis and two hours for the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.
If the waiting continued, the bilateral would fall, because Macri has another meeting with President Xi scheduled for 5:45 pm (12:45 am in Argentina) and this meeting is considered a priority for the government.
The truth is that in commercial affairs, but particularly with regard to investment, the relationship with Russia is marginal. Or negligible, in the latter case. Russian investments in the country barely exceeded $ 20 million in 2008 and since then, they have decreased year by year to only $ 4 million in 2015.
Regarding the trade balance , Argentina sold its products to Russia in 2017 for $ 510 million. Basically, fruits, organ meats and fish. Macri intends to open markets for agricultural machinery, quality beef cuts and processed dairy products. By contrast, Russia sold products to Argentina for $ 341 million, leaving a favorable balance of 169 million US dollars for our country. But, considering the 144 million Russian inhabitants, the business opportunities for Argentina are above the realities.
Macri went to rendezvous with Putin with Chancellor Jorge Faurie, Secretary of Strategic Affairs, Fulvio Pompeo and the G-20 Sherpa, Pedro Villagra Delgado, among other officials
Officially, the Argentine government only informed that the meeting was brief and that the last World Cup, held in Russia, was discussed. 19659013] With Xi Jinping
After the meeting with Putin, the Argentine delegation goes to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has just left after 6:20 pm (11:20 am in Argentina) at the imposing Hotel Michelangelo, practically supported by the vast delegation of officials and Chinese Entrepreneurs
This is "the" most important meeting of the day for Macri, because of the complex structure of relations between the two countries. On the one hand, Argentina exported products to China for an amount of 4325 million US dollars in 2017, at the same time as it imported 12 314 million US dollars, generating a balance deficit of US $ 7,989 million. Trump's "trade war" in Xi could lead to new opportunities for local products.
Moreover, since 2012, China has invested in the country more than 600 million US dollars each year. The government has taken a step forward in 2017, with the investment agreement that it has signed for $ 30 billion and involving Chinese projects in rail networks, trains, mines, and more. Gold, the extraction of lithium and electric cars. Cnooc, the Chinese state-owned company, has also secured access to the country's four major oil basins thanks to the 40% it has acquired from Bridas and the agreements with Pan American Energy and Axion Energy.
But work stoppage in the Cepernic and Kirchner dams, in Santa Cruz, for the adjustment facing the government and demanded by the IMF, highlight part of the investment structure former. China supports the construction of the two dams and linked these projects to a "cross-default" clause with investments of nearly US $ 4 billion in the renovation of Belgrano Cargas. If one falls, the other too. The steps taken by Argentina to prevent this from happening are already under way
At today's meeting with Mr. Xi, another point of conflict was planned in this structure Investment: a proposal from Macri to also postpone the work for a few years. with the participation of China in Central Atucha III, in Zarate, in the absence of government funds.
The agenda included more entertaining topics, as Macri's intention to open Chinese markets for meat and Argentine cherries. like strengthening tourism exchanges with new road zones. In the background, there is the intention to advance an agreement between Mercosur and China as an agreement against the European Union.
With the Prime Minister of India
A few minutes after saying goodbye to Xi, Macri left for the Sandton District Convention Center to begin the bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The diplomatic question was not another chapter during the meeting with Modi. Argentine officials pointed to India's "cooperative attitude" to efforts to ensure that the G20 summit in Buenos Aires does not collapse due to trade tensions between the United States, China, Russia and the European Union. Macri, in addition, was invited by Modi to make a state visit to India in 2019.
Among other things, the agenda of the meeting with Modi included an offer to sell radars of Invap, as last year with Holland. A message, too, intended to calm the waters in Argentina by the resource assignment of the technological company Rionegrina. This morning, the chief of staff, Marcos Peña, also addressed this task during a meeting with the Governor of Río Negro, Alberto Weretilnek, and leaders of Invap
Argentina has exported to India in 2017 for 2081 million dollars and imported products from this country for 823 million US dollars, which generated a favorable balance of the trade balance of our country of 1257 million US dollars. This is the best record in Argentina against the ten largest economic powers. But, if we take into account the market of over 1200 million inhabitants, the relationship with India still has a long way to go.
Tags attracting hope Investment Jinping Macri Mauricio met Putin Xi
