President of Argentina Mauricio Macri begins official visit

President of Argentina Mauricio Macri starts an official State visit to Vietnam on Wednesday to deepen the bilateral strategic partnership.- Photo AFP

The three-day visit, which comes at the invitation of President Nguyen Phu Trong, also demonstrated the importance of Vietnam in Argentina’s external policy towards Asia in general and Southeast Asia in particular, especially after the Latin American nation signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in August 2018, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Vietnam and Argentina established diplomatic ties on October 25, 1973. Since then, both sides have organised regular delegation exchanges. Last year, they successfully held activities to mark the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

The countries have established numerous mechanisms to boost multi-faceted co-operation. They have also signed various agreements to encourage investment, economic-trade co-operation, scientific-technological co-operation, cultural-educational co-operation and collaboration in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Vietnam and Argentina have also supported each other at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) and the South-South Cooperation within the UN framework.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Dang Xuan Dung said that despite complicated developments in the world, bilateral relations, especially in trade, continued to develop well.

Two-way trade increased from US$1.4 billion in 2013 to $2.9 billion last year — the highest figure between Argentina and any Southeast Asian country. Argentina is Vietnam’s second largest trade partner in Latin America, while Vietnam is its fifth biggest import market globally. The two sides are working to raise bilateral trade to $5 billion as soon as possible.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the threshold of the visit, Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship Jorge Faurie said that Vietnam was an important partner for Argentina, especially in economy and trade.

Vietnam had become an example for Argentina, especially in its export policy, one of the factors encouraging Argentine businesses to engage in producing and exporting their products, he said.

The minister said during his visit, the Argentine leader would introduce local enterprises to strong sectors in Argentina in order to form partnerships.

“We have defined what areas that the two sides can team up on, as well as products to focus on. But businesses and producers of the two sides should further foster their connections,” stated the diplomat.

With current technological developments, geographical distance is no longer an obstacle for Vietnam and Argentina to foster connectivity, he added.