The Argentine ambassador to the United States, Jorge Argüello, assured today that “every door that can be opened will be opened”, alluding to the mission that Interior Minister Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro and the governors of the so-called Northern region Grande will start from next Monday in Washington and New York.
In a dialogue with Télam, Argüello said from Washington that “in all cases the objective is the export of regional economies to the United States” and “the promotion of investments in the provinces.”
This will be the first of three scheduled visits by the governors to the United Stateswhich will continue next year with those of Patagonia and another with the central provinces.
The ambassador recalled that during the pandemic “virtual meetings were held between the Argentine Embassy and the governors and their cabinet, where a tour was made of the possible points of development and mixed groups were set up to monitor these issues.”
Argüello said that for four months he has been working on this mission with the governor of Santiago del Estero and president pro tempore of the Norte Grande, Gerardo Zamora, and explained that “after this landing, the governors will return with contacts, while the Embassy will monitor on the possibility of new exports and investments” towards that region of the country.
The diplomat highlighted the importance of this trip, which includes “official and opposition governors,” and noted that “a task of this nature has never been carried out and there is no history of such an important mission to the United States.”
Visit itinerary
The tour will start on Monday afternoonat the Argentine embassy in Washington, in a work meeting with the so-called “Think Tanks” (researchers), in the presentation “The potential of the Great North in the bilateral relationship with the United States: energy, food security, mining and electrical reconversion “.
Experts from the Wilson Center, Inter-American Dialogue, Council of Americas, Eurasia Group, NDI Foundation (Democratic Party think tank), IRI Foundation (Republican Party think tank), Atlantic Council, CSIS will be present.
In the evening, the Argentine delegation will share a working dinner at the national embassy to outline the week’s work.
On Tuesday there will be visits to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, and in the afternoon-evening a meeting and dinner at the embassy with senior officials from the White House and the United States Treasury and Defense Departments, where The assistance of Colombian Juan González, assistant to President Joseph Biden for Latin America, is expected.
“After this disembarkation, the governors will return with contacts, while the Embassy will monitor the possibility of new exports and investments”Jorge Arguello
On Wednesday, a meeting will be held at the Central Command of the e-commerce company Amazon, to discuss “international experiences in the use of the cloud as a government management tool” and “marketing of provincial products through Amazon.com” .
In the afternoon they will have a meeting with high authorities of the International Monetary Fund and a meeting at the US Chamber of Commerce “with dozens of American companies for trade and investment in the great north of Argentina,” said the ambassador.
On Thursday, three meetings will be held in parallel, between 9 and 11 local time (one hour less than in Argentina).
The provinces of Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca will go to the State Department to talk with the Department of Energy “on investments in mining, in lithium in particular,” said Argüello.
Santiago del Estero, Formosa and Chaco will move to the Department of Agriculture for the issue of cotton and the analysis of “technology, production, sustainability, exports and trade,” said the diplomat.
While Misiones, La Rioja and Corrientes will meet at the Latin American International Fund Policy Research Institute on “the role of regional economies in a global context marked by the energy and food crisis”, and will also hold a meeting at the representative’s office of the Department of Commerce.
Then, the entire entourage will travel to the Space X headquarters to “work on connectivity in remote areas, which the northern provinces are very interested in”Argüello noted.
After that meeting they will travel to New York, where on Friday they will go to the Council of Americas chaired by Susan Segal.
There, Segal and Argüello scheduled a meeting with American companies that invest in Argentina and investment groups to “have direct contact with the governors,” the ambassador said.
After a working lunch they will go to the headquarters of the United Nations Organization (UN) by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The closing will be at the Argentine consulate in New York, with a meeting with investors, scientists, importers and distributors of Argentine products.
