The Minister of Productive Development, Matias Kulfashighlighted on Tuesday the need to “consolidate closer and more resilient value chains for strategic goods” with Chile, within the framework of a meeting held at the Foreign Ministry that was attended by President Gabriel Boric and 40 companies and industrial chambers from both countries.
In a work meeting that took place in the Libertador Hall of the San Martín Palace, Minister Kulfas and Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero agreed on the importance of promoting cooperation between Argentina and Chile for the development of strategic productive sectors of both countries in the face of the challenges presented in the global context.
In this framework, Kulfas said that “we have built in these years of democracy a solid economic complementationwhich has allowed us to sustain an important commercial association”.
“Bilateral trade has remained above US$ 3,000 million per year, and in 2021 it grew more than 40% and exceeded US$4.9 billion, with very significant increases in both our exports and our imports in relation to 2019. Chile is also the fifth foreign investor in Argentina”, explained the minister.
He also stressed the importance of working on a joint agenda in strategic productive sectors for both countries, such as energy infrastructure, renewable energies, digital connectivity and the knowledge economy, the mining, automotive, green hydrogen, health and biological inputs sectors.
“We have a great opportunity to think about complementary strategies because Argentina and Chile have in abundance what the world demands at this stage. The pandemic has laid bare the vulnerability of countries in the face of increasingly frequent production disruptions,” Kulfas said.
Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and President Gabriel Boric led the opening of the Argentina Chile Private Public Meeting ?? ??
More than 50 businessmen and representatives of industrial chambers met at the Palacio San Martín to promote investments in both countries. pic.twitter.com/3tlv00FLvd
– Argentine Foreign Ministry ?? (@CancilleriaARG) April 5, 2022
After which he added that it is necessary to “consolidate closer and more resilient value chains for strategic goods. We face a context where the security, stability and predictability of supply chains have become as important as economic efficiency.”
At the opening of the meeting, the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric Font, highlighted the “infinite opportunities for collaboration between both countries” by highlighting that “during the last year, the commercial exchange between Argentina and Chile increased significantly, which is very good news. We want to give continuity and deepen this State policy”, reported from the productive portfolio.
In this sense, he pointed out the relevance of strengthening “productive chains, both of goods and services, which will contribute to the construction of a true link between the different companies.”
“We have a great opportunity to think about complementary strategies because Argentina and Chile have in abundance what the world demands at this stage.”Matias Kulfas
During the public-private meeting “Production chains and bilateral economic complementation for international insertion”, the Secretary of International Economic Relations, Cecilia Todesca Bocco; the Secretary of Industry, Knowledge Economy and External Commercial Management, Ariel Schale; the Argentine ambassador in Chile, Rafael Bielsa; the Chilean ambassador to Argentina, Barbara Figueroa; the Chilean Minister of Energy, Claudio Huepe Minoletti; the undersecretary of International Economic Relations of Chile, José Miguel Ahumada and the commercial attaché in Argentina, Raimundo Swett.
Representatives from the medical equipment and pharmaceutical products sectors were present from the private sector; energetic; metallurgical; knowledge and technology-based services; food and drinks; industrial and manufacturing; retail; Transport and logistics; mining; satellite; forestry and paper; cooperatives and entrepreneurs; and businesswomen.
The meeting was attended by the Chamber of Hospital Equipment of Argentine Manufacturing (CAEHFA); the Industrial Chamber of Argentine Pharmaceutical Laboratories (CILFA); the Business Chamber of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (COOPERALA); YPF; Techint; Corven (Iraola Group); Association of Metallurgical Industrialists of the Argentine Republic (ADIMRA); the Chamber of the Argentine Software Industry (CESSI), Globant; the Argentine Chamber of Fintech; among others.
