On 16 February, with a presentation on "Currency for Change: World Politics on a Budget" at a panel she shared with the German Finance Minister Christian Lindner; the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis; Founder and Chair of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and Co-Chair of the UN High-Level Panel on Climate Finance, Vera Songwe; and The Economist’s Editor in Chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, as moderator.
In a sharp debate that began with the budgetary impact of defense spending and that revolved around the needs of the international financial architecture in the face of new global challenges, Argentina’s top diplomat referred to the importance of reviewing the International Monetary Fund's surcharges: "These make a lot of sense to prevent governments from getting into problems, but once you're in trouble, it's impossible to get out," she said.
The Foreign Minister also highlighted that "Argentina is trying to respect the rules and Argentines, to be good global citizens"; in this regard, as an example, she mentioned the process of accession to the OECD underway, initiated by the new administration and, at the same time, the lack of savings in the country that demands resorting to savings from other parts of the world in order to boost productivity and accompany investment with the aim of achieving growth in Argentina.
During her presentation, the Foreign Minister also highlighted the need to promote the education of new generations in Argentina, highlighting that social spending by the new administration focuses on training youth, something she considered essential to improve productivity and promote the development of the country.
Concerning the emphasis of international actors on carbon footprint, Foreign Minister Mondino also emphasized that Argentina - like other countries and regions of the world - should be perceived as part of the solution (and not of the problem) for the global energy transition, due to its net positive equation in terms of emissions. Regarding the way to achieve such a goal, the Minister agreed with the German Finance Minister on the importance of developing a global carbon credit market, in which our country could play a relevant role given its great potential as “carbon sink” that has been developed hand in hand with an agricultural activity that is sustainable and linked to food security at global level.
Also during her first day in Munich, on the sidelines of the Conference, Minister Mondino held bilateral meetings with the German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner; the State Secretary for Finance and Climate of the German Ministry of Economy, Franziska Brantner; BMW CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Oliver Zipse; the Foreign Minister of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar; and representatives of the Federal Parliament of Germany.
