The Meeting of the Subcommittee on Political Affairs of the Committee on Political Coordination and Integration (Grand Committee) between Argentina and Paraguay, which is one of the main mechanisms for high-level political coordination between both States, was held today in the City of Buenos Aires.
The delegations, headed by the Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister, Leopoldo Sahores, and the Paraguayan Deputy Foreign Minister, Ambassador Víctor Verdún, welcomed the opportunity to invigorate the brotherly and strategic ties between both countries. They reviewed the rich bilateral agenda and discussed the challenges and opportunities in the fields of border integration and infrastructure, fishery resources, defence and security, and regional and multilateral technical cooperation, among others.
The Deputy Foreign Ministers expressed their satisfaction with the progress made during the meeting held on 3 April between the General Administration of Ports (AGP) and the Waterway users, at which the parties laid out the bases for an agreement that will be executed in the coming days with a view to solving the issue, so as to continue to address other matters that will enable the development of a competitive and efficient logistics route for the benefit of the entire region.
Regarding Yacyretá, they discussed the importance of fixing the financial situation of the Binational Entity, as well as solving all pending issues, which will make it possible to provide the Entity with the resources necessary to complete ongoing projects and to plan new binational projects.
In connection with the strengthening of territorial integration and physical connectivity, the delegations agreed to fix a date towards the end of May for the next meeting of the Joint Technical Group (GTM) of Infrastructure, as well as to convene the meetings of the Round Tables of Pilar-Puerto Cano and Clorinda-Puerto Falcón. In addition, they undertook to hold, during the second half of this year, the meetings of the Integration Committees, prioritizing those of Posadas-Encarnación, Itatí-Itá Corá and Ayolas-Ituzaingó.
In the field of defence and security, both Deputy Foreign Ministers shared their concern about the border control issues and reaffirmed their willingness to continue working together on projects such as the installation of radars in Paraguayan airspace and the strengthening of the mechanisms for the prevention of and fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.
At the regional level, the Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister congratulated Paraguay on hosting the 54th OAS General Assembly, to be held in Asunción from 26 to 28 June.
As regards technical cooperation, both countries welcomed the achievements made in areas of mutual benefit and expressed their interest in consolidating the 5th Bilateral Programme on Technical Cooperation in the fields of Agroindustry, Health, Environment, Government Administration and Security, and Justice and Human Rights.
Finally, Deputy Foreign Minister Sahores thanked the permanent support of the Paraguayan Government for Argentina’s position on the Question of the Malvinas Islands, as well as its continuous support in all the shared multilateral fora, and underscored Paraguay’s active participation in the United Nations, MERCOSUR, CELAC and the OAS.
