Today, Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra underscored the importance of the agreements signed in the People's Republic of China and, from Tokyo, gave the details of the agenda to be developed in Japan, from tomorrow to Saturday.
"Tomorrow President Macri will open a business forum in Japan where a large Argentine delegation and several local businesses will meet. The President will hold a series of bilateral meetings with businesses. The forum will be an opportunity to explain Argentina's situation and opportunities, and there will be business-to-business discussion tables to analyze opportunities to establish bonds," stated the Foreign Minister to the radio press.
"In the morning, there will be primarily economic activities and, in the afternoon, the official visit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will begin together with activities relating to political and protocol affairs. On Saturday, the most important event from the point of view of State-to-State relations will take place, which is the meeting with the Emperor," she stated.
As regards the agreements with China, Malcorra stated: "We have agreed on a five-year work plan that potentially amounts to USD 32 billion in investments by China. As it is a five-year plan, some of those projects will consolidate over time. But the important thing from the point of view of China is that they are setting up a long-term complementarity plan. We have a strategic and comprehensive complementarity relation with China, which comprises all the sectors of the bond between the two countries. There is a series of projects that had different levels of progress and could be confirmed. It is really hard to measure the total amount of investments because some deals are closed, while others are beginning to be developed and could amount up to USD 32 billion."
The Foreign Minister provided some examples of the agreements signed in China: "Some important issues have been reconfirmed. One of them is the commitment on the two nuclear power plants. That is, Atucha 4 and Atucha 5. The deal on these two power plants has to be closed with all the technical specifications for construction. However, some progress has been made on the basis of a prior commitment and the investment would be around USD 12 billion. And this is not even part of the five-year plan."
"Other specific issues were also confirmed, such as the investment in the solar park of Cauchari, Province of Jujuy. The deal on the San Martín Railroad is one of the major deals closed. It is worth noting that the local component in the agreement amounts to 72%. A prior agreement on the Belgrano Railroad had a 48% local component," stated the Minister.
"As regards the southern dams, Aranguren's team reviewed and adjusted the contracts. The number of turbines was reduced to diminish environmental impact. Some legal aspects were reviewed because the parties to the agreement were the Chinese Government and an Argentine Province, when the nature of the project legally requires the Argentine Federal Government to execute it. All of this has been done and finished, and even the environmental impact assessment has been completed. Only the closing of the agreement, which includes public hearings, is pending. All this has been explained to the Chinese government; we expect that within a reasonable period of time the work will be finished," she added.
"Apart from economic aspects, we have also made progress in cultural, education, football, tourism and visas affairs. It has been a multifaceted meeting," concluded Malcorra.
Press release No. 191/17
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