MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Macri invites Indian business people to invest in Argentina underlining its food power capacity

“This is the fifth meeting that the two nations have conducted in the last three years. This is not just a reflection of the chemistry between us” Mr. Macri said

With the aim to reinforce existing business and explore new business opportunities between Argentina and India, President of Argentine Republic, Mauricio Macri addressed the India-Argentine Business Forum on Tuesday at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

“This is the fifth meeting that the two nations have conducted in the last three years. This is not just a reflection of the chemistry between us, but also the affection between the people of these nations,” Mr. Macri said.

The President spoke about the support that they have received from every official in India including Prime Minister Narenda Modi. He shed some more light on common challenges and the ways in which both the countries complement each other.

“The demographic and economic growth of India along with Argentina’s capacity to produce food makes us complement each other. We face the same challenges as a society, that of inequality and poverty and we must work together to alleviate the two,” Mr. Macri said.

Ranking first in soy oil and soy meat as a world exporter, the agro-industrial exports, concentrated in soybean oil from Argentina to India stands at US$145 billion. As of the 2017 figures, Argentina provides for 7.8% of India’s food and beverage imports.

Inviting investments from Indian companies, Mr. Macri said, “I would like to invite you to invest in Argentina and partner not only to supply to India but also extend to cater to the interesting markets of Asia and America. We want to engage in a wide range of sectors like services, knowledge, energy, tourism and mining.”

Adi Godrej, the past president of Confederation of Indian Industry said that the bilateral cooperation between the two countries spans a wide range of areas including nuclear, space, economy, commerce, culture and tourism. At present the bilateral trade between Argentina and India is of around US$3 billion.

Mr. Godrej also mentioned that the current administration has stepped up and liberalized the Argentine economy by lifting capital controls, floating the Peso, removing export controls on some commodities etc. “Cutting some energy subsidies, and reforming the country’s official statistics is a positive sign of the country’s commitment towards strengthening cooperation and exploring new avenues,” he said.

The summit also saw deliberations from the industry experts of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce.