MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Plenty of business opportunities available with China, Argentine report says

Argentina will be opening a consulate in Chengdu next year

A report released Thursday by Argentina's Undersecretary for Trade and Investment Promotion Pablo Sívori highlighted the progress over the past 20 years of trade between his country and China, which rose from US$ 1 billion to nearly US$ 20 billion yearly.

Sívori, who oversaw the production of the Report on Opportunities and Business with China, also recalled that his country will be opening next year a consulate in the city of Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.

“Argentina has countless opportunities in the Chinese market, and this has to do with the increase in the income of the Chinese population and a change in the country's food matrix, with a greater demand for proteins and higher quality and sophisticated products, which are one of the bases of Argentine exports,” Sivori explained.

The 234-page document was launched jointly by the Argentine-Chinese Chamber of Production, Industry and Commerce (CACPIC) and the Undersecretariat of Trade and Investment Promotion of the Argentine Foreign Ministry.

The text comprises six chapters, which deal successively with Foreign Trade and the Silk Road; Agribusiness; Energy, Mining, and Infrastructure; Telecommunications and Information Technology; Country Brand Argentina in China; and Chinese Tourism in Argentina.

CACPIC Chairman Sergio Spadone said in his speech that the report was a “tool that serves to enhance the relationship” between the two countries and features contributions by over 60 CACPIC partners who worked for months to gather the information.

“The relationship with China is very dynamic and opportunities arise all the time. Since 1972, when the formal diplomatic bond was established, the relationship has always grown, has always been positive and has always moved forward,” said Spadone.

He also underlined China's “weight and leadership” in the world economy, and urged Argentine businessmen to “think of products with a very good price-quality ratio, to be creative and see in which niches we can insert ourselves” within the dynamic Chinese market.

“In agri-foods and in more areas or fields we can grow, for example, in tourism. There are also other disciplines in which Argentina stands out for its creativity and leadership, such as technology and design,” Spasone also pointed out.

CACPIC Director Alejandra Conconi told Xinhua that in her view “the Argentina Country Brand has a lot of potential and many opportunities in China, because Argentina produces both goods and services that are of interest to the Chinese population and consumers.”

Conconi stressed that Argentina has already made a name of its own in Chinese trade circles and that opportunities were available “not only in commodities and products that are exported to China, but also in technicians, in knowledge, in solutions for agribusiness or biotechnology.”

(Source: Xinhua)