MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay and Argentina agree to move on with River Plate dredging

“The deepening of regional integration is a necessary tool to achieve higher levels of development,” Mondino and Paganini said in a joint statement

Foreign Ministers Omar Paganini and Diana Mondino agreed Wednesday during a one-on-one meeting in Asunción (Paraguay) that Uruguay and Argentina needed to move forward with the dredging of the 14-meter access channel to the port of Montevideo. Argentina's Mondino and Uruguay's Paganini met before the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in the Paraguayan capital.

Both top diplomats also said they instructed “their delegations before the binational commissions to make progress in their respective areas, in order to conclude as soon as possible the pending issues to carry out the projects proposed and the future developments in order to improve navigation and logistics, key elements for regional competitiveness,” it was explained in a statement.

They also highlighted the existence of ample possibilities for cooperation in different areas, while encouraging the realization of new projects that allow the development of “complementarities and synergies between both economies” and reaffirmed “the permanent will to advance in the dynamization of Mercosur, in the understanding that the deepening of regional integration is a necessary tool to reach higher levels of development.”

“The deepening of regional integration is a necessary tool to achieve higher levels of development, especially when it serves as a platform to improve the competitiveness and international insertion of our countries,” they added.

Paganini and Mondino also reviewed the trade deal with the European Union approved in 2019 but still lacking Parliamentarian approval from various European countries. Argentine President Javier Milei has made it clear that such an understanding should be equally beneficial for all.

“Not only does it represent a historic opportunity for the nations of both blocs, but it also marks a milestone in global collaboration,” as well as in “the construction of solid relations based on mutual respect and cooperation,” Mondino said upon taking office last month.

Mercosur is also working on agreements with the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland), and with countries such as Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam.