Uruguay announced on Tuesday it had recognized a Palestinian state, becoming the latest in a string of Latin American countries to make an endorsement in recent months the United States has called premature.
Uruguay’s cabinet meeting spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that Argentina had “liberated” 75% of the import licences that remained delayed and which was one of the main points of the agenda in the recent summit between Uruguayan president Jose Mujica and Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Khan praised the management and achievements of the Uruguayan economy and said it was a pleasure to visit a country that does not have major problems resulting from the 2008 global financial crisis, which is a “recurrent issue” of his busy agenda.
Argentina’s claim of the Malvinas Islands only had a brief specific mention in President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Tuesday address to Congress where she outlined the achievements of her administration and plans for the remaining nine months of her four year mandate.
Uruguay and Argentina signed on Friday an agreement to build a re-gasification plant for liquid natural gas to help meet their energy needs. The floating re-gasification plant will supply the two nations with 10 million cubic meters a day of natural gas, scalable to 15 million, starting in 2013 according to an official statement.
Argentine Industry Ministry officials assured Wednesday that non-automatic licenses currently being applied to imports “in no way represent an obstacle for our Mercosur partners” and they have been implemented to monitor imports from outside the region.
Uruguay and Argentina are discussing a ‘fast track’ mechanism that will allow Uruguayan exports to have quick access to the neighbour’s market thus avoiding the controversial trade restrictions recently announced by the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and which have surprised Mercosur partners.
IMF Managing Director is scheduled to visit Uruguay next month where he will meet President Jose Mujica and his economic team before flying to Brazil. Dominique Strauss-Khan will arrive in Uruguay from Panama and is not scheduled to visit Argentina, according to Uruguayan government sources.
The European Union Trade Commissioner Karen De Gucht anticipates a full trade agreement with Mercosur will be reached in a “short time” given the negotiations “unusual” speed but also cautioned about new challenges such as currencies over or under appreciation.
Uruguay is considered a solid candidate to obtain “investment grade” given its strong economic fundamentals and these same factors make the country’s bonds issued in indexed units, UI, an attractive investment, according to a report from the investment bank JP Morgan published in the Montevideo press.