Spain and Argentina hold a business meeting at CEOE headquarters

More than 800 entrepreneurs from both countries have participated

Organized by the Secretary of State for Trade, CEOE and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Argentine Embassy in Spain.

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Within the framework of the State visit to Spain carried out by the President of the Republic of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, there has been a Business meeting at CEOE headquartersOrganized by the Secretary of State for Commerce, CEOE and the Chamber of Spain, in collaboration with the Embassy of Argentina. More than 800 businessmen from both countries participated in the meeting, which lasted all day, to analyze bilateral business opportunities and sectors of interest for the Spanish investment.

 

Meeting in El Pardo

 

Prior to the Meeting, the President of the Republic of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, has also met, during a breakfast at the El Pardo Palace, with the main ones Spanish investors to analyze the business opportunities existing in the country. The meeting was attended by the Secretary of State for Commerce, María Luisa Poncela; the Director General of International Trade and Investments of the same, José Luis Kaiser; the president of CEOE, John Rosell; the general secretary of CEOE, anna square; the president of the Chamber of Spain, Joseph Louis Bonet e Immaculate Riera, general director of this institution, among others.

 

The president of CEOE, John Rosell, has praised the government's open policy Mauricio Macri, as it has normalized relations with multilateral financial institutions and given new impetus to trade negotiations between the European Union and Mercosur. "CEOE and the European employers' association, BUSINESSEUROPE, we support the conclusion of a trade agreement between both blocks, which allows the Spanish and Argentine companies "operate in a market of more than 750 million consumers," he stressed. He also pointed out that two medium-sized economies such as Argentina and Spain will only be sustainable if they allow their respective companies to develop their activity in a larger market, which would allow them to better take advantage of economies of scale to compete in the global economy.

 

Business Meeting at CEOE

 

The Argentine Minister of Production, Francisco Cabrera, has highlighted, during the opening session of the business meeting held at CEOE, that one of the priorities for Argentina with this visit is that "Spain serves as a lever to accelerate trade negotiations with the European Union for the Agreement between the latter and MERCOSUR”. He also stressed the importance of the Public-Private Partnership Law, the opportunities in renewable energy and in promoting the presence of Spanish SMEs in the area. He also said that Spanish companies currently employ 150.000 people in the Latin American country.

 

The Minister of Labour, Jorge Triaca, in turn, has spoken of further promoting dialogue between social partners in Argentina, as well as offering a framework of transparency and predictability for future investments. In this regard, he stressed the importance of Spanish investment and mentioned the need to promote training to facilitate access to employment in the country.

 

The Secretary of State for Commerce, Maria Luisa Poncela, has praised the new Public-Private Partnership Law in Argentina, as it offers greater guarantees and more predictability to Spanish businessmen to invest in the country in the future. He also reported that through CESCE and the ICEX Internationalization Fund for Businesses (FIEM), new alternatives are offered to encourage the launching of projects in Argentina and promote Spanish investment in the country. In addition, he mentioned the importance of completing the EU-Mercosur Agreement.

 

 

CEOE President Juan Rosell has praised the opening policy of Mauricio Macri's government, as it has normalized relations with multilateral financial institutions and has given a new impetus to trade negotiations between the European Union and Mercosur.

 

 

 

SMEs

 

At the opening session of the day, the vice president of CEOE and president of CEPYME, Antonio Garamendi, has highlighted the importance of promoting the presence of SMEs in both countries and boosting investment in Argentina in sectors such as banking, telecommunications, insurance and concessions, among others. He has also mentioned other areas of interest, such as infrastructure, agribusiness, renewable energy, start-ups and information technology.

 

The president of the Industrial Union of Argentina, Adrian Kaufmann has reported that Spain It is the eighth destination for Argentine investment, and is also the second country that exports the most to the Latin American country, behind the United States. In addition, he stressed the measures of the Macri government, which have facilitated access to the credit market and large investments in infrastructure, which is an incentive for Spanish companies to invest in key sectors of the country.

 

The director of International of the Chamber of Spain, Alfredo Bonet, stressed that "this new stage of the Argentine government will offer multiple opportunities for cooperation for businessmen from both countries, which will be even greater if we manage to advance in our strategic objective of concluding the negotiations of the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur".

 

Sectors

 

During the course of the day, representatives of the Argentine government, such as the Secretary of Agri-Food Markets, Marisa Bircher; its counterpart in the field of Entrepreneurs and SMEs, Mariano mayer; the general administrator of National Viability of the Ministry of Transport, Javier Iguacel; the Undersecretary of Water Resources of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Works, Pablo Beraciartua; and its counterpart in Renewable Energy, Sebastian Kind; analyzed the existing opportunities in the country's key sectors for the Spanish companies.

 

El Argentine ambassador to Spain, Horacio Reyser, explained that the next presidency of the G20 by Argentina and the celebration of Inter-ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, which will take place in December in Buenos Aires, represent two opportunities to put Latin America back in the global spotlight and thus promote its open policy. To do so, it is crucial to establish a stable legal framework and a context of predictability that attracts foreign investment.

 

Bilateral meetings and meetings with Argentine government authorities

 

After analysing business opportunities between the two countries, various B2B meetings have been held, as well as meetings between various officials and authorities of the Argentine government and Spanish companies. Later, the presidents of sector associations will meet with Argentine businessmen to specifically analyse the trade and investment possibilities of each strategic sector.