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Consolidate the relationship between Italy and Argentina even further and intensify commercial opportunities, especially in the energy sector. These are the priorities that emerged from the meeting “Argentina: new opportunities in the energy sector and production transition”, promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Promos Italia, Ice, Italian Chamber of Commerce in Argentina, which took place on Tuesday 25 June and which follows the recent mission to Italy of President Milei and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino. Italy’s attention towards Argentina «is maximum – as confirmed by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani who spoke in a video conference -. I plan to go to Argentina in the next few months with a business delegation, we must do more and our businesses tell us so.”
Argentina’s resources
The South American country in fact has huge resources of oil, natural gas, renewable energy resources and the lithium game has also opened up, linked to the rare earth business. “Raw materials and rare earths are fundamental for a country like ours – Tajani underlined -, because we have to compete with China which, in fact, manages the entire sector of raw materials and rare earths such as lithium”. Therefore, if Italy wants to compete globally it must be “freer” in the trade of these raw materials and for this reason the collaboration with Argentina in these sectors becomes strategic.
In 2023, trade will be worth 2.3 billion euros
Italy’s relations with Argentina are traditionally excellent, also by virtue of historical and cultural ties. In 2023, trade amounted to approximately 2.3 billion euros. Now with the new course set by Milei’s government it could become easier to invest in Argentina, which is a “land of opportunities that are concrete today”, as explained by the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino. «In six months of the new government, inflation is reducing rapidly – she added. We have reduced public spending, but external sources remain as a source of growth: exports are the main growth engine that Argentina will have in the coming decades.” According to the minister, “everything can grow in Argentina” and the government helps this new course “by trying to modify the micro-economic problems at the root.” Therefore by adjusting fiscal spending, modifying monetary policy, significantly reducing interest rates, «furthermore the exchange rate is very stable and we have a level of unemployment that is lower than what we had years ago. These changes are fundamental.” And then there is the deregulation work that makes it easier for businesses to invest and work. Thanks to all these reforms, this “is the right time to invest in Argentina”, as highlighted by Giorgio Alliata di Montereale, president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Argentina, and if Italy does not get on this train “it will lose big opportunities”. Like the one present in the Vaca Muerta area where Argentina «has hydrocarbon reserves for 300 years», as recalled by Juan Carlos Doncel, president of Enarsa, Energia Argentina Sociedad Anonima. «We have left aside the false concept of energy sovereignty, Argentina now has a window from which it must take advantage and if it does not do so we will lose a unique opportunity – he concluded -. Then there was the appearance of lithium on the scene which makes us say that there will be many new features, now there will be free export with just one permit.”
