The governments of Argentina and Chile agreed on a “future trilateral presidential meeting” with Bolivia to advance the joint development of lithium to generate “a common governance strategy” on this natural resource, announced the Argentine Foreign Ministry.
It was one of the points addressed in the meeting held on Friday in Buenos Aires between the Argentine Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero, and his Chilean counterpart, Antonia Urrejola, where both talked about the “deep bilateral political, economic and commercial agenda,” said the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
The foreign ministers discussed the foundations of a “future cooperation” concerning lithium, stressing the importance of value addition, environmental and social governance, and human resources education and training, “in line with the recent formation of the Binational Working Group on Lithium and Salt Flats”.
“Cafiero and Urrejola agreed on a strategic view on how to develop the lithium value chain, focusing on the triangle of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, considered the largest reserve in the world, with about 65% of the world’s lithium resources,” said the Argentine Foreign Ministry in the statement.
During the meeting, the Chilean Foreign Minister expressed her country’s interest “in learning about the Argentine experience of YPF Lithium”, whose objective is to “integrate the entire value chain of the mineral”, from the exploration and exploitation of lithium carbonate to the production of cells and batteries on a low scale.
The Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, had already proposed on Thursday, July 21, in the framework of the 60th Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur and the Associated States held in Paraguay, the realization of joint projects around the exploitation of lithium to strengthen the bloc and favor economic cooperation between the countries of the region, according to the Argentine Foreign Ministry’s statement.
With information from EFE