On Friday, October 14, the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, received at the Government House the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, Han Duck-Soo, with whom he reviewed the growth of investments between both countries in the last years and pondered the importance of the 60 years of bilateral relations.
Argentina’s Presidency informed that the meeting was attended by the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Santiago Cafiero, and the Minister of Science, Technology, and Productive Innovation, Daniel Filmus.
Representing the Republic of Korea were the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cho Hyun-dong, and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Park Sung-Keun.
Fernández and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea held an official lunch in the Eva Perón Hall of the Government House with a delegation of business people and officials from the Asian country.
After the bilateral meeting and the official lunch, Minister Cafiero and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Cho Hyun-dong, made a joint statement to the press in the White Room of the Government House.
“We have ahead of us a great agenda agreed today by the Prime Minister and President Fernandez, with many expectations for the next 60 years of relations between both countries”, highlighted Cafiero.
The head of Argentine diplomacy said, “at this moment, we are working with Korean companies linked to technology, fundamentally linked to lithium, strategic minerals, development of the productive chain around lithium and naturally food”.
He emphasized that the commercial relationship between both countries “has progressed with exports that last year grew to US$2.36 billion in trade.
Argentina and Korea have advanced these 60 years, and we want to advance in the next 60 years at a steady pace, integrating our economies, following the path of cooperation and, fundamentally, integrating our peoples”, said the Chancellor.
For his part, Cho Hyun-dong considered that “in the face of the uncertainty of the international situation and different crises, it is essential, more than ever, to strengthen cooperation among allied countries in the area of economic security, including the stabilization of the global supply chain”.
He remarked that the Republic of Korea and Argentina are optimal partners, capable of presenting to the international community the best practices of cooperation for economic security, and detailed that the bilateral relationship covers not only strategic mineral resources but also hydrogen, renewable energies, science, technology, food, and biotechnology.
The Presidency of the South American country indicated that the bilateral trade link “has had an exponential growth in both directions, which went from US$400 million in 2002 to US$2.4 billion in 2021, a year in which Argentine exports grew by 148%”.
With information from Xinhua