ASEAN, northwestern Argentine localities beef up trade, investment

During the trip, the ASEAN diplomats met with Governor of Catamarca Raul Jalil, Deputy Governor of Santiago province del Estero Silva Neder, Office Chief of La Rioja province Armando Molina.

They also attended a series of seminars introducing a railway project connecting the Atlantic ports of Argentina with the Pacific ports of Chile through the San Francisco terminal in Catamarca.

The route is expected to reduce shipping time from Argentina to Asia-Pacific countries by 15 days and save 30% on shipping fees.

The northwestern Argentine provinces expressed their desire to expand and strengthen trade exchanges with Asia-Pacific countries, including those in ASEAN.

They are promoting the implementation of railway project to achieve such goal

Vietnamese Ambassador Duong Quoc Thanh, the current rotating chair of the ASEAN Community in Buenos Aires, said the bloc member countries all have a need to import Argentina’s quality agricultural products with competitive prices to serve their domestic production.

The project connecting the two oceans will definitely help the sides’ exchanges increase sharply in the future, he stressed.

ASEAN is willing to exchange technology and experience in managing railway lines with the authorities of the Argentine northwestern provinces, the diplomat affirmed.

Trade between Argentina and ASEAN has continuously increased in recent years, reaching more than 11 billion USD in 2021.