Buenos Aires (VNA) – Singapore and Argentina will work to boost economic ties, underliningthe need for new economic agreements in order to raise bilateral trade, andagreeing to soon conclude negotiations on investment protection.
The agreement wasreached during a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong andArgentine President Mauricio Macri ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in BuenosAires, Argentina, on November 29.
Macri said theArgentine government aims to promote not only cooperation with Singapore butalso relations between the South America Customs union Mercosur and Asia.
He called onSingaporean businesses to invest in Argentina,especially in lithium exploitation and infrastructure building at Buenos Aires Port.
For his part, theSingaporean leader said Argentina’s agricultural products like beef and wineare favoured in his country.
Accordingto Singapore’s The Straits Times, the bilateral economic ties have beengrowing in recent years, with trade reaching 240 million USD last year in such productsas motor vehicle parts, insecticides and frozen fish.
Tradein services, including the transport and finance sectors, exceeded 200 million USDin 2016, while investment between the two countries reached almost 600 millionUSD by the end of 2016.-VNA