‘Swap’ with China and access to OECD, axes of the Argentine chancellor’s international trip

The currency swap agreement that Argentina keeps with China and the desire of the South American country to access the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are two of the axes of the international tour that its chancellor, Diana Mondino, undertakes this Thursday.

In the midst of the shift in Argentine foreign policy towards the United States and Israel, which the president, Javier Milei, considers “headlights” from the West, economic and diplomatic pragmatism leads the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship to begin her long journey, which will conclude on May 7, precisely at the ideological antipodes of those.

According to official sources, Mondino He travels this Thursday at 12:00 local time (15:00 GMT) towards London, on his long journey to China, where his official visit will begin this Sunday.

China has investments in Argentina in strategic areas such as infrastructure and mining, in addition to a currency swap agreement, by which the South American country pays the Asian country for exports in yuan and not in dollars.

Along with that, a crisis recently opened with the Asian country, following complaints from the United States Government, on the eve of the visit to Argentina by the commander of the Southern Command, Laura Richardson, that the Chinese space stations installed on Argentine soil They would have military purposes, which led to a technical visit by local authorities.

Outside of the controversies, Mondino He will be in China from April 28 to 30, where he will have working meetings with high authorities, including his counterpart, Wang Yi, with whom he will analyze matters of bilateral interest.

In addition, it will deploy an extensive program of official meetings and an agenda that will include commercial promotion events and meetings with investors.

For this reason, she will be accompanied by a large business delegation from representative sectors of Argentina’s exportable offer, who will visit Shanghai and Beijing, where she will participate in forums to promote investment opportunities in the South American country.

Heading to Europe

After, Mondino will travel to France, where he will participate in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which will be held in Paris on May 2 and 3.

As reported days ago by the Argentine Foreign Ministry, it is expected that within the framework of that meeting the approval of the roadmap that will mark the official start of Argentina’s incorporation process will be announced.

After the libertarian Milei became president last December, Argentina expressed its refusal to join the group of emerging economies BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), to which it was invited in 2023, and its desire to enter in the OECD.

In that sense, Mondino has an appointment arranged with the general secretary of the OECD, Mathias Cormann.

The minister will then travel to Belgium, where on May 5 and 6 she will meet in Brussels with authorities from the European Union (EU), including the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, and the Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, with whom will address the prospects for trade negotiations between the European bloc and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia).

Finally, the chancellor will be in Lisbon on May 7, where she will meet with her Portuguese counterpart, Paulo Rangel, and will be received by the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the prime minister, Luis Montenegro.