Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloniarrived this Tuesday at Buenos Aires to meet with the Argentine president, Javier Mileiwith whom he will seek to deepen bilateral ties.
According to official sources, Meloni was received upon her arrival in Buenos Aires by the Argentine Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eduardo Bustamante, and on Tuesday night she was received by the Argentine Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eduardo Bustamante. will have dinner with Milei at the Olivos presidential residence.in the northern outskirts of the Argentine capital.
Meloni arrived in Buenos Aires from Brazil, where he took part in the G20 Summit together with several world leaders, including Milei himself.
Meloni’s agenda
The Italian Prime Minister plans to leave a wreath at the monument of José de San Martín on Wednesday morning and then go to the Casa Rosada, the seat of the Argentine Executive, for a meeting with Milei.
In the afternoon, Meloni will be distinguished with the honorary keys of the capital city by its mayor, Jorge Macri, in a ceremony to be held at the Italian Cultural Institute of Buenos Aires.
Finally, Meloni will travel to the nearby Teatro Coliseo to attend a tribute to Italian cinema and there he will give a speech before his return to Rome.
This is Meloni’s first official mission to Argentina since coming to power in October 2022 and, according to Italian government sources, “will allow to deepen the strong bilateral partnership”.
At Argentina is home to the largest Italian community abroad, which more than one million peopleand a large part of the population of the South American country has Italian ancestors.
The far-right politician has met Milei on three other occasions, all this year, and in June invited the Argentine president to participate in the Italian G7 summit.
At the bilateral meeting in Buenos Aires priority sectors for cooperation between the two countries will be explored.with special interest in collaborating in areas such as justice and security.
Bilateral trade between Italy and Argentina
On economic matters, Meloni and Milei will seek to boost bilateral trade. and investments, with some 300 Italian companies employing more than 16,000 people in Argentina.
According to official figures, in the first nine months of the year Argentina exported US$751.9 million to Italy, a year-on-year increase of 24.2 %.
Meanwhile, in the same period, the South American country imported from Italy – its eighth largest import market – for a total of 995.1 million dollars, with a year-on-year drop of 27.9%.
According to the sources consulted, the Italian government is particularly interested in sectors such as energy, information technology, precision mechanics, infrastructure and the food industry.