Argentine Ambassador Marcos A. Bednarski at the press briefing highlighting the initial activities of his tenure

“We are very pleased with Vietnam-Argentina bilateral relationship. Last year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and, in 2010, the two countries also established a comprehensive partnership that we hope will soon be upgraded to a strategic partnership,” he said.

During the 50th celebratory anniversary, Argentina was honored to welcome the Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, and our Foreign Minister paid a working visit to Vietnam in March.

In 2024, Argentina also received many high-level delegations of Hanoi City and the Communist Party of Vietnam. We hope that bilateral contacts will continue to be beefed up in the coming time and that 2025 will be a very intense year in bilateral exchanges.

Regarding bilateral trade, 2023 was unfortunately not a favorable year because we had to face a historic drought, which seriously affected our production.

In 2023, Argentina's exports to Vietnam declined by 35% year-on-year to US$ 2.093 billion, while Vietnam's exports to Argentina increased by 12% to approximately US$1.4 billion. Consequently, Argentina recorded a trade surplus of nearly US$700 million with Vietnam.

From January to October 2024, Argentina exported US$2.766 billion to Vietnam, up 47% year on year, while the country, in return, imported US$596 million from Vietnam, down nearly 50%, mainly due to slowing Argentine economic growth.

From January to October 2024, the two-way trade balance tilted toward Argentina with a surplus of US$2.17 billion. On this point, I have always said that the larger the bilateral trade surplus for Argentina is, the greater the benefit for the Vietnamese economy is. Our economies are complementary, and Argentina basically exports inputs needed for Vietnam’s industries. For example, an Argentine company recently opened a tannery near Ho Chi Minh City, which is a significant investment. This company imports leather from Argentina for processing at its factory in Vietnam and hires Vietnamese workers. Its products are inputs for Vietnamese footwear manufacturers whose footwear is exported abroad.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son meets with Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Worship Diana Elena Mondino to discuss strengthening the bilateral partnership

Obviously, our bilateral trade benefits both countries. Argentina mainly exports two products to Vietnam: animal feed and corn, accounting for 93% of its shipments to Vietnam. Other products are leather, seafood, pharmaceuticals, wine and beef. We import phones, electronic equipment, footwear and textile products from Vietnam. Argentina’s shipments to Vietnam are mainly raw materials or semi-processed products, while Vietnam ships products with high added value to Argentina.

The two-way trade potential is crucial, and this is a focus that we are also working hard on. Vietnam is Argentina's third largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific region, after China and India, and our eighth largest trading partner globally.

I am confident that the trade cooperation between the two countries will be very successful. For example, October trade data showed that Vietnam's imports from Argentina soared 185% from the corresponding period of 2023, while in the opposite direction, Vietnam's October exports to Argentina also jumped 7.4%, also a very positive result.

In my opinion, we are currently negotiating an extension of the investment agreement that will allow both countries' businesses to invest with greater incentives.

We are also discussing a double taxation avoidance agreement, which will also allow businesses of both countries to pay taxes in only one country.

We are also negotiating an aviation services agreement to connect Vietnam and Argentina directly in the coming time.

As I said, Argentina's bilateral trade focuses mainly on some products. We are discussing market access to diversify a range of Argentine products allowed to be exported to Vietnam. For quite some time now, the two countries have debated opening the Vietnamese market to Argentine pork and citrus fruits. We hope that these negotiations will soon yield a good outcome.

Which areas do I think we should focus on in the coming time and diversify our bilateral agenda?

I believe that biotechnology is an area where Argentina has a lot of potential, and we can cooperate with Vietnam in this area.

We also apply high technology to agriculture in which Argentina has made many achievements, and we are ready to share our experiences.

Energy provides vast room for cooperation, especially since Argentina has significant oil and gas reserves and lithium ores, enabling energy transition towards building a green economy.

The Argentine mining industry has received important investments in Argentina to extract copper, nickel, silver and gold, and we expect significant growth in Argentine mineral exports to Vietnam.

Our Embassy's 2025 agenda will also be very active. On April 17, 2025, we will celebrate the Malbec World Day. Malbec is a famous wine of Argentina. And we will have promotional activities in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and possibly Da Nang.

We also have many plans to sponsor Tango dance. In our meetings with local authorities, I asked their leaders to support the initiative to include the Tango dance in cultural exchanges in these cities.

And we will also promote many bilateral trade delegations. We recently had a delegation of eight Argentine companies to participate in Vietnam FoodExpo in Ho Chi Minh City and we hoped that more companies will attend next year.

Also in this trade activity, there was an important connection between Viettel and an Argentine company. Consequently, the Argentine company will start buying fiber optic cables for Internet in Argentina. This is another example that shows us the value of diversifying commercial products and the added value of Vietnamese industry that is good for our country.”