FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo is set to go on a five-day official visit to Argentina starting today, as Manila and Buenos Aires marks its 74th year of diplomatic ties.
Manalo’s trip to the South American country includes a meeting with his counterpart, Argentine Minister for Foreign Affairs Santiago Andres Cafiero, on September 13.
“They will discuss the deepening Philippine-Argentina cooperation agenda, which includes cooperation in science and technology, specifically in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and outer space; technical cooperation in agriculture; trade and investments; and cultural relations,” the DFA said in a statement.
“More than a decade since a Philippine Foreign Secretary was last in Buenos Aires, Secretary Manalo’s visit is also a concrete demonstration of the country’s commitment to forging stronger and deeper bonds with Latin America, a region with which the Philippines shares many cultural and historical commonalities,” it added.
Manalo will also speak about the longstanding bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries in the multilateral arena at the Consejo Argentina para Relaciones lnternacionales (CARI), the foremost think tank in Argentina, and the Universidad de Belgrano.
The Philippines is the first ASEAN country to establish relations with Argentina.
Trade between Manila and Buenos Aires have also continued to increase. In 2021, the Philippines exported $124 million worth of goods to Argentina, including motor vehicles parts and accessories, office machines and parts and insulated wire.
In the last 26 years, Philippine exports to Argentina increased at an annualized rate of more than 9 percent from $12. 4 million in 1995 to $124 million. The Philippines imported $174 million worth of goods from Argentina in the same period. Most of these imports are soybean meal, soybeans and dried legumes.
