Argentina hopes to increase exchanges beyond trade with Malaysia — FM Mondino

KUALA LUMPUR: Argentina hopes to increase many exchanges with Malaysia in time to come not only in trade and investment but cultural as well.

Expressing her hope to Bernama, Argentine Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Minister Diana Mondino said both countries have ties for a long time but “not as intensive as it should be.”

Mondino, who is here in Malaysia for her inaugural official visit, is expected to have a courtesy call on Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today (March 18).

She is also expected to have a meeting with several ministers including her counterpart Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.

Describing diplomatic relations with Malaysia as “really good”, Mondino said : “We have an excellent (Malaysian) ambassador in Argentina while we have our ambassador here. He also has a lot of experience in this country. “That helps,” she said.

Nur Azman Abdul Rahim is the current Ambassador of Malaysia to Argentina, while his Argentine counterpart here is Manuel Balaguer Salas.

On top of that, Mondino expressed her admiration for Malaysia’s robust infrastructure and economic development.

“We can grow our exports and we also hope we can attract investment or vice versa.

“This is my first time in Kuala Lumpur but have to congratulate what you have succeeded just in a few decades in growth. Argentina hopes to be able to do the same,” she said.

On her expectations towards a meeting with Anwar and her counterpart, Mondino said : “First of all, I will assure them about our friendship. It is ever more important in this confusing world that we live in.

“We also try on the multilateral agenda of many issues of the world. We can cooperate,” she added.

As for her meeting with Mohamad Sabu, Mondino said it would be a “very important” meeting.

“Argentina has greater agriculture production but it is complementary, not substitute of Malaysia. We produce corn, soya, wheat, sunflower seeds, and many others that are important for people’s food and animals.

“We are very effective and lowcost producers. We can share experiences. We produce our machinery that can be adapted maybe to Malaysia’s crops.

“So there are a lot of things that we possibly would be able to work together,” she said.

Argentina’s exports to Malaysia reached an all-time high in 2022 of about US$2 billion with main products such as corn, soybean meal, cereal meal, and pellets.

During the last 27 years, the exports of Argentina to Malaysia have increased at an annualised rate of 6.5 per cent, from US$350 million in 1995 to US$1.92 billion in 2022.

In 2022, Malaysia exported US$341 million to Argentina.

Asked whether she hopes to see a balanced trade between the countries, Mondino – who is an economist by training – said : “We hope both can export more to the other but who exports more is not really relevant.”

“We can export a lot of commodities and at the same time, we have a lot of resources in oil and gas.

“Petronas (Malaysia’s national oil and gas company) has a lot of experience ..most probably they can help us Argentina a lot and at the same time make money for Petronas,” she said.