Argentine President, Mauricio Macri, met with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, this afternoon, ahead of the two-day G20 Leaders’ Summit that starts on Friday in Osaka, Japan.

“We came to consolidate our strategic partnership,” said Macri at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Osaka, expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Abe for opening the Japanese market to Argentine exports, such as Patagonian beef and lamb, “for the first time in many years.”

“We would also like to open the market for cranberries and cherries,” said the President, referring to ongoing negotiations to bring the Argentine fruits to Japan.

Macri also expressed interest in the possibility of moving forward with projects related to the development of clean energy.

This is the sixth time the two leaders have seen each other in the last three years. Most recently, in December 2018, after the Buenos Aires G20 Summit, the two leaders took part in celebrations at the CCK, in the Argentine capital, to mark the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Argentina and Japan, and signed an agreement to protect and promote investment.  

At today’s meeting, President Macri was accompanied by Chief of Cabinet Marcos Peña; Secretary for Strategic Affairs Fulvio Pompeo; Argentina’s G20 sherpa, Pedro Villagra Delgado; Ambassador to Japan Alan Beraud; and the Finance Ministry’s chief G20 negotiator, Laura Jaitman.

Later on the afternoon, President Macri visited the Ito-Yokado supermarket chain on the outskirts of Osaka as part of “Argentina Week”, an event to promote Argentine products in Japan, including meat, honey, prawns, wine and fish.

“Argentina is a country that produces quality food for 400 million people, despite the fact that our population is only 44 million, and we hope to reach 600 million people in 2025,” said Macri during his visit.

On Wednesday 26 June, on his way to Japan, President Macri made a state visit to Jakarta, Indonesia. On meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the two leaders renewed their commitments to boost bilateral ties and balance trade relations.

“We want to strengthen our relationship and expand it to strategic sectors such as education, sports, agribusiness, nuclear energy and aeronautics,” said President Macri in a joint declaration at the Bogor Presidential Palace. “Indonesia is a key trading partner for Argentina, today and tomorrow,” he added.

Argentina currently has a US $1.2 billion trade balance surplus with Indonesia and is the country’s sixth largest agro-industrial supplier. The country hopes to increase exports of products such as rice, peas, beans and peanuts, and introduce Argentine meat, bovine genetics and fruits to the Indonesian market. The island country is interested in cooperation in agricultural techniques and machinery, and in exporting tropical fruits to Argentina. 

On Friday 28 June, President Macri will join Japanese Prime Minister and current G20 President, Shinzo Abe, at the opening of the 2019 G20 Leaders’ Summit at the Osaka International Exhibition Center (Intex Osaka). 

The annual summit brings together heads of state and government of major industrialized and emerging countries. As last year’s host of the G20, Argentina is part of the leadership group known as the G20 troika, tasked with ensuring continuity in the group’s thematic agenda. The troika is made up of the current (Japan), previous (Argentina) and upcoming (Saudi Arabia) G20 presidents.

The Osaka Summit will have development of infrastructure to improve health; inequality and ageing populations; climate change; women’s empowerment and innovation; and the digital economy, at the forefront of its agenda.

At the summit, the President will be accompanied by a delegation that includes Chief of Cabinet Marcos Peña; Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Faurie; Finance Minister Nicolás Dujovne; Secretary for Strategic Affairs Fulvio Pompeo, and Presidential Spokesman Iván Pavlovsky. First Lady, Juliana Awada, will be participating in the G20 Partners’ Programme.