The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, is part of the official team that accompanies President Mauricio Macri in his State visit to the People’s Republic of China. The arrival to Beijing is expected to be on Sunday at 10:30 AM (11:30 PM Argentina time). The Ministry’s team is also comprised by the Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto.

There follows a detailed agenda of the activities of Mr. Minister and his team:

Sunday, May 14

– Caputo will accompany Mauricio Macri in the opening of the OBOR “One Belt One Road” Forum led by the President of China, Xi Jiping; and then they will attend the high-level plenary meeting. OMOR is a Chinese initiative aimed at promoting the integration and development of Eurasia, by means of the coordination of policies, the development of infrastructure, the increase in trade, investment and financial aid, industrial integration, encouragement of technology transfer and the improvement of economic governance mechanisms.

– In addition, the Argentine team will participate in the ceremony of the execution of the Forums’ Guiding Principles Document.

– Within said framework, Caputo will attend the opening panel about financial connectivity.

Monday, May 15

– Mr. Minister will attend the meeting held by President Macri and the President of the World Bank, Jim Kim.

– Likewise, he will accompany Mr. President in different working meetings for the participants of the “One Belt One Road” Forum.

Friday, May 16

– The Argentine team will participate in the Argentina-China Business and Investment Forum: “Partners for development”, where Minister Caputo will give a speech at the plenary session. President Mauricio Macri will give the closing speech.

– In addition, Caputo will hold a meeting together with the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Dietrich; the Governor of Jujuy, Gerardo Morales; and the Governor of San Juan, Sergio Uñac, with the authorities of the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIMBANK). They will address financing agreements for the following projects: Cauchari I, II and III Photovaltic Park, located in Jujuy (for USD331 million); improvement of the Buenos Aires.

– Mendoza Railway Corridor, former San Martin Cargas (for USD2.04 billion); and “El Tambolar” multipurpose hydroelectric power project (for USD823 million).

– Caputo will also meet with authorities of the Bank of China (BOC) to address financing possibilities for the multipurpose project Chihuido I.

Wednesday, May 17

– The Finance Minister and his team will meet with authorities of the China Development Bank (CDB) where they will address the financing for the project to improve Belgrano Cargas (II) railway.

– In addition, the Argentine team will accompany Mr. President in different bilateral meetings with Chinese officials and he will participate in the ceremony of the execution of agreements between the Argentine Republic and the People’s Republic of China. The main cooperation areas shall be: infrastructure, transportation, energy and IT.

Friday, May 19

– On Friday, the Argentine officials will arrive to Japan and they will participate in the Argentina-China Business and Investment Forum: “Partners for development”, where Caputo will give a speech after President Macri’s exhibition.

– To conclude his agenda in Japan, Mr. Minister will meet with authorities of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to agree on a 50-million dollar financing for the implementation of an automatic stop system for trains.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, talked this morning at the opening session of LatinFinance’s 3rd Cumbre Financiera Argentina, which took place at the Four Seasons Hotel in the City of Buenos Aires.

During an interview conducted by the President of LatinFinance, Christopher Garnett, Caputo said: “Our goal is to develop the local capital markets; we need a strong and reliable local market”. In this sense, he said: “We want to promote financial inclusion, the development of SMEs, mortgage credits and investment in the real economy”.

Likewise, Caputo highlighted: “Over the last year, we’ve accomplished some achievements by returning to the markets but we need to transfer those benefits to the rest of the economy, to the people and in particular to SMEs”, and he added: “This is fundamental in order to achieve a sustainable and balanced development; we are promoting this from the public banks in order to achieve financial inclusion”.

“The development of the mortgage credit markets is a fundamental channel with an enormous growth potential, for that reason we work in coordination with public banks”, Mr. Minister highlighted.

In addition, the Minister of Finance talked about the work done by the Central Bank: “The Central Bank makes an excellent work; it is concerned and focused on its main issue which is inflation”. He also said: “We come from an undercapitalized Central Bank, without reserves, dependent; now it is the opposite and I really appreciate it because it cooperates with financing”.

Mr. Minister highlighted the role of multilateral credit organizations: “Through the Ministry of Finance we try to look for the best, cheapest and most intelligent possible financing resource to cover the needs of the country”. In this sense, he highlighted: “We have the most ambitious infrastructure plan of our history”.

Finally, Caputo highlighted: “We have an enormous growth potential, we have to connect the capital with the projects, if we continue in this path, reducing the country risk, investment will continue growing”, and he added: “We have to keep doing what we are doing which is creating jobs, lowering inflation, reactivating the economy. We focus on these issues in order to recover the credibility Argentina has lost in the last 20 years”.

LatinFinance is the main information source about financial markets and economies in Latin America and the Caribbean, in charge of gathering the relevant data in order to identify events of immediate importance for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated this Friday in the execution of the first deed corresponding to a 30-year mortgage credit at the Banco Ciudad of Lomas de Zamora, Province of Buenos Aires. The Director of the Bank, Javier Ortiz Batalla, was also present.

These are the new 30-year credit lines that the public banks have implemented for middle-income sectors. Within this context, Caputo said: “We are promoting these credits from the Ministry of Finance through the coordination of public banks; this is crucial for the country’s growth”. Mr. Minister added: “We are very proud that many families will be able to have their first house with these 30-year credits”.

Ariel (30 years old), pharmacist, Eliana (26 years old), primary school teacher, and their daughter (one and a half years old), Paz, are the beneficiaries of the first loan of these characteristics that was granted by this bank. They will be owners of their first house, in Burzaco, after being tenants for 7 years.

The initial monthly installment of this credit will be of ARS6,149 for a loan of ARS1,029,000. This way, the amount of the installment is equal to the rent they were paying. Thus, the Elorriaga Montes family covers the 75% of the property value and the other 25% will be paid by Ariel and Eliana with their savings.

In this sense, Ortiz Batalla highlighted: “these figures clearly reflect our social banking commitment”.
This family has been looking for access to a mortgage credit for more than 5 years; within said context, Ariel said: “With this new credit line, I was able to have access to a higher amount of credit for the purchase of my first house”.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, and the Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security, Jorge Triaca, attended the execution of a cooperation agreement between the Director of the Argentine Insurance Authority (SSN, for its acronym in Spanish), Juan Pazo, and the Director of the Argentine Labor Risk Agency (SRT, for its acronym in Spanish), Gustavo Moron, this afternoon. The agreement is aimed at strengthening the joint and coordinated control of both agencies, dependent on the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, respectively.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, said: “We are working towards a reliable, efficient and foreseeable insurance system for everyone, which will enable the development of the local capital market”. Caputo added: “To that end, the coordinated action of both agencies is very important”.

Likewise, the Minister of Labor, Jorge Triaca, said: “We are focusing on the prevention as well as on a greater coverage and inclusion of the Labor Risk system, with special emphasis on the system’s transparency, long-term sustainability and protection of worker’s rights”.

The Argentine Framework Convention 70-16 SRT/SSN is aimed at the strengthening of information exchange and cooperation between both institutions, particularly within the context of the implementation of Argentine Law No. 27348, supplementary of the Argentine Labor Risk Act. The joint cooperation of both agencies is aimed at the strengthening of the Labor Risk System and of federalism, through the adherence of the Provinces to the National Law.

The SSN and the SRT will work on the reduction of costs (fee calculation and joint work in actuarial terms) and on the elaboration of common proposals for the Aliquot Regime of the Labor Risk System.

Both agencies will control the enforcement of the Labor Risk Act through mutual assistance methods that guarantee consistency in health services and compensations in the event of a labor accident (SRT) and the promotion of a reliable, foreseeable and efficient system to protect the rights of policyholders, insurable parties, beneficiaries and affected parties (SSN).

In addition, both agencies will promote long-term solvency and transparency of the system through fight against fraud. Information exchange between both agencies will enable the strengthening of mutual cooperation and coordinated policy-making, which favors the protection of the policyholder’s rights within the framework of an efficient and sustainable system that avoids delays caused by filing accidents before the courts.

The insurance sector is very important for a stimulus of the economy and the development of a local capital market favorable for economic growth and the creation of jobs.