The Minister of Internal Affairs, Public Works and Housing, Rogelio Frigerio; the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martín Soto; and the Governor of the Argentine Province of Entre Ríos, Gustavo Bordet, met today in China with the Vice President for Countries of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Alexandre Meira da Rosa, to make progress in negotiations for the financing of the Development and Integration Program of the Region of Salto Grande.

The meeting was held within the context of the 12th China-LAC Business Summit, organized by the IDB, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and after the negotiation led by the Under-secretariat of International Financial Relations of the Ministry of Treasury. At today’s event, the officials ratified the importance of developing integration projects in Latin America.

The USD 50-million loan will be directly awarded to the Province of Entre Ríos, with the guarantee of the National Government, and it is aimed at the project promoted by the IDB to support the physical and productive integration of the region of Salto Grande (Argentina – Uruguay).

In particular, the project is aimed the reopening of the Airport Comodoro Pierrestegui of the city of Concordia and the financing of the design and implementation of the agency that promotes exports and investments in the Province, which will include a multi-sectorial fund to foster business development in the region. The project will benefit more than 238,000 citizens of Concordia and Federación with a new transportation service.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated today in the working lunch “PPP investment opportunities in Argentina”, taking place within the framework of the 59th Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the City of Mendoza.

In his speech, the Minister of Finance said that the “PPP scheme is being applied in different parts of the world to modernize infrastructure and to combine it with fiscal discipline”. In this sense, Caputo made clear that “PPP is not a new tool: it has been used for many years in the region and the world”. “This has allowed us to learn from other countries experiences and at the same time it has forced us to make innovations and adapt the scheme to the Argentine reality”, he added.

The Undersecretary of PPP, José Luis Morea, said: “in the Ministry of Finance we are working on a solid legal structure of PPP projects in order to mitigate risks and make them more efficient”. Likewise, Morea explained: “we are presenting the best projects, ready for auction”. “We create incentives to make them more attractive and financeable for the private sector”, he added.

The tough agenda of the Finance Team in Mendoza included different working meetings. In the morning, Caputo, together with the Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martín Soto, participated in the execution of the Urban Waste Management Plan between the Governor of Jujuy, Gerardo Morales, and The European Investment Bank.

In addition, the Finance Team held working meetings with the Governor of Chaco, Domingo Peppo; the General Manager of the Inter-American Investment Corporation, James Scriven; and the Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Banks (AIIB), Danny Alexander.

On the second day of the Annual Meeting of the IDB, Minister Caputo held a meeting with representatives of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) and with the President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Nick Rischbieth. Likewise, the Finance team met with the Director of Banco Basa, Santiago Peña, and with the Minister of Finance of Chile, Felipe Larrain Bascuñan.

Later that day, the Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, and the Secretary of Finance, Santiago Bausili, talked at the Americas Business Dialogue about the initiative of the private sector, promoted by the IDB, to foster a high-level policy dialogue between business leaders and the Governments of the region for the economic and social development of the continent.

The meeting focused on the joint analysis of the most important recommendations for Argentina and on the evaluation of cooperation opportunities between the Government and the private sector in the application of these recommendations, which should be submitted within the framework of the 8th Summit of the Americas, to be conducted in Lima in April 2018.

The Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the IDB is the top decision-making body of the organization, representing the 48 member countries. Most of the Governors are Ministers of Finance or Economy or Central Banks presidents.