The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, continued this Wednesday his agenda in China together with the team that accompanies President Mauricio Macri in his State visit. They participated in protocol ceremonies, working meetings between both countries’ teams and in the execution of cooperation agreements between the Argentine Republic and the People’s Republic of China.

Within that framework, Macri and the President of China, Xi Jinping, led the execution of the agreements on different areas such as investment in transportation, energy and IT. The documents are aimed at contributing to the development of economic relations between both countries.

In that sense, Caputo signed a memorandum of understanding with the President of China Development Bank (CDB), Zheng Zhijie, for the rehabilitation project of Belgrano Cargas (II) railway.

The Asian bank will finance the acquisition of railway equipment, works and services for a narrow-gauge train with a total extension of 1,400 km. The Belgrano Cargas (II) initiative connects the Provinces of the Mesopotamia area.

CDB was founded in 1994 and it is the biggest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financial cooperation. Over the last years, it has developed relations with 707 banks of 106 countries and regions, focusing on Latin America.

In addition, the Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, signed together with the Undersecretary of Economic Relations, Horacio Reyser, and Wang Xiaotao, the 2017-2021 China-Argentina comprehensive five-year plan for cooperation in infrastructure.

Finally, this Thursday, the Argentine team will travel to Japan to participate on Friday in the Argentina-Japan Business and Investment Forum “Partners for the development”, at which Minister Caputo will give a speech after President Macri’s exhibition.

The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, accompanied President Mauricio Macri in the first working day in China to promote the financing of infrastructure projects.

Luis Caputo participated in the ceremony of the execution of the OBOR “One Belt One Road” Forum’s Guiding Principles Document led by the President of China, Xi Jiping, within the framework of the official tour accompanying President Mauricio Macri in his State visit to the People’s Republic of China.

Argentina is one of the countries invited to sign the OBOR’s guiding principles, 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.

Within that framework, Minister Caputo together with the Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martin Soto, held a meeting with the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno.

Finally, Mr. Minister and his team attended a high-level plenary meeting and later, the opening panel on financial connectivity.

The team’s agenda will continue on Monday with a meeting between President Macri and the President of the World Bank, Jim Kim. In addition, Caputo will accompany Mr. President in different working meetings for the participants of the “One Belt One Road” Forum.

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.