Visit to Argentina

During my visit to Argentina, I met with Vice President Gabriela Michetti, and held substantial discussions with my Argentine counterpart, Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie.

Australia's links with Argentina are growing strongly. In the twelve months to March 2017, visitors from Argentina to Australia increased 40 per cent to over 20,000, and over 50 Australian companies are active in Argentina.

Foreign Minister Faurie and I issued a joint statement, signed an MOU to establish political consultations between our two foreign ministries and an MOU on cooperation in the field of education, research and technical and professional training, and agreed to raise the number of work and holiday visas from 700 to 1500 annually.

I welcomed Argentina's decision to lift the reciprocity fee for Australian travellers.

I reiterated Australia's support for Argentina as it prepares to host the eleventh meeting of WTO Trade Ministers (MC11) in December 2017 and the G20 in 2018.

While in Argentina, I hosted a women's leadership breakfast, met key stakeholders in the Australia-Argentine business community and gave a speech at CARI, a foreign policy thinktank.

I had a useful meeting with some key members of the Australia-Uruguay business and academic community, including Fredrico Morixe, President of the Uruguay-Australia Chamber of Commerce and Gonzal Pérez Piaggio, Regional Director for Deakin University which has established a Latin America office at the Australian Studies Centre in Montevideo.