Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Lesikimacuata Korovavala says the cooperation between Fiji and Argentina will boost opportunities for increased partnership in economy, trade, sports, tourism, agriculture and climate change.
Korovavala while receiving a courtesy call from the non-resident Ambassador of Argentina to Fiji, His Excellency Maximo Gowland acknowledged Argentina’s commitment to strengthen Fiji’s formal diplomatic relations and cooperation, established since 1975.
He welcomed prospects for expanded cooperation to support Fiji’s socioeconomic development priorities through initiatives in economy, trade and investment, tourism and sports, amongst others.
He also reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to work closely with Argentina to see how best the two nations can maximise the return on investments aimed at improving the livelihoods and well-being of our local communities.
Korovavala observed that with Argentina’s impressive record in land use, farming technologies and green economy, partnership in the agriculture sector and farm-related development are areas that our cooperation can focus on.
“Taking development to the people is key to improving the quality of life for our people.”
Ambassador Gowland said as one of the largest economies and the world’s leading food exporters, with large-scale agricultural and livestock, Argentina is keen to assist Fiji, primarily through the provision of the latest technologies, training and capacity-building opportunities.
Argentina will also partner in the trade and tourism industry particularly to explore adventure tourism prospects in Fiji.
He highlighted that there is enormous potential for cooperation in sports diplomacy particularly with Fiji’s success in rugby and Argentina’s championship in the world cup soccer, saying that it would be great to have sports training exchange programs between our two nations.
He said Argentina would also deepen cooperation with Fiji in areas of democracy, gender and human rights, particularly with our collaboration in the multilateral arena.
He added there is immense potential for our cooperation to grow by working closely at all levels of development.
As part of the cooperation, an MOU on visa exemption is already in existence that enables Fijians to travel visa-free to Argentina for up to 90 days from date of entry.
