Award of digital training contract to Argentine company in Malaysia

On October 28, the award ceremony and launch of the "Selangor Freelance Initiative" took place. The event was chaired by the First Minister of Selangor, Amirudin bin Shari, and was attended by Diego Alejandro Kikuchi, General Manager for Asia of the Argentine company Workana, and by our Ambassador Manuel Balaguer Salas, as well as by other high authorities of that State.

The aforementioned initiative aims at the development of the digital capabilities of 5,000 Selangor residents by the Argentine company Workana in order for them to improve their skills as freelance workers and to be able to fully master digital ressources to generate income.

The Argentine company Workana settled in Malaysia in 2018 and, since then, has been expanding its presence in this country and throughout Southeast Asia through its digital platform that allows the hiring of freelance workers. Its success is reflected in initiatives like this one and in the more than 100,000 users who daily publish their job offers and are hired through the website.

Those who pass the said training will receive RM 400 to start their projects and their profiles will have priority in searches carried out through the Workana site.

Meeting between our Ambassador and the CEO of Gas Malaysia

In October, our Ambassador Manuel Balaguer Salas received Ahmad Hashimi Abdul Manap, CEO of Gas Malaysia, and Kamarul Ariffin bin Ibrahim, Head of Corporate Affairs of the said company, the main gas distributor in this country, in order to exchange views on the situation and perspectives of the gas industry in Argentina and Malaysia and assess cooperation and business possibilities between companies from both countries.

In this framework, the CEO introduced his company and elaborated on different aspects of the gas business in Malaysia and, in particular, referred to biogas as a central component of the future of the company.

The Ambassador, in turn, pointed out that Argentina is a world leader in the gas sector, refering to the important foreign investments (including those of PETRONAS) in the Vaca Muerta fields (center-west of Argentina) and to the gravitation that natural gas has in the energy structure of our country.

Legislative elections in Argentina: polling station at our Embassy

On November 14, the 2021 legislative elections took place in Argentina, in which Argentine citizens elected the Deputies and Senators who will be representing us in the next years. Likewise, Argentines residing abroad were able to cast their vote at the Embassies and Consulates in the countries where they live.

In this framework and under strict sanitary protocols, the Argentine community residing in Malaysia came to our Embassy in good numbers to exercise their right to elect their legislators. The next elections -for President- will be held in 2023.

Argentine participation in the Kota Kinabalu Film Festival 2021

Between October 13 and 17, the 12th edition of the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) took place online.

This new format was named CINEBALU and the films were displayed via a streaming service. This year, there were films from Argentina, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and the United States. To represent Argentina, the film selected was "Soy Gilda" (“I’m Gilda”), a touching story based on the life of a popular singer who tragically died in a car accident.

Additionally, there were 5 webinars that covered different topics: environment, independent cinema in Malaysia, biographies, horror genre and indigenous cinema.

Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports the internationalization tech startups

Between October 5 and 7, a new edition of the SOUTH SUMMIT conference was held in Madrid, Spain, a popular meeting for the Latin American entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. The Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated the participation of tech companies from our country in the event, such as: Celerative, Giro54, BIT, BINIT, Easycommerce, G&L GROUP; DRIXIT; Moova SAS; IderoTech; Neolo; SDBL; Crowdar and Agriconsult Latam.

SOUTH SUMMIT MADRID 2021 was one of the main events this year for entrepreneurs involved in the creation of technology-based companies and represented a meeting point between startups and investors from southern Europe and Latin America, in which some 100 tech projects were presented to potential investors.

75% of the participating tech companies were international, representing, in total, more than 124 countries and leading sectors such as Fintech, Education, Healthcare, Software and Development, E-commerce, Social Impact, AgriTech, Data & Analytics, Green & Clean Tech Solutions and Logistics.

Argentine government launched Exports Plan 2022

The Argentine government launched the Exports Plan 2022. The plan comprises several policies and tools for developing export capabilities, financing and technical assistance to improve the international strength of Argentine products.

In this context, the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that “our exports have been growing for 8 consecutive months now; part of this increase is related to increases in international prices, but there is also a positive dynamics related to competitiveness in the industrial sector and to an increase in the number of companies that have begun to export or resume sales abroad”. And he pointed out: “for Argentine exports to have a growing and sustainable trend, we need many more SMEs to be able to place their production in other countries and we also need to bet on regional integration with our neighbours”.

Argentina boosts exports of cherries and blueberries

Within the framework of the strategy deployed by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the search for new markets for regional products, multiple business rounds were organized in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, with the aim of promoting and expanding exports of cherries and blueberries from our country and in a joint effort with the most important companies of the sector.

These business rounds are part of the global objective of positioning the country as a strategic partner of countries in the Middle East to strengthen their food security in the post-pandemic scenario, generating certainty as a reliable supplier of high quality food.

Cafiero and the Director General of the WTO held a bilateral meeting at the G20 in Italy

The Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs Santiago Cafiero held a bilateral meeting in October with the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, during their participation in the G20 meeting in Italy. The meeting addressed various issues such as the role of SMEs and their impact on production and employment, policies to promote the participation of women, minorities and young people in the labor market and the stimulation of trade and investment flows between countries.

In this regard, Minister Cafiero stressed that it is necessary to boost the development agenda and asked Director General to strengthen the access to financing tools for developing countries to meet their economic and social needs, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which generated a setback in all economic indicators, particularly in Latin America. Cafiero pointed out that "global solidarity and multilateralism are indispensable tools to overcome the global crisis".

Argentina ratifies its firm commitment to the Protection of the Antarctic Environment

During October, Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs participated virtually in the Commemorative Day for the 30th anniversary of Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection, known as the Madrid Protocol, organized by Spain, on which occasion he renewed the firm commitment of Argentina with the protection of the Antarctic environment and the values of the Protocol.

In his speech at the Ministerial Dialogue on the protection of the Antarctic project, in which authorities from the consultative parties of the Antarctic Treaty took part, the Minister stated that Argentina is one of the most active countries in the Antarctic region, where it has maintained more than 100 years of permanent presence, which has allowed the country to be a privileged witnesses of the severe consequences that are affecting the environment of the Antarctic continent as a result, among other causes, of climate change.

Argentina reelected to the UN Human Rights Council

Argentina was re-elected in October as a member of the Human Rights Council for the period 2022-2024 in an election held in New York City, at the headquarters of the United Nations. The Latin American and Caribbean group had to renew 3 seats for that period. Honduras and Paraguay were also elected.

“We thank all the Member States of the United Nations that supported the re-election of Argentina to the Human Rights Council for the period 2022-2024,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Santiago Cafiero and added: “Today we reaffirm our commitment to the promotion and protection of Human Rights and we assume the responsibility to continue contributing initiatives that raise international standards and contribute to the progressive development of international Human Rights law ”.

Argentina will be a member of the Human Rights Council for the fifth time since its creation in 2006, having always been an active member that has presented numerous initiatives recognized by the international community. This election reaffirms Argentina’s commitment to the defense of Human Rights in order to achieve more inclusive, egalitarian and diverse societies.

It must be noted that Malaysia was also elected as a member of the Council for the period, meaning that our countries will be cooperating in this very critical issue for our peoples.