Buenos Aires (VNA) – The foreign affairs and international cooperation committee at the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, in coordination with the ASEAN Committee in Buenos Aires (ACBA), held a scientific seminar titled “Argentina – ASEAN: Strategic Partners in a Changing World” in Buenos Aires on June 12.
The event brought together Indonesian Ambassador Sulaiman Syarif; Chairwoman of the foreign affairs and international cooperation committee Luciana Termine; Chairman of the Argentina – Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Group MP Santiago Pauli; Mercosur parliamentarian Julia Perié; representatives from the embassies of Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand; as well as a large number of scholars and researchers.
In her opening remarks, Luciana Termine emphasised ASEAN’s growing importance as one of Argentina’s key trading partners in recent years, particularly in the agricultural and processed food sectors. She affirmed the significant potential for expanding, diversifying, and strengthening economic and trade relations between Buenos Aires and Southeast Asia.
Also at the event, MP Santiago Pauli praised the active role of the Vietnamese Embassy as the rotating Chair of ACBA in 2025 in organising initiatives to bolster cooperation between ASEAN countries and Argentina.
For her part, MP Julia Perié noted that in 2023, trade turnover between Argentina and ASEAN exceeded 9 billion USD, with Argentina recording a surplus of 945 million USD.
Vietnam was Argentina’s largest trading partner in ASEAN, with bilateral trade reaching 3.45 billion USD, ranking sixth among Argentina’s global trade partners.
Alongside Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore also made significant contributions to the total trade volume between Argentina and the bloc./.
