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17 - 23 April
UNIDOScope 2005 CONTENTS:
Argentine Minister for Federal Planning signs Agreement on Renewable Energy with UNIDO
Vienna, Austria, 15 April 2005
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Argentinean Minister for Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services, Julio de Vido led a delegation to UNIDO's Vienna HQ to meet with UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magariños and update the diplomatic and business communities in Vienna on the recovery of the Argentinean economy.
Minister de Vido and the UNIDO Director-General signed a Memorandum of Understanding (view or download MoU) that establishes a cooperation framework between UNIDO and Argentina for the design, implementation and evaluation of a programme that would increase the international competitiveness of the country’s renewable energy sector – specifically in the production of hydrogen.
Mr. de Vido's presentation on the recovery of the Argentinian economy and opportunities for investment drew an audience of some 180, 46 of whom were representatives of UNIDO member states (view list). Supporting material for Mr. de Vido's presentation was distributed to participants in English, German and Spanish and is available here for download (English; German; Spanish). An english transcript of the session, including questions and answers is available online (a "print-friendly" pdf version of the transcript is available here for viewing or downloading).
After making his presentation the Minister responded to statements / questions from eight member states, namely, Bolivia (on loan negotiations in framework of a common dam project); Brazil (on foreign investments of mutual benefit to Brazil, Argentina and MERCOSUR generally); China (on record breaking economic cooperation between Latin America and China); Iran (on response of foreign companies to Argentina's foreign investment needs, and on bank withdrawals situation); Italy (on the way Argentina is addressing the public debt problem); Mexico (on Argentinian law on foreign private investment in the energy industry and on allocation of responsibility (Federal / State) for incentives for foreign investment); Morocco (on the First Latin American - Arab Summit to be held in May in Brazil, on focus of investment in industrial sector, and on Argentina's energy policy; and Uruguay (on MERCOSUR - European Union agreement).
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During his responses, Minister de Vido made further reference to the agreement he was signing with UNIDO, saying that "In Argentina today we are in the process of preparing a map for the detection of wind energy. We want to locate these points and place them correctly within our geographic map. This should be concluded in August. We also see that there are certain national industries which are developing the necessary elements and tools so as to construct the windmills that will in turn allow us to generate this very important resource. This is taking place in the southern part of the country, which is normally known as Patagonia. This is one of the areas of the world with the highest possibilities, not only with regard to drinking water, but also with regard to wind energy. I estimate that in the year 2005, this should be all in place and the agreements that will be signed today with this very important organization, will no doubt accelerate, support and give more impulse in this process, enabling us to import knowledge that might not exist today in Argentina."
The Minister also expressed his appreciation to the Government of Italy for funding the programme that will be implemented under the agreement with UNIDO.
After a working lunch with the UNIDO Director-General, the Minister met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei.
Prior to visiting Vienna, Mr. de Vido was accompanying Argentina's President Kirchner on an official visit to Germany.
Cahit Gurkok, Tel: +43 1 26026 / 4575, E-mail: C.Gurkok@unido.orgcoming events
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