Argentina praises Russia for market economy

Argentina on Monday praised Russia for its transition to become a market economy, Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.


The observation was made during a bilateral meeting in Moscow where delegations from both countries agreed that a big potential remain open for exploration between Russia and Argentina in areas of bilateral trade. The two countries agreed on setting a target for bilateral trade to reach 5 billion U.S. dollars in the next five years.


The bilateral trade in 2010 was worth 1 billion dollars in favor of Argentina and this is in addition to a series of investment projects worth an estimated 18 billion dollars in fields such as energy, transportation and infrastructure sectors, the ministry said.


"Due to the favorable climate of the economic-trade relation and in order to continue expanding the trade horizon, the Argentine government officially notified to the Russian government its recognition as a market economy," the ministry said.


"In this way, Argentina joins other countries which have known how to recognize the efforts and advances done by the Russian Federation to fully integrate into a Multilateral System of Trade," it said.


Argentina "decidedly supports Russia's entrance to the World Trade Organization," the ministry also said.


The bilateral meeting was held to follow up on the strategic relationship between both countries in accordance with an agreement reached during the visit in December 2008 to Russia by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez which was followed up by the visit to Argentina in April 2010 by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)