Argentina can offer platform for more Chinese investment

Argentina offers a platform to Chinese investors to lure more investment and deepen the economic ties between the two countries, Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said. "Argentina can offer China a platform to invest here and then to export and expand to the region," Timerman said Sunday ahead of his China tour. "We have qualified natural and human resources to do that and work with foreign investors. This is quite feasible for Chinese businessmen," the top diplomat said in an interview with Xinhua. Timerman is scheduled to visit Beijing, the Chinese capital, and China's financial hub Shanghai on Sept. 5-9 with a delegation of entrepreneurs from food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, oil and iron and steel industries. He said his visit will help promote the country's ties with China, which has growing influence in many international issues. "China serves as a positive force in boosting the development of the Latin American region," said the former Argentine ambassador to the United States. China established diplomatic ties with Argentina in 1972 and is now the South American country's second largest trading partner after Brazil, with the annual trade volume hitting 13.5 billion U.S. dollars last year. According to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, China is expected to overtake the European Union in 2013 as the biggest buyer of South American exports. Timerman will meet with all Argentine diplomats and immigration officers in China during his visit, with the aim to facilitate the process of granting visas to Chinese traders. The two countries should work to "coordinate actions in multilateral organizations such as the United Nations," he said.