“Cooperation is a great tool to promote horizontal links between countries at different levels of development,” said President Mauricio Macri this morning at the opening of the Second United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, taking place in the City of Buenos Aires. “Our objective is clear: we want to generate solutions that allow us to continue improving the lives of our people,” he added.

The multilateral conference is the most important global event on South-South Cooperation, and takes place 40 years after the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA), the first ever roadmap for technical cooperation established by developing countries.

Over three days, the Buenos Aires Exhibition & Conference Centre (CEC) will host some 1,500 participants of the 193 member states of the UN, including heads of state, foreign ministers, ministers, diplomats, academics and authorities of international and regional organizations.

President Macri asked participants to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the approval of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA), “reaching a consensus that allows us to transfer the successes we create from and for the South and for the whole world."

“This high-level conference again shows us that the international community perceives us as a reliable partner and protagonist, and with the vocation to work together to develop 21st century governance,” the president added.

“Last December, together with world leaders and with the purpose of bridging diversity, we decided to highlight in the G20 communiqué the role of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation, so as to advance in the implementation of the 2030 agenda,” he said. 

“Argentina has a strong tradition in these areas, especially in agro-industry, technological and productive innovation, health, justice and human rights,” he said.

“Thanks to hundreds of national institutions working through the Argentine Forum of International Cooperation (FOAR), we have been able to develop 10,800 projects with more than 80 countries.”

Forty years after the adoption of the BAPA “we have a great opportunity to strengthen a system that allows us to exchange knowledge and strengthen our capabilities more and more”, as well as “demonstrate that cooperation can lead to a better future.”

“We live in an increasingly interdependent world, with complex challenges that require us to redouble our efforts to promote a sincere and constructive dialogue in which we project ourselves as partners for development.”

“I am convinced that through dialogue, through the search for shared interests we will find a way to strengthen the welfare and prosperity of our people,” he added.

“Now it is time to think of alternative ways to complement our work, to find new areas of cooperation,” he said, concluding that he hoped that the conference will lead to concrete steps to strengthen the system of cooperation for development.

Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, had declared the conference open and welcomed the participants, before offering the floor to President Macri, as conference chairman.

Over the course of the three days, participants will analyze and exchange knowledge and experience to help strengthen the capacities of States, and agree on a roadmap forward, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and G20 Leaders Summit declarations.

Leading topics of discussion and exchange include: food sustainability, human resources training, technological change, climate sustainability, gender equality, finance for development and inclusive business.

Argentina is a leader in technical cooperation and currently has over 165 cooperation projects with 40 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, in areas such as agribusiness, biotechnology, health, human rights, the environment and productive technology.

The bilateral and regional meetings planned during the Conference will strengthen cooperation initiatives and open up opportunities for the productive sector, scientific institutions and civil society organizations.

After three days of work in which plenary sessions and roundtables will be held, a new Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA+40) will be adopted, 40 years after the first BAPA was agreed upon in the city of Buenos Aires. The Argentine capital also recently hosted the WTO Ministerial Meeting in late 2017 and the G20 Summit at the end of 2018.