Türkiye, Argentina hail joint collaboration on satellite production

Top diplomats of Türkiye and Argentina have held talks in Istanbul to discuss cooperation in defence, energy, environment and other sectors, with both sides hailing their collaboration in the joint production of satellites.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday he and his Argentine counterpart Santiago Cafiero discussed bilateral relations in detail, adding that Türkiye and Argentina can enhance cooperation in the fields of the defence industry, energy, science, culture, fight against terrorism and environment.

Cavusoglu said that Turkish Aerospace Industries [TUSAS] and Argentina-based INVAP have established a joint company, and they will produce and export new-generation communication satellites together.

"We believe that this Turkish-Argentine partnership will develop further. These satellites will meet the communication needs of not only Argentina but also third countries," he added.

Türkiye wants to sign a free trade agreement with the Southern Common Market [MERCOSUR] and start exploratory talks on this issue, and they need Argentina's support to start these negotiations, Cavusoglu said.

He noted that Türkiye's trade with the Latin American region also increased rapidly, saying: "We increased from approximately $1 billion to $17.5 billion."

Opportunities for Turkish companies

Both sides signed a science, technology and innovation cooperation deal as well.

Argentinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement later the "purpose of the memorandum is to promote and support cooperation in the field of science and technology between research entities, universities, research institutes and industrial companies from Türkiye and Argentina."

"There are specific sectors of the Argentine economy where there are concrete opportunities for Turkish companies, among them, in the pharmaceutical sector, in the energy, conventional and green sectors, and also in mining," said Argentina's Cafiero during a joint press conference with Cavasoglu. 

"There are already large investments from other countries in these same sectors and we can do the same with Türkiye," added Cafiero, noting that companies from Türkiye have pledged to increase trade with Argentina.

Cafiero also met with the Turkish Minister of Commerce Mehmet Muş and attended a meeting to promote bilateral trade and Turkish investment in Argentina with the Council for Foreign Economic Relations [DEIK] of Türkiye, the Argentine Foreign Ministry said.

Grain deal

Cafiero also hailed Türkiye's role in the Black Sea grain corridor.

"We greatly appreciate Türkiye's role here. We especially appreciate the support of the grain corridor and the food coming from Ukraine, and the world is aware of this. We talked about that too. This leadership role is necessary for all of us," he said.

Even though Argentina is geographically distant, the minister said the country is sensitive to the war, adding: "In particular, we observe the outcomes of the war. Of course, we see that there are big global effects here, such as the rise in energy prices, the rise in food prices, the lack of fertilisers."