The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve bilateral trade volumes between Nigeria and Argentina.
Speaking at the virtual MoU ceremony, yesterday, Dr Chinyere Almona, Director-General, LCCI, said the partnership would also promote international relationship between both countries.
Almona stated that the Nigeria-Argentina relations which dated to the early 1970s, had progressed significantly in recent years with both countries as active members of the G15 group.
G15 is a group of developing countries that seeks to foster South-South cooperation and promote reform in the global trade system.
She said that both countries were also members of the G24, a group of countries working to ensure that their interests were adequately represented in international monetary and development finance fora.
The LCCI DG, however, noted that in spite of the strong diplomatic ties, the volume of trade between both countries was relatively low, with 300 million dollars as the highest figure recorded in 2013.
She stated that presently, the major areas of bilateral trade between Nigerian and Argentine investments were in food, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and construction.
Almona said the signing of the MoU was expected to help open more sectors for investment in both countries.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had drastic impact on cross-border trade activities and global supply chains with world merchandise trade falling between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
“While full recovery is in progress, we need to move quickly on the implementation of the MOU we are signing today as this would help increase the volume of trade between both countries.
“Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy with a population of about two hundred million people while Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of the country and the economic hub of the West African subregion.
“The LCCI, therefore, with a membership comprising thousands of organisations from over 20 sectors of the Nigerian economy, is in a strategic position to promote trade and investment between Nigeria and Argentina,” she said.
Mr Marcelo Elizondo, President, Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services, stated that the ceremony was to formalise and start a prosperous journey between both countries.
Elizondo said that Non Governmental Organizations such as these remained as relevant factor due to its key role in supporting companies wanting to activate international trade and relationship.