The agenda for the Economic G20: bilateral, trade agreements and VIP dinners

This year, the Argentine presidency of the G20 will be marked by the economic definitions that emerge from the thousands of meetings that took place throughout the year in all official and unofficial peer groups. The formal announcement of each Leaders Summit has a long-term impact on economic policies, and the finance track is one of the most important because of the suggested guidelines on international trade and economic development.

The consequences of the economic meetings during the next few days are not to be dismissed: the G20 members represent 85% of the global gross product, 66% of the world population, 75% of international trade and 80% of the global investments. And in the case of Argentina 2018, there is an additional ingredient, in the form of possible announcements of different bilaterals agreement that Argentine representatives will carry out.

Among them there might be 30 trade agreements with China, perhaps announced after the bilateral meeting between President Macri and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Sunday, after the official closing of activities of the Leaders Summit. Among the specific objectives of the government is to achieve the creation of a Chinese Health Control Office similar to Senasa, to settle in Buenos Aires to expedite trade, exchange in science and technology, and cooperation agreements on defense issues.

In total, the government aims to officially close more than 100 agreements on cooperation, investment and other types of agreements in bilateral trade with different countries in the world.

To achieve this, fine work in the government's economic wing will begin on Wednesday, two days before the official start of the main meeting of presidents. It will take place in  two parallel events organized by groups outside the G20. The first is a session of "high level investor meetings" at the Alvear Palace Hotel organized by the Americas Society / Council of the Americas, in which the Minister of Finance Nicolás Dujovne is invited as keynote speaker.

In addition, Business 20 (B20), a business affinity group of the G20, will organize a toast at the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, where several economic team officials are expected to attend, in addition to the main representatives of the private sector.

The second parallel event will have a more active participation of the minister. On Thursday morning, Dujovne will have breakfast with investors in the CCK Center before participating in a forum organized by the World Bank, and then start with a series of bilateral meetings, among those with representatives of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, and a presentation organized by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

The Dujovne portfolio has not ruled out the possibility of announcing other bilateral agreements, of smaller or larger size, after the meetings with the EIB and Le Maire. The official agenda ends with a meeting of the finance ministers of the G20 at the Exhibition and Convention Center (CEC). The last confirmed item on the minister's schedule is a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Sources of the Ministry of Economy pointed out that in addition to these "side events" and their own bilaterals both inside and outside the G20, Dujovne will also participate in the meetings that President Macri will have with other leaders. "This support for Macri's meetings is not completely confirmed yet, since it will be offered at the request of the president," they explained.