Argentina's Foreign Minister Pablo Kirno stated on Thursday on social media that he was pleased to receive working groups at the first personal round of trade negotiations between Mercosur and Vietnam.
At the end of December, Vietnam and the largest South American trade bloc, founded in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, agreed to start negotiations on a preferential trade agreement compliant with World Trade Organization rules.
At that time, both sides determined that the agreement would promote trade expansion by eliminating tariffs and implementing necessary non-tariff measures to ensure effective market access and guarantee that trade flows reflect the potential of their economies.
In a joint statement at the end of December, they emphasized that the start of these negotiations is an important milestone in strengthening ties between Mercosur and Vietnam, stimulating a negotiation process that will contribute to regional integration and foster more dynamic and mutually beneficial economic relations between the two parties.
On behalf of Mercosur, technical negotiations are led by Argentina. The head of diplomacy from Buenos Aires noted in a message on Thursday that Vietnam is an increasingly important trading partner for the South American bloc.
Kirno specified that the Asian country ranks sixth among Argentina's export destinations, with a trade volume of about four billion dollars ($3.43 billion euros) annually, and the surplus for the South American country amounted to about 1.4 billion dollars (€1.2 billion) in 2025.