Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero will travel to the city of Dhaka – the capital of Bangladesh – together with a delegation of businessmen, to open the Embassy of Argentina in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Cafiero's visit comes after the World Cup furore caused by Argentina's team in the Bangladesh. In geopolitical terms, this country is located at the crossroads of South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia.
The Government's goal is also to expand bilateral trade with the eighth most populous country in the world, with a market of more than 170 million inhabitants. Cafiero's arrival marks the first time a South American foreign minister has visited Bangladesh in half a century of diplomatic relations.
The beginning of the bilateral
Argentina was one of the first countries to recognize it independence from Bangladesh. The proclamation took place in March 1971, followed by a battle that lasted nine months, leaving millions dead.
Juan Domingo Perón facilitated the first diplomatic mission on October 30, 1973. Bangladesh received support India and the USSR and was a symbol of the Non-Aligned Countries. The embassy was opened in the city of Dacca in January 1974.
On March 18, 1974, Argentina offered donate rice, apples and wheat After the flood that hit Bangladesh, according to a report by the Asia and Oceania Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government also activated the grain trade.
Later, military dictatorship of Argentina in 1978 by decree no. 3755 published on 15.12.1977. decided to close the embassy of Argentina in this country. They claimed budgetary constraints, but the decision involved a "pro-Western and Christian" gesture.
Independence and football
In the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, Argentina played a role in the United Nations Organization to end the conflict. Argentina was one of the first nations to recognize the nascent People's Republic of Bangladesh and opened an embassy in Dacca, establishing diplomatic relations on 25 May 1972.
Bilateral approximation is deepened by the hand of football, in particular, through the figure Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup, with which the people of Bangladesh strongly identified, for reasons partly related to the Asian country's colonial past.
The idolatry towards Maradona was now beginning to be reflected in the Lionel Messi and became notorious in the mass festivities in the streets of Dacca after the Argentine team won the World Cup.
Trade, in numbers
As far as economic data is concerned, in 2022 bilateral trade with Bangladesh he was 765 million dollars. Argentina's exports reached 742.9 million USD and imports from Bangladesh 22.1 million USD.
It was registered in 2022 trade surplus for Argentina of 720.8 million US dollars. Bangladesh needs agro-industrial products, where Argentina has a small market share.
Source: Cronista
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