• GDP: US$537.2 million (2005 estimate).
• Main exports: Food and live animals, mineral fuels, cereals and machinery.
• Main imports: Machinery and equipments, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures and plastics.
• Main trade partners: Brazil, EU, USA, Chile, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Japan.

Argentina is rich in natural resources and also has a large and profitable agricultural sector; the country is one of the world’s major exporters of wheat and also produces maize, oilseeds, sorghum, soya beans and sugar. Beef is no longer the dominant trading commodity that it once was but animal products are still a valuable export earner. Agricultural goods aside, Argentina exports textiles and some metal and chemical products. These, along with oil refining and vehicle production, are also the main components of Argentina’s manufacturing industry. Hydroelectricity and coal meet the bulk of the country’s energy requirements. Brazil is the largest of Argentina’s South American trading partners. There are also important trading relationships with the USA, which is the main source of manufactured products, and the countries of the former Soviet Union, which buy large quantities of grain. Elsewhere, trade with Japan and the EU – especially Germany and The Netherlands – has grown rapidly in recent years.
For all the potential of the Argentinian economy, it has been historically blighted by two major problems – high inflation and a massive foreign debt. The Menem government of the mid-1990s made a reasonable attempt to tackle these, using the orthodox market measures of dismantling the public sector, free competition, asset sales, and swingeing cuts in public spending. In addition, the value of Argentinian Peso was fixed to that of the US dollar. The immediate results were reductions in the national debt and the inflation rate – as well as considerable hardship for the poorer sections of the population. However, the policy of Peso-Dollar parity had unintended side effects which led to a sharp fall in exports and in government tax revenues, as well as a large increase in government debt. With external debt topping US$130 billion in 2001, Argentina was on the point of defaulting on its overseas debts, potentially leading to a complete economic meltdown. At the end of the year, the government was forced to introduce draconian currency control measures – a substantial devaluation, along with a block on normal access to bank accounts – as it struggled to bring the situation under control. Since then, the Duhalde government, which took office at the end of 2001, effectively stabilised the economy, which is now undergoing something of a resurgence. In mid-2004, growth was 9 per cent. In March 2005, President Kirchner declared restructuring of the country's debt to be a success.

Business cards are usually given and businesspeople expect to deal with someone of equal status. Punctuality is expected by visitors. Literature is in Spanish, although many Argentinian businesspeople speak English as a second language. Office hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1200 and 1400-1900.

Cámara Argentina de Comercio (Chamber of Commerce)
Avenida Leandro N. Alem 36, C1003AAN Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: (11) 5300 9000.
Website: www.cac.com.ar