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New Zealand enjoys a friendly and cooperative relationship with Argentina. We share interests in agricultural trade liberalisation, Antarctic and southern oceans, environment, whale conservation, human rights, peacekeeping, non-proliferation and other UN issues.
New Zealand exports fell sharply in 2002 and 2003 as a result of Argentina’s economic crisis but resumed growth in 2004, reaching NZD 23m in 2007. Two-way trade is now valued at NZD70m. There has been significant New Zealand investment in Argentina’s dairy and fisheries sectors and, more recently, new ventures in pasture seed, high quality wine, biogas and veterinary products.
A successful Working Holiday Scheme began operation in 2003 and there is strong demand for the 1000 available visas. Young Argentines returning from travel, work and study in New Zealand have set up the Transpolar Club to promote people-to-people links.
Diplomatic relations between the countries are longstanding, although they were interrupted when New Zealand broke off relations in 1982 at the outbreak of the Falklands (Malvinas) war, closing the Argentine Embassy in Wellington.
Diplomatic relations were restored at New Zealand's initiative in August 1984. Argentina opened a Consulate-General in Auckland in 1987, which it upgraded to an Embassy in Wellington in 1995. New Zealand has had a resident Ambassador in Buenos Aires since February 1998.
Argentina is one of the world’s main agricultural and livestock producers, and export agricultural commodities account for about two thirds of the country’s total export earnings. Argentine beef and dairy livestock is grass fed, under similar conditions as New Zealand. Argentina has over 50 million cattle, 2.2 million of which are dairy breeds with just over 20 million beef breeds. There are good opportunities for New Zealand agro-technological exports in the long term, mainly in pasture-based beef and dairy farming.
From a very small base in the mid 80s, New Zealand’s annual exports to Argentina grew to about $30 million by the late 1990s. Exports to Argentina subsequently fell sharply as a result of Argentina’s economic crisis, but resumed growth in 2004, reaching $23m in 2007. Imports from Argentina in 2007 were valued at $47.7m.
There has been significant New Zealand investment in Argentina’s dairy and fisheries sectors. In December 2004, Fonterra signed an agreement with large local dairy cooperative SanCor, allowing it to market and distribute SanCor’s bulk commodity exports, predominantly milk and cheese, under SanCor brand names. Dairy Partners America (Fonterra and Nestlé) also have an Argentine presence in the commodities market, as well as a joint venture with SanCor for the production of value-added dairy products. In fisheries, Sealord and Talley’s have joint venture agreements with local companies and base their operations in southern Argentina, where they fish for hoki and hake.
Since 2006 visiting New Zealand Ministers have promoted NZTE’s “Food Value Chain” project, which aims to promote commercial benefits to New Zealand from the sales of goods and services to South American countries and through commercial collaboration between New Zealand firms and South American partners. In Argentina, recent New Zealand investments and partnerships include the establishment by Compac of a commercial office in 2006, PGG Wrightson’s purchase of Alfafares seed company in 2007, the purchase of champagne house Rossel Boher in 2007, a joint venture operation between Waste Solutions and Citrusvil in 2008 and recently Bomac Laboratories has taken a minority stake in Rosenbusch Laboratories which specialises in veterinary products.
An SPS Memorandum of Understanding facilitating market access for agricultural trade of live animals and plants and animal and plant products was signed in 1999.
New Zealand and Argentina signed an Air Services Agreement in 1985. Aerolineas Argentinas provides direct Auckland-Buenos Aires air services several times a week. A Qantas/Lan Chile code share service operates several times per week between Santiago and Auckland and, from November 2008, Qantas itself flies Sydney/Buenos Aires direct with 3 services per week providing further options for the New Zealand traveller.
According to the 2006 census, 909 persons normally residing in New Zealand had been born in Argentina (up from 304 in the 2001 census).
Visas are no longer required by New Zealanders or Argentines visiting each other’s countries for up to three months. Visitors to New Zealand from Argentina have recovered to pre-crisis levels with work and permanent resident applications at an all time high.
A working holiday scheme was signed during the Prime Minister’s visit to Argentina in November 2001, providing for working holiday exchanges of 300 people aged 18-30 in each direction each year. The scheme became operational in January 2003. Approximately 200 working holiday visas were issued to young Argentines during 2003 and 300 in 2004. An increased quota of 500 visas for young Argentines was fully subscribed in 2005. For 2006 the allocation of 500 places was fully subscribed by the beginning of June. From December 2006, 1000 visas have been available per year with this quota being filled within a matter of months. New Zealanders also have begun to visit Argentina under the scheme.
From a low base, there was a steady increase in tourism flows between Argentina and New Zealand through to 2001 when about 5,000 Argentines visited New Zealand. With the major devaluation of the peso, visits from Argentina dropped off sharply to approximately 2,000 visits in 2003. Growth has resumed in both directions, including due to Argentina’s greatly enhanced competitiveness as a destination. In 2007, visitor numbers from Argentina to New Zealand reached 3,600.
An Argentine journalist specialising in eco- and adventure tourism visited New Zealand in March/April 2008 under the LASF Visiting Journalists Programme.
Small numbers of Argentine students pursue mainly post-graduate studies in New Zealand (245 in 2007). Four New Zealand universities have exchange agreements with Argentine counterparts (two of them with the Catholic University). The visit to Buenos Aires in February 2008 of New Zealand Education Counsellor in Latin America Matthew O'Meagher provided an opportunity to initiate dialogue on collaboration possibilities with the Ministry of Education, the new Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, and with academics in the University of Buenos Aires and San Andrés University. New Zealand has responded to the City of Buenos Aires’ wish to learn more about our road safety policy and public education framework, with exchanges to that end supported by the Latin America Strategy Fund in 2006 and 2007.
A Science and Technology Cooperation Arrangement was signed in October 1998 but has not actively been implemented by the two governments since then. Some linkages have been established at institutional level. Among Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) for example, AgResearch has established some cooperation with counterparts in Argentina, and more recently in December 2007, Scion and Argentina’s Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) agreed to collaborate on a study of the impacts of climate change on southern hemisphere beech (Nothofagus) forests. Scion’s collaboration builds on the long-standing relationship between New Zealand and Argentina through their common membership of the Montreal Process since 1995. The research is supported in New Zealand through the Foundation of Research Science and Technology (FRST) programmes in Forests and Climate Change and Forests and Environment.
Also in the climate change context, Argentina’s national science agencies INTA, UNICEN and CNEA are active participants in the new agricultural greenhouse gas emissions research network known as LEARN (Livestock Emissions Abatement Research Network). Argentina’s President has established for the first time in her cabinet a Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Lino Barañoa. Barañao is one of Argentina's outstanding scientists in the fields of biotechnology and animal genetics, with international research experience and national awards for excellence in agricultural research. His priorities are in fields of interest to New Zealand, such as biodiesel, the creation of technology-based businesses especially in software, nanotechnology and biotechnology, and their application to agriculture. He is keen to focus on mutually beneficial concrete projects with New Zealand that have a firm funding base.
A bilateral fisheries cooperation arrangement was signed in December 2004 and the Argentine authorities are keen to see this implemented with enhanced research, science and technology collaboration as well as help from New Zealand in the development of their fisheries management systems. Argentine fisheries officials visited New Zealand in August 2007 under this bilateral framework while a Ministry of Fisheries official visited Argentina for discussions in July 2008.
New Zealand and Argentina cooperate in several multilateral fora. Argentina is a fellow member of the Cairns Group and shares New Zealand’s objectives for open, unsubsidised world agricultural trade. It is a party to the Antarctic Treaty. New Zealand and Argentina signed a Statement on Antarctic Cooperation in mid 1996. New Zealand supported Argentina’s successful bid to house the Antarctic Secretariat. The two countries collaborate on a wide range of United Nations issues. Consultations between senior officials on common multilateral policy priorities – international security and non-proliferation, environment and sustainability, whales conservation, UN reform and human rights - took place in Buenos Aires in March 2008.
“Bridging the Gaps - Using Collaborative Planning to Strengthen Ties Between Local Government and Civil Society in Argentina, 2006-2010” is New Zealand’s main project in partnership with the Argentine Government, with UNDP as a third partner. Two groups of local and national politicians and officials have visited New Zealand under the auspices of this project, in July 2007 and March 2008, to learn more of New Zealand’s system of local governance. The New Zealand contribution to the project amounts to USD 528, 000. In February 2009 four politicians from the Santa Fe Provincial government and congress visited New Zealand on a study tour with the same theme, supported by NZAID and the Argentine foundation Red de Acción Política (Political Action Network). In addition, NZAID offers two post-graduate scholarships to Argentines each year under the themes of “good governance” and “sustainable rural livelihoods”. The Embassy also administers a small projects fund. See full details of the development relationship on the NZAID website.
Argentina and New Zealand do not have a formal defence relationship. Defence personnel have operated alongside one another in peace support operations. In February 2006 Argentine Rear Admiral Paz visited New Zealand for bilateral contacts. At the invitation of its Argentine counterpart, the Royal New Zealand Navy placed a junior officer on board the training frigate Libertad during its cruise from April-July 2008 around Africa and Asia. The Libertad visited New Zealand in September 2008.
The Latin American Strategy Fund has supported several one-off cultural exchanges including a visit to Buenos Aires by Te Papa CEO Seddon Bennington in July 2006, the visit to New Zealand by Clarín cultural editor Fernando García in March 2007 and by La Nación journalist Teresa Bausili in March/April 2008, an artist in residency programme for tango group Vacs Ochoa during the Christchurch Arts Festival in July/August 2007, and the participation of Phil Dadson in an International Polar year exhibition in Buenos Aires in March 2008. Self-funding, mainly dance, tours are also increasing steadily including New Zealand participation in annual world tango competitions in Buenos Aires and the participation of top ballet company Iñaki in the Otago Festival of October 2006. The New Zealand Secondary School choir performed in Argentina in July/August 2008. Jorge Forteza undertook a successful visit to New Zealand in June 2008 as the Prime Minister’s Latin America Fellow from Argentina, with a programme centred on New Zealand’s economic transformation agenda, experience in public sector management and tertiary education offer. New Zealand business journalist Rod Oram visited Argentina in September 2008 with support from the LASF.
Argentina is the leading rugby playing nation of the Americas, with a strong and fast growing player base which was given further impulse by the performance of the Pumas in the 2007 World Cup in France. While rugby is still largely an amateur sport in Argentina, numbers of top players find professional opportunities with clubs in Europe and the Argentine Rugby Union is currently bidding to join the southern hemisphere Tri-Nations tournament. The All Blacks played one test in Buenos Aires in June 2006. There have been visits between New Zealand and Argentina by secondary school rugby teams, including by Napier and Gisborne Boys’ High Schools and Christchurch Boys High School Old Boys. An Argentine boy, José Valerio, received a scholarship (and assistance from the Latin America Strategy Fund) to study English and rugby at St Bede’s College, Christchurch, in 2005. St Bedes have funded a further scholarship for a young player from the Buenos Aires Quilmes club to study and play in 2008. The Latin America Strategy Fund has supported a donation of training equipment to the Quilmes club to strengthen its link with New Zealand rugby.
A bilateral cooperation arrangement on sports was signed in 1998 but government-sponsored sports events have not taken place to date.
To sustain the momentum of these growing people-to-people links, young Argentines returning from travel, work and study in New Zealand have set up the Transpolar Club.
Land Area - 2,737,000 sq km
Population - 39.7 million (2008 estimate)
Capital City - Buenos Aires (Federal Capital)
Religion - Predominantly Catholic
Language - Spanish
Political system - Federal Republic
National government - Partido Justicialista (PJ or Peronist Party)
National legislature - Congress of 257 member Chamber of Deputies and 72 member Senate
Last elections - October 2007 (Congressional and Presidential)
Next election due - October 2009 (Congressional) and October 2011 (Presidential)
Head of State - Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Head of Government - Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Main Political Parties - Partido Justicialista (PJ, Peronist Party), Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), Affirmation for a Republic of Equals (ARI), Propuesta Republicana (PRO)
GDP (nominal) - USD 306.1 billion (2008 estimate)
GDP breakdown - Goods 45%, Services 55%
GDP per capita (PPP) - USD 14,539 (2008 estimate)
Real GDP growth - 6.3 % (2008 estimate)
Exports of goods - USD 46.5 billion (2006)
Imports of goods - USD 34.2 billion (2006)
Main exports - Processed agricultural products 33%; Manufactures 30%; Primary Products 20%; Fuels 17%
Main imports - Intermediate goods 38%; Capital goods 26%; Consumer goods 12%; Fuels 6%
Current account - USD 7.565 billion (2008 estimate)
Inflation - 8.6% (2008 estimate)
Unemployment - 8.2 % (2008 estimate)
Gross external debt - USD 134.3 billion (2008 estimate)
NZ Exports (FOB) - NZD 16 million (World Trade Atlas 2006)
Main Exports - Machinery 22%,
Optical & Photography equipment 12%,
Paper and paperboard 11%,
Albuminoidal substances 8%,
Steel & Iron products 7%
NZ Imports (CIF) - NZD 24 million (World Trade Atlas 2006)
Main Imports - Fats and oils 22%; Fish and seafood 12%; Other (animal origin) 7%; Cocoa Preparations 6%; Vegetable Preparations 6%
Total Trade - NZD 40 million (2006)top of page
The New Zealand Embassy in Buenos Aires is responsible for Argentina.
The Argentine Embassy in Wellington is responsible for New Zealand.
The New Zealand government's Safe Travel website has comprehensive travel information including advice on the safety and security of travel to Argentina.
Further enquiries may be directed to:
Consular Division
Tel: +64 4 439 8000
Fax: +64 4 439 8532
New Zealanders and Argentines travelling to each other's country for less than three months do not need to apply for a visa beforehand.
