President Alberto Fernández will meet with Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholtz on Saturday, January 28, at the Foreign Ministry’s San Martín Palace in Buenos Aires, together with Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero.

Scholtz’s first official visit to Argentina is part of a regional tour that will continue in Brazil and Chile, and aims to expand bilateral trade, investment and project financing, according to a release from the Office of the President.

This will be the third bilateral meeting between Fernández and Scholz: the pair met last year in Berlin, during Fernandez’s European tour in May, and at the G7 Summit in Munich in June, which he attended as the head of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). 

Scholz is expected to arrive at Ezeiza International Airport at 5:45p.m. on Saturday, where he will be welcomed by Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and a delegation of officials, businessmen and journalists.

Afterwards, at 6:45p.m., they are scheduled to make a traditional floral offering at the monument to the Liberator General Don José de San Martín, in the Square of the same name in Buenos Aires.

President Alberto Fernández will welcome the German Chancellor at the San Martín Palace, where they will hold a bilateral meeting at 7:00p.m., followed by a gathering with businessmen led by Economy Minister Sergio Massa, and an extended meeting with officials from both countries in order to sign trade instruments.

At 8.30p.m, the President and the Chancellor will make a joint statement to the press in the Honor Patio, after which they will close the business meeting between heads of German and Argentine companies at the Libertador room in San Martin Palace.

Germany is Argentina’s main commercial partner in the European Union, with interests in the development and export of renewable energies like solar and wind power. Bilateral trade between the two countries topped the US$3.6 billion mark in 2022, an 8% growth from the previous year. Argentine sales to Germany totalled US$883 million –a 9% interannual increase– with top exports including beef, inorganic chemicals, raw silver, combed wool and natural honey.