As part of the ratification of the comprehensive strategic alliance that Argentina has with China, the government of Alberto Fernández has just sent to Beijing the list of 17 infrastructure projects that it proposed to be fully financed with Chinese capital.
The document entitled “New Integrated Five-Year Plan to be proposed”, to which El Cronista had access, contains the 17 projects that the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs led by Gustavo Béliz and Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero sent to China. The idea is to advance in negotiations with Bejing for the signing of agreements that Alberto Fernández and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could eventually sign in February if the visit of the head of state takes place.
The document with the projects that Argentina prioritized to be financed by the Chinese State was presented to the National Development and Reform Commission of China, which is the planning body of the Xi Jinping government and has a lot of power in the communist administration scheme. Chinese.
This is the mechanism for negotiating projects that Argentina has with China and is coordinated by the Foreign Ministry and the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs within the framework of the Strategic Dialogue for Economic Coordination and Cooperation.
The document that Argentina sent to China includes the following textual projects for the Xi Jinping government to analyze now:
- 1) Central nuclear IV
- 2) South Kirchner and Cepernic Dams
- 3) Works gas pipeline system
- 4) Rehabilitation of the San Martín line railway system
- 5) Rehabilitation of the Roca line railway system
- 6) Rehabilitation of the Belgrano Cargas railway line
- 7) Railway networks modernization plan
- 8) Buenos Aires Passengers rolling stock
- 9) Drinking water treatment plants and aqueducts
- 10) Cauchari 4 and 5 Photovoltaic Parks Extension
- 11) Bridges: Chaco / Corrientes-Santa Fe / Paraná
- 12) Road corridors and improvements
- 13) Fiber optic and connectivity programs
- 14) Electric transmission and distribution works
- 15) Argentina Zarate Energy Pole-Power Plants
- 16) Housing and habitat programs
- 17) Cerro Arauco wind farm
In the document sent from Buenos Aires to Beijing, item 18 appears under a heading that says “others to be defined / Chinese proposal.” Some of the works that are mentioned were already in negotiations for many years, even since Vice President Cristina Kirchner sealed the comprehensive strategic alliance with China as president in 2010. Although there are also proposals that lack details in the title.
However, it is surprising to mention projects such as Nuclear Power Plant IV, which during Mauricio Macri’s government had been scrapped due to lack of resources and which is now being re-floated. The nuclear power plant alone has an estimated financing cost of 8,000 million dollars and it is a project that has been in the pipeline for more than 10 years.
At the same time, ambiguous items such as “Fiber optic and connectivity programs” appear on the list, which according to government sources allude to the development of 5G telephony technology. Or there are also “electricity transmission and distribution works” that do not have any details.
The document with the 17 Argentine proposals was the product of a survey carried out by Béliz in each ministry and later made compatible with the Foreign Ministry.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx