"We must seize this moment. The potential for our economy is substantial, the area of Latin America is culturally close to us, the common roots are important. We perceive affinities and a desire to do business with Italian companies. We must move now, as Italy and as Europe. And it is essential to implement the agreement between the EU and Mercosur: it would open preferential access for our companies to an area of 270 million consumers. Otherwise we leave the field open to others, starting with China, which is already expanding its presence'. Thus the Vice President for Export and Investment Attraction Barbara Cimmino in an interview with Sole 24 Ore summarised the missions to Argentina and Brazil that have just ended.

The Vice President of Confindustria, who led the business delegation during the visit of Vice-Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani to the two Latin American countries, said: "The Foreign Minister decided to closely follow high-potential countries such as Argentina and Brazil, at a time when entire global value chains are being reconfigured. Our exports are reaching great heights, but strategies need to be defined to identify new markets and strengthen our share in those where we are already present, increasing exports and enhancing industrial partnerships'.

Argentina and Brazil are two different countries, but both have created great development expectations and open up new perspectivesIf Milei's efforts to reduce inflation and modernise the economy produce concrete results,' Cimmino said, 'the country could experience a significant turnaround. Our presence is very different in the two countries: there are around 250 companies in Argentina and the trade is around EUR 2 billion; in Brazil there are about 1,000 and the interchange is five times higher, around EUR 10 billion. We must support SMEs, also by valorising the valuable pathfinder function played by the largeespecially those long-established in this market. From the meetings with Argentinean and Brazilian business organisations, great expectations emerged for us, which we intend to follow up with targeted initiatives.

The areas where greater collaboration can be realised are many, although "in both there is large availability of raw materials and mineralsvaluable for transitions and our production system can provide processes, technologies, machinery, know-how. A winning combination. But there are also great opportunities in other sectors, such as agribusiness, machinery, infrastructure, energy, of course, but also tlc, steel, and water treatment. In fact, I am pleased that some of our important associations such as Ance, Anima and Federunacoma participated in the mission'.

Talking about the winning characteristics of Italian companies, Cimmino recalled that 'our companies have absolute excellence and great adaptability. Compared to our competitors, we are able to provide tailor-made products to meet customers' needs, along with a great capacity for innovation. This is what overseas companies, which have to deal with major restructuring, need. Even in training there can be collaborations and we talked about it: Argentina and Brazil have a young society to train. It can be a resource for us for the skills we lack'.

Finally, the Vice President touched on a very important issue for Italian companies, which is the signing of theEU-Mercosur agreement: "We would like the final conclusion to be reached and that the agreement would enter into force overcoming the resistance of some important European partners. It would reduce the tariffs that still penalise trade relations and provide the two regions with a framework for cooperation on many key issues with an impact on European exports to the Mercosur area estimated by the EU at over 50% against an increase in imports of one fifth, i.e. 10% creating 390,000 more jobs in Europe. I repeat: if we miss this moment, we risk being displaced in the future by the advance of others".