Thank you, Susan, for your kind introduction and for your leadership at the helm of the Council of the Americas. Earlier this year, I had the honor of joining President Obama on his historic trip to Argentina – the first visit by a U.S. President in twenty years. Speaking before a group of young entrepreneurs in Buenos Aires, the President made it clear how he views the U.S.-Argentina relationship when he said: “The United States welcomes Argentina’s leadership role not just in the region, but in the world. Because to solve today’s challenges, we have to be partners.”

We are all here today because President Macri and his team are taking the Argentine economy in a new direction – with policies designed to improve and sustain the economic health of the country, and secure long-term prosperity for Argentines. These efforts are impressive. They have catalyzed our renewed commercial engagement. And American companies have taken notice. Even during difficult times, more than 400 U.S.-based companies were operating in Argentina – directly employing nearly 170,000 Argentines.

Argentina presents an immense value proposition. And American companies – including all of you in the audience today – recognize that there is so much potential for our countries to do more trade and investment together IF our governments take advantage of this moment. I was very pleased that that the U.S. Trade and Development Agency announced yesterday that it will reopen its program in Argentina for the first time since 2005. USTDA will prioritize the advancement of transportation, IT and clean energy projects to support the country’s infrastructure development goals.

To unleash the full potential of our economic relationship, we held our first meeting of the U.S.-Argentina Commercial Dialogue this morning. Our goal is to ensure that the next chapter of the U.S.-Argentina economic relationship is guided by the priorities of our respective business communities. The Department of Commerce and the Ministry of Production have identified pragmatic steps that our governments can take to strengthen the economic and commercial ties between our two countries and to remove impediments to increased bilateral trade and investment. And over the last seven months, we have made progress in a number of areas.

For example, my Department has already started working with the Ministry of Production on a regulatory coherence work plan to ensure that regulations are developed in a more transparent, predictable, and consistent manner. This morning, Minister Cabrera and I reaffirmed our joint commitment to promoting a business-friendly regulatory environment. In addition, our governments committed to exchanging information and experiences between the United States and Argentina on how to:

•           Encourage meaningful public engagement;
•           Promote the use of regulatory impact analysis; and
•           Improve domestic coordination among government agencies and regulators.

These principles are endorsed by organizations including APEC and the OECD. I think it speaks volumes that Argentina is embracing these principals now, outside of trade negotiations. If the Argentine government gets this right, they not only make their market more attractive to foreign investment. They also send a signal to the rest of the world about their long-term vision for their economy.

We have also begun to work with Argentina to help them develop their own economic development plan. In the United States, we help our local and regional policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders understand a particular U.S. region’s strengths and the key requirements to generate economic opportunities through the development of Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies – or CEDS. Earlier this week, our economic development team met with their Argentine counterparts to discuss the adoption by Argentina of a CEDS pilot process. We are very excited to see Argentina use this proven tool to create more and better quality jobs for their citizens; to make better investment decisions that are part of a coordinated strategy; and to see better return on investment for federal taxpayer dollars spent locally.

Our governments have also made progress in an area I know is important to all of you: trade facilitation. In today’s global economy where supply chains regularly cross continents and oceans, goods need to flow in a timely and secure manner. But in the absence of smooth, predictable, and efficient customs clearance, companies lose time, goods lose worth, and consumers lose cost-effective choice – all of which impact your bottom line. In our discussions this morning, we agreed on a path forward in our trade facilitation work. And I was pleased to hear that Argentina intends to ratify the WTO trade facilitation as soon as possible.

Recognizing that business is a key stakeholder in any trade facilitation policymaking, our governments have agreed to help Argentina develop a framework and principles for institutionalizing a public consultation mechanism. By taking into account the input and advice of all stakeholders, the Argentine government will ensure its policymaking is accepted by the private sector by:

•           Encouraging innovation;
•           Facilitating the rapid and secure movement of goods;
•           Improving the competitiveness of supply chains in the global economy; and
•           Ensuring that policies and regulations are developed in a manner that is effective while reducing unintended consequences.

Before the next Commercial Dialogue Ministerial, we will hold a joint exchange in Buenos Aires focused on best practices in developing fruitful, transparent, and accountable public-private relationships.

We will also organize a visit to an express delivery hub in the United States for an interagency Argentine delegation to see how to see how U.S. express delivery providers work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ensure the rapid and secure entry of goods. Express delivery services are a critical enabler for small- and medium-sized enterprises in both our countries, who rely on these services to access new markets around the world, create new jobs, and generate growth. They are also critical to success in knowledge-based sectors, such as pharmaceuticals/biotechnology, financial and business services, and research & development. In focusing on these two elements of trade facilitation, we are kick-starting Argentina’s work to implement the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and taking concrete steps that will make a real difference for businesses over the long term – which will help Argentina improve its ease of doing business.

Taken together, these steps collectively represent greater engagement between our two countries than we have seen over the last 15 years. This level of unprecedented cooperation has the potential to make the economic relationship between the United States and Argentina one of the most significant of the 21st century. But to achieve our mutual goals, we need your help, your engagement and your enthusiasm. I ask you to help inform our agenda and hold our governments accountable, so that the progress we have made in seven short months and in the months to come cannot be reversed. Working together, we can set the United States and Argentina on a path of continued cooperation, increased prosperity, and sustained growth. Thank you.