Embassy Information
Embassy Event
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY WALTER BASTIAN IN Bs. As.
October 1, 2009
After concluding his participation in the Third Americas Competitiveness Forum which took place in Santiago, Chile from September 27-29, U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, Walter Bastian visited Argentina to participate in several meetings with local businesses. DAS Bastian remarked that “after spending several years of my youth in Buenos Aires, it is always a joy to return to Argentina.”
“I was extremely pleased that visiting U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary Walter Bastian had the opportunity to meet with prominent American and Argentine investors,” said Ambassador Martinez and added: “We are enthusiastic about the prospects for expanded trade and investment between our two countries.”
The Ambassador and DAS Bastian had the opportunity to meet with several businesses during events hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina and the Private Sector of the Americas. In addition, Ambassador Martinez and Walter Bastian toured the Starbucks training center in Vicente Lopez where they were officially made Starbucks Baristas. In addition to these events, DAS Bastian also had the opportunity to meet with Daniel Deodato, Chief of Cabinet for the Undersecretary of the Foreign Trade Ministry to discuss opportunities for expanded trade and between the United States and Argentina. He was also able to meet with the City of Buenos Aires Economic Development Minister Francisco Cabrera to discuss developments in the City’s Technology Park, and visit U.S.-based document solutions company Iron Mountain to see their state-of-the-art document management solutions. DAS Bastian highlighted the fact that “the United States and Argentina share a rich bilateral trade history in which several of the more than 500 U.S. companies operating in Argentina were established more than 100 years ago.” He added that “such strong commercial ties are a vital base needed to support future investment, especially given the current world economic crisis.”
