In early 2017, the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) established a private-public platform called the Argentina-US Strategic Forum as a means to promote a closer bilateral relationship between Argentina and the United States.  Anchored at CSIS, the Strategic Forum is a platform for senior private- and public-sector representatives to discuss priority areas in the relationship and pursue concrete initiatives within these areas. The Forum is led by the private sector, and includes senior company representatives, former senior government officials, expatriates, and technical experts. Senior officials of both governments participate in Forum meetings to ensure the initiatives are consistent with official efforts. The Strategic Forum complements existing platforms for official bilateral discussions, including the High Level Consultative Mechanism, the Bilateral Commercial Dialogue, and other fora.  The Forum houses four working groups: OECD/G20, Health, Trade, and IT/Education.  The working groups have worked with CSIS on initiatives such as Chicas Programadoras, which teaches girls to code in Argentina, and a humanitarian initiative that addressed the urgent medical needs of Venezuelans fleeing to Colombia.
 

Every year, CSIS hosts Forum members and friends of the Forum for a multi-day series of meetings in Washington and New York. These meetings are hosted by CSIS President Dr. John Hamre and co-chaired by Starr Group Chairman Maurice (Hank) Greenberg and PAE Chairman Marcos Bulgheroni. Last year, he Argentine private sector members of the Strategic Forum were accompanied by senior Argentine Government officials, including Ambassador Fernando Oris de Roa; Secretary of Trade, Miguel Braun; Under Secretary of the Treasury for OECD Accession, Marcelo Scaglione; and Under Secretary for Foreign Trade, Shunko Rojas. A Congressional delegation headed by the President of the Argentine Senate, Senator Federico Pinedo, also participated in the Forum sessions. The Forum delegation met separately with U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross; IADB President, Luis Alberto Moreno; OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, as well as a wide range of other US Government and international financial institution officials. The third annual Plenary Meetings of the Forum will take place in Washington, DC and New York in Spring 2019.

For more information about the Argentina-U.S. Strategic Forum, please contact Michael Matera at mmatera@csis.org