The government went to look for investment in the Middle East, but returned empty-handed.

The tour, led by Foreign Minister Santiago Capiero to Dubai, did not achieve the expected results despite the large delegation that was part of the official delegation. Alberto Fernández talked about the $1 billion committed investment in infrastructure through social media, but the reality would be very different from what the president expressed.

The mission to the Middle East had complications of entry. Alberto Fernández started almost at the last minute, and most of the scheduled meetings with the sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates were suspended. This led to the reassembly of the agenda at the last minute.

In addition, part of the tour, including Saudi Arabia, which was planned after the participation of the Dubai Expo, which was dedicated to Argentina, was also suspended. Without any explanation, it was ultimately decided not to include the destination and the mission ended ahead of schedule.

The Persian Gulf country is one of the largest international investors on the planet, based on national wealth funds formed from millionaire oil resources. For example, an investment firm in Dubai manages $300 billion worth of assets. Similar figures are handled by the Qatar Investment Authority.

In Dubai, Argentine officials assured that there is at least $1.3 billion that can be used immediately to invest directly in Argentina. As Infobae learned, the Arabs expressed interest in three main areas of the Argentine economy: energy, food and pharmaceuticals. However, in order to dump resources through specific vehicles, they asked the government for legislative approval of the Investment Protection Treaty signed in 2018 between Argentina and the United Arab Emirates, and the most important emirate is Dubai.

This treaty gives special status to the investment of the country and opens the door to international tribunals in the event of a dispute or breach of contract. However, Argentina has made it clear that there is no possibility of granting legislative approval to the treaty as long as it maintains its conditions.The reaction of the Sheikh did not take long. “Under these circumstances, we cannot put a dollar into the country.”

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the purpose of the tour was to “position the country as a relevant actor in the energy transition, space science, biotechnology and information and communication technologies.”

Some governors also travelled, such as Gerardo Zamora (Santiago del Estero), Raúl Jalil (Catamarca), Jorge Capitanici (Chaco), Gerardo Morales (Jujuy), Ricardo Quintella (La Rioja). Also part of the delegation was the Minister of Production and Development, Matthias Kulpas; Science, Technology and Innovation, Daniel Films; Tourism and Sports, Matthias Ramens and Secretary of International Economic Relations, Cecilia Todesca Boko; Tourism Promotion, Janina Martinez; Director of the Cabinet of Foreign Affairs Luciana Tito; Secretary-General of the Federal Investment Commission, and representatives of Ignacio Ramotte and other companies.

Therefore, the trip to the Middle East had few positive news about Argentina, which continues to miss the opportunity to open up the market and secure real investments. The president's decision to withdraw from the trip at the last moment is critical, considering that he decided to meet Vladimir Putin a month ago. At that time, at the end of January, the danger of Russia's invasion of Ukraine was already clear, which was triggered by the end of February.

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