SEP 2013 September 2013

ARGENTINA
MONTHLY
Washington, D.C.
September 2013
T
his monthly newsletter highlights diverse aspects of Argentina’s economic,
political and social matters with a focus on the broad agenda of bilateral
and multilateral cooperation with the United States. With the inclusion of
firsthand testimonies gathered from US and Argentine experts
representing the public, business, academic and scientific sectors, this
newsletter explores relevant topics of interest to policymakers, investors and
researchers, among others.
In this issue, the section “Bilateral Relations” highlights some of Argentina’s latest
arts exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago reflecting our country’s
creative and thriving culture.
In the section “Face-to-Face, a US Perspective on Argentina,” Anne Nijs, Pfizer’s
CEO for Argentina Region, shares the company’s latest investments in Argentina as
well as its current and future projects in the country.
Finally, the section “Did you know…?” underlines Argentina’s achievements and
leadership in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the last 60 years.
Embassy of Argentina
Washington, D.C.
Generous support for Amalia Pica is provided by
Mary Ittelson; Nancy Lauter McDougal and Alfred
L. McDougal; James Keith Brown and Eric
Diefenbach; Larry Mathews and Brian Saliman;
Marc Foxx and Rodney Hill, Marc Foxx Gallery,
Los Angeles; the Consulate General of Argentina
in Chicago; Phillips; Galerie Diana Stigter,
Amsterdam; and Herald St, London.
Museum of
Contemporary Art
Chicago
MCA Chicago is a proud member of Museums in the
Park and receives major support from the Chicago
Park District.
mcachicago.org
BILATERAL
RELATIONS
Apr 27–Aug 11, 2013
Official Airline of MCA Chicago
Amalia Pica. Venn diagrams (under the spotlight), 2011.
Spotlights on tripod, motion sensors, lighting gels,
and graphite on wall. Dimensions variable. Colección
Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. Photo: Kiki Triantafyllou,
courtesy of the artist; Herald St, London; Galerie
Diana Stigter, Amsterdam; Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles.
Argentine Artists at the
Museum of
Contemporary Art
Chicago
FACE-TO-FACE
A US Perspective on
Argentina: Pfizer
DID YOU
KNOW...?
Argentina: Leader in
Nuclear Energy for
Peaceful Purposes
Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Worship
Argentine Republic
BILATERAL
RELATIONS
rgentina boasts a vibrant
and diverse culture. From
Tango, considered
Intangible Cultural Heritage
of Humanity since 2009,
and a filmmaking industry
with two Oscars for best Foreign
Language Film to Argentine literature
and renowned performing artists, the
country’s undisputed local talent has
thrust Argentina’s culture into the
limelight, gaining international
recognition.
Argentine artists—including visual
and performing artists—have found a
new international venue for their work.
The Museum of Contemporary Art
Chicago (MCA), world-renown for
presenting exhibitions and performing
arts by some of today’s most thoughtprovoking artists, is showcasing local
artists, as part of the museum’s look
toward Latin American art in general,
and Argentine art in particular.
The MCA documents contemporary
visual culture through painting,
sculpture, photography, video and film,
and performance. The museum’s
approach to Argentine art has also
extended to the country’s work in the
area of industrial design. MCA Gift Shop
has been one of the most important
buyers at the “Puro Diseño,” an art fair
in Argentina that presents avant-garde
works of over 350 designers in the fields
of clothing, accessories, contemporary
jewelry, equipment, objects, digital
design, graphic design, contemporary
craftsmanship, textile development, and
lighting. As a result, since 2008, the
work of more than 25 Argentine artists
has been showcased at the MCA Gift
Shop, which is the best rated shop in its
category worldwide, according to
Fodor´s Guide.
Earlier this year, two Argentine
artists presented their work at MCA:
Dance Theater: In June 2012 the
MCA presented Argentine
choreographer Diana Szeinblun as part
of Chicago-based Luna Negra Dance
Theater for three performances of the
A
ARGENTINA
MONTHLY
Argentine Artists at the Museum of
Contemporary Art Chicago
Amalia Pica. Venn diagrams (under the spotlight), 2011
world premiere of her new dance work.
The company celebrated the richness
and diversity of Latino culture through
choreographing new works by
contemporary Latino choreographers
and leading hands-on education
programs that encourage the
exploration of personal and community
identity.
Visual Arts: Amalia Pica, an artist
born in Argentina based in London, was
given the opportunity of her first major
solo museum show in the United States.
She explored metaphor,
communication, and civic participation
through drawings, sculptures, largescale photographic prints, slide
Apr 27–Aug
11, 2013 and
projections,
live performances,
installations. This exhibition was coorganized by the Museum of
Contemporary Art Chicago and MIT List
Visual Arts Center.
In the upcoming months, two more
Argentine theater pieces will be
presented at the MCA:
MCA Stage presents Claudio
Tolcachir´s Timbre 4 performing its work
Third Wing (Oct 3-6). The stage will be
transformed into an abandoned wing of
an office building, a setting that belies
the loaded content of the drama that
takes place there. Timbre 4 is named for
the buzzer used to enter Tolcachir’s
home, where he started the theater. To
arrive at the ensemble’s 50-seat
performance space, one walks down a
private passageway leading to a shared
internal patio. Timbre’s home theater,
rooted in housing that was subdivided
to accommodate working-class
immigrants in 20th-century Buenos
Aires, plays a key role in the company’s
identity.
Lola Arias, a writer, director,
performer, and songwriter, makes her
US debut at MCA Stage with her piece
The year I was born
(January of
23-26,
Museum
2014). Born in Buenos
Aires
in
1976,Art
Contemporary
her texts explore the
boundaries
Chicago
between reality and fiction, using
mcachicago.org
biographies and real
documentation in a
surreal or poetic way. The idea started
with a concept: artists born under a
dictatorship reconstruct their mothers
and fathers lives as they once were.
Arias first toured the world with her
production Mi Vida Después (My Life
After), a show based on a similar
concept about six young artists growing
up under Argentina`s dictatorship and
political turbulence.
Under the wing of one of the largest
and most prestigious art institutions of
our time, new audiences are given the
opportunity to see the works of many of
Argentina’s talented artists. This role has
converted MCA in an important partner
in Argentina’s efforts to confer American
audiences direct contact of
contemporary Argentine art
productions.
Generous support for Amalia Pica is provided by
Mary Ittelson; Nancy Lauter McDougal and Alfred
L. McDougal; James Keith Brown and Eric
Diefenbach; Larry Mathews and Brian Saliman;
Marc Foxx and Rodney Hill, Marc Foxx Gallery,
Los Angeles; the Consulate General of Argentina
in Chicago; Phillips; Galerie Diana Stigter,
Amsterdam; and Herald St, London.
MCA Chicago is a proud member of Museums in the
Park and receives major support from the Chicago
Park District.
Official Airline of MCA Chicago
Amalia Pica. Venn diagrams (under the spotlight), 2011.
Spotlights on tripod, motion sensors, lighting gels,
and graphite on wall. Dimensions variable. Colección
Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. Photo: Kiki Triantafyllou,
courtesy of the artist; Herald St, London; Galerie
Diana Stigter, Amsterdam; Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles.
Embassy of Argentina, Washington, D.C.
FACE-TO-FACE
“Pfizer’s local operations
have fulfilled the
objectives of the business
in terms of sales as well as
in terms of new initiatives
that made us leaders in
our business areas”.
Anne Nijs, CEO for
Pfizer Argentina Region
P
fizer SRL -a subsidiary of
Pfizer Inc., a global leading
pharmaceutical company- is
present in Argentina since
April 6, 1956 with a team of
more than 700 colleagues. In Argentina,
Pfizer has a world class manufacturing
plant located in the City of Buenos
Aires, for which the Company has
received the GMP (Good Manufacturing
Practice) Certificate required by health
authorities in Argentina and Mercosur
member countries, among others.
Committed to local production, with
an accumulated investment of more
than US$30 million, Pfizer is planning to
conduct additional investments
throughout 2013-2014 for US$13
million in high-tech equipment in order
to expand its local manufacturing
capabilities and substitute imports.
Pfizer’s current installed capacity allows
the annual production of more than 707
million pills, 110 million blisters and 56
million units of finished products. “We
have a manufacturing plant from where
we can insert ourselves in the local and
global context and offer therapeutic
solutions for Argentina, the rest of Latin
America, the Caribbean, and even to
non-traditional destinations such as
Senegal in Africa”, said Anne Nijs,
Pfizer’s CEO for Argentina Region.
The economic recovery the country
has experienced in the last years and
September 2013
An American
Perspective
on Argentina:
Pfizer
Pfizer Global Supply Plant.
City of Buenos Aires.
the improvements in health coverage
have caused a positive impact in the
pharmaceutical industry in Argentina. In
this regard, Anne Nijs expressed that
“we expect this development will
continue so our projections are
positive”.
With the mission of being the
world´s leading biopharmaceutical
company, Pfizer’s portfolio includes
innovative solutions for diseases and
therapeutic areas such as oncology,
cardiology, pain, central nervous
system, rare diseases, rheumatoid
arthritis, infectious diseases and
tobacco cessation treatment.
On December 12, 2012, Argentine
President Cristina Fernández de
Kirchner inaugurated a new
manufacturing plant which is part of a
technology transfer agreement for the
pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
between Pfizer and two local
pharmaceutical companies, Elea and
Sinergium Biotech. The new
manufacturing plant, located in Garín,
province of Buenos Aires, will be the site
for the formulation and finishing
processes for the vaccine. Under the
five-year technology transfer agreement,
Pfizer and its local partners will supply
the Argentine market with almost 11
million doses of Prevenar 13 for
pediatric immunizations.
In addition to transferring
manufacturing knowledge, Pfizer and its
partners will be performing local
epidemiological studies as well as
surveillance procedures; they will work
to strengthen their national infrastructure
for the proper transportation and
storage of vaccines and they will
conduct a vaccination awareness
campaign. This agreement makes
Argentina be the only country in the
region – and one of a handful of
countries in the world – able to
complete the filling and formulation
processes for the pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine.
“Pfizer is thrilled to be a part of this
agreement to vaccinate all Argentine
children against pneumococcal disease
while at the same time contributing to
enhancing the technical capacity within
Argentina to develop and manufacture
life-saving medicines,” said Anne Nijs.
“In the last years, Pfizer Argentina
has been working to meet the needs of
the sector with very good results.
Pfizer’s local operations have fulfilled the
objectives of the business in terms of
sales as well as in terms of new
initiatives that made us leaders in our
business areas. All that we do is driven
by the enthusiasm of bringing new
alternatives for patients, doctors and our
community”, concluded Anne Nijs.
ARGENTINA
MONTHLY
DID YOU KNOW...?
Argentina: Leader in Nuclear
Energy for Peaceful Purposes
1
Argentina believes that nuclear energy is a safe and sustainable energy source that promotes a long-term
technological development. Argentina has been carrying out peaceful nuclear activities for over 60 years and
has achieved a significant scientific and technological progress that has enabled it to attain a technical
proficiency of the fuel cycle.
2
Argentina, along with other countries, is a founding member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
which it joined as a member country on May 15, 1957 under Decree-Law 507/57, and since then has
interacted closely with this organization, reinforcing peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Argentina has promoted
non-proliferation international agreements from the perspective of global confidence-building measures. In
1991 it signed an agreement with Brazil establishing the Argentina-Brazil Agency for Accounting and Control
of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), creating a bilateral nuclear safeguards system. Subsequently it signed the
Quadripartite Agreement with Brazil, ABACC and the IAEA. In 1994 it ratified the Treaty of Tlatelolco, and in
1995 it joined the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
3
Argentina possesses advanced nuclear technology and control systems in accordance with the highest
international standards. All national nuclear activities are controlled by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, an
independent state agency. At the global level, it is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and its
policy regarding nuclear exports for peaceful purposes takes into account both non-proliferation and nuclear
safety and security considerations.
4
Argentina was the first Latin American country to operate a nuclear power plant; one of the first countries in
the world to discontinue the use of highly-enriched uranium in its research reactors, and the first to base its
entire uranium radio isotope production on low-enriched uranium. At present there are two nuclear power
plants in operation in Argentina: Atucha I and Embalse. The third, Atucha II, will be fully operational in early
2014, under a strategic plan that begun in 2006. Argentina plans to build two new nuclear power plants; the
first one will operate using natural uranium, and the other one will be the first in Argentina to use low-enriched
uranium. The entire nuclear energy output is expected to cover over 15% of the current domestic energy mix.
Argentina is also developing small modular reactors that can be installed in remote locations; and the CAREM
model will be scalable, from 25 MWe to 250 MWe.
5
Argentina is also a major exporter of nuclear technology. It has exported research reactors to Egypt (ETRR-2),
Algeria (NUR), Peru (RP-0 and RP-10) and Australia (OPAL), and new projects are currently being developed
around the world.
6
Argentina supports the key role played by international cooperation in all peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and
has a longstanding history of cooperation with the U.S. in this area. In 2004, Argentina and the United States
established the Argentine-United States Joint Standing Committee on Nuclear Energy Cooperation (JSCNEC),
which meets annually, alternating the venue between both countries. Its most recent meeting in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee, marked the tenth year of the committee’s joint efforts.
Contact Us
Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Worship
Argentine Republic
Embassy of Argentina
Washington, D.C.
ARGENTINA
MONTHLY
1600 New Hampshire Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20009
202 238 6401
[email protected]
www.embassyofargentina.us