Argentinean president begins state visit to Spain

Argentinean President Mauricio Macri was welcomed with full military honors as he began a three-day state visit to Spain on Wednesday.

Marci travels to Spain with over 200 business leaders and will use the visit to try and attract Spanish investment to his country.

Speaking to the Spanish Congress on Wednesday morning, he highlighted the ambitions of his presidency.

"Fourteen months ago, Argentina began a historic change. We want to reduce poverty to zero because a third of Argentineans still live in poverty and this is unacceptable, end drugs trafficking and to unite Argentineans," he said.

Ten years ago, Spain was the main foreign investor in Argentina with companies such as Telefonica, Gas Natural and the banks, Banco Santander and BBVA still having a strong presence in the country.

Although Spain remains the principal European investor in Argentina, Spanish investment has fallen in recent years and bilateral relations suffered when YPF, a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Repsol, was nationalized.

"In 14 months we have been able to get over the crisis and lay the foundations for growth," he said, before sending a clear message to potential investors that there will be no repeat of the YPF incident.

"Now we have the rules much clearer, I hope that Spanish companies can deepen their participation with Argentina. Also now we have stability which guarantees future progress," he commented.

Marci said the two nations with a shared language, history and culture can play a vital role in international relations between Latin America and Europe.

Marci will visit Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in his official residence of the Palacio de la Moncloa on Thursday. After their meeting, the pair are expected to sign an agreement on the action plan to deepen the strategic association between the two nations, as well as other sectoral accords. Endit