Canada and Argentina Forge Closer Ties With New Bilateral Accords

January 19, 1998 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Canada's First Ministers today witnessed the signing of five agreements between Canada and Argentina, following a meeting with Argentine President Carlos Menem.

"These agreements illustrate the strength of the relationship that is developing between Canada and Argentina," said the Prime Minister. "The Team Canada mission clearly has given our two countries the opportunity to expand and deepen our commitment to a number of important social, educational and humanitarian issues."

The Canada-Argentina Letter of Intent on Social Security underlines a commitment to complete an Agreement on Social Security this year. The agreement will ensure the continuity of Canada's Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan coverage when Canadians are posted to Argentina. The agreement also will make it easier for people who have resided or worked both in Canada and Argentina to qualify for pensions from either country.

The Memorandum of Understanding on Schoolnet will allow Canada and Argentina to cooperate in the use of information and communication technologies as they apply to learning, course content and development, teaching and training, and community access. The agreement provides for the transfer of technology of Canada's Schoolnet and associated programs.

The Memorandum of Understanding on Education Cooperation will encourage the exchange of information and cooperation in the areas of training, and faculty and student exchanges, and will improve recognition of studies and credit transfers in each country. Recognizing the importance of new learning technologies, Canada and Argentina also agree to promote cooperation through technology-assisted learning and distance-learning studies.

The Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in International Demining Activities commits Canada and Argentina to work together to help third countries in the removal of landmines from their territories and to assist victims of landmines, in particular their reintegration into society. The declaration follows the Ottawa Conference of December 1997 where 123 countries signed the International Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction and where conference participants agreed to work together to implement the key provisions of this Convention.

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