ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar recently held a series of bilateral Ministerial meetings with the Government of Argentina, having flown to Buenos Aires to deliver a keynote address to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA).
The Secretary General’s meetings and remarks at the ALTA AGM focussed on the significance of ICAO’s safety, security and sustainability objectives and initiatives, and in the case of the bilateral meetings with Argentina, provided Mr. Salazar with an occasion to recognize the State´s commitment to continuously develop the aviation system and review potential opportunities for further progress.
Accompanied by ICAO’s Regional Director for South America, Secretary General Salazar met with Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Mr. Santiago Andrés Cafiero; Minister of Security, Mr. Aníbal Fernández; Minister of Transport, Mr. Alexis Guerrera; Minister of Tourism and Sports, Mr. Matías Lammens; Minister of Economy, Mr. Sergio Massa; and the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jorge Enrique Taiana. He also met with the President of Argentina’s National Civil Aviation Administration, Ms. Paola Tamburelli, and Air Transport Safety Board, Mr. Julián Obaid.
The Secretary General underscored the significance of a variety of outcomes of the recently concluded ICAO Assembly, including those related to the environmental commitments and the long term global aspiration goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and he highlighted the opportunities for Argentina and Latin America as whole to develop policies that can support the production and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which will be critical to the achievement of these objectives.
During the Secretary General’s mission, the Government of Argentina committed itself to ICAO’s Assistance, Capacity-building and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (ACT-SAF) programme.
Turning to aviation safety and security, the Secretary General underlined the crucial importance of ensuring proper resourcing for state civil aviation authorities, particularly in relation to the areas reviewed by ICAO’s auditing programmes and the necessity of attaining positive outcomes.
In addition to his Governmental meetings, Mr. Salazar also met with the leadership of a wide variety of aviation business leaders, with a view to understanding their perspectives, challenges, and objectives.
