1. InfoDay 2013 ENV Calls in FP7 11 June 2012
ARGENTINA as a key partner in LAC
Liaison Office Argentina – European Union (ABEST)
National Directorate of International Relations
Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (MINCyT)

2. ABEST: a key contact to find partners in Argentina
Objectives
• Encourage the participation of researchers and technology-based SMEs
• Connect Argentinean partners with potential FP7 counterparts worldwide
• Design of a Help- Desk for researchers and SMEs
• Support the assistance of the National Contact Points (NCPs) and more than 50 National Information Points (ABEST-NET) around the country
• Participate as a member in the EEN (under negotiation)
• Creation of an AR-UE Observatory in ST&i
Services & Activities
• Organization of Info Days, Trainings and Workshops (more than 1300 researchers and SMEs participated in 50 events by year)
• Coordination of more than 10 videoconferences with the Liaison Offices of LAC countries (México, Brazil and Chile)
• Distribution of ABEST II Newsletter worldwide
• Circulate alerts on FP7 updates, open Calls and general events
• Promote joint activities between projects and programs executed by MINCYT
The Argentinean Bureau for Enhancing Cooperation with the European Union in Science, Technology and Innovation (ABEST- Phase II) was conceived as the natural continuation of the successful ABEST A-EU Project ( ) to operate as a platform to improve and expand scientific and technological cooperation between both parts, with special emphasis on FP7, and deepen certain specific topics, such as the improvement of the identification of priorities, sharing common practices and present prospects for cooperation in specific fields.
ABEST II employs several instruments to assist researchers, research institutions and SMEs to optimize available programs, coordinating its activities with other LA countries that also subscribed cooperation agreements in S&T with the EU (Brazil, Mexico and Chile) and contributes proactively to the EU-LAC dialogue on mutual interest priorities.
ABEST-Phase II (October September 2012)
Coordinator: MINCYT- Argentina
Partners: CIRAD (France), APRE (Italy) & DST (South Africa)
Steering Committee: MICINN (Spain), ZSI (Austria)
MENON (Belgium) & IRELAC (Belgium)
ABEST- Phase III (under design)
The Project will include the participation of European and Third Countries partners and will focus on innovation, strategic partnerships, societal challenges, reinforce reciprocity and new co-financed instruments (coordinated calls, joint calls, twinning projects, etc.)

3. Participación argentina en el 7PM
Effectiveness of Latin America in FP7 ( )
Participación argentina en el 7PM
Argentina's participation in FP7 ( )
The effectiveness of participation in FP7 Argentina reached the top spot in Latin America with 24.7% overall, and 22.43% in the case of SMEs in particular. So far, 147 research groups participated in 112 projects Argentines and receiving a Community contribution of EUR million (79,196 on average per project on average 60,340 per research group)
Source: Observatorio ABEST II based on data from CORDA (2012)

4. Main Argentina’s partners in S&T cooperation
Main partners for FP7 projects( )
LA SME’s participation in FP7 ( )
TPT= Transporte
SIS= Ciencia en Sociedad
KBBE= Alimentos, Agricultura, Biotecnología y Pesca
PEOPLE= Personas
NANO= Nanociencias, Nanotecnologías, Materiales y Nuevas Tecnologías de la Producción
ENV= Medioambiente (incluyendo Cambio Climático)
HEALTH= Salud
ICT= Tecnologías de la Información y de las Comunicaciones
INCO= Cooperación Internacional
SSH= Ciencias Socioeconómicas y Humanidades
INFRA= e-Infraestructuras
The Argentina’s main European partners have been Spain, Italy, UK, France and Germany. Cooperation among Argentinean and French R&D groups have beed highlighted in the areas Food, Agriculture, Biotechnology and Fisheries, Environment (including Climate Change), and People.
Source: Observatorio ABEST II based on data from CORDA (2012)
Source: Observatorio ABEST II based on data from the EC (2011)