On July 4, the Bolivia-Argentina Business Meeting over Hydrocarbons and Energy, carried out in Tarija, Bolivia, was opened. It brought together some 30 Argentine companies related to the energy sector, such as INVAP S.E. (an Argentine state-owned applied research company).
The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy of Bolivia together with the Bolivian state-owned oil company, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB, in Spanish), and the Bolivian state-owned electricity company, Empresa Nacional de Electricidad Bolivia (ENDE, in Spanish).
In the context of the meeting, the Bolivian Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Engineer Luis Alberto Sánchez, explained that the Bolivian Atomic Energy Agency and INVAP signed agreements with the aim of developing a state-of-the-art Nuclear and Radiotherapy Medicine Center, which will include three pieces of equipment: a cyclotron (radioisotopes generator, tumor marker), a PET scan (scanning system) and a linear accelerator (to provide focused treatments). Besides, a Radioactive Tracers Production Center will be created at the Nuclear Citadel.
These projects are similar to the ones developed in Argentina. However, they have three additional objectives: the basic and advanced training of professionals, the operation and maintenance of the Radioactive Tracers Production Center, and the follow-up after the operational relocation of the Center.
The Bolivian Minister thanked “the companies of the brother country for participating in an event that has been an example of the brotherhood between Bolivia and Argentina for many years, and mainly for being part of the energy integration we are trying to consolidate.” He also highlighted “the support offered to the nuclear sector by the Argentine National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA, in Spanish) and INVAP.”
In turn, the Argentine Ambassador in Bolivia, Dr. Normando Álvarez, pointed out: “Thanks to my friend, the Minister Sánchez, for affording this opportunity, and to the Plurinational State of Bolivia for letting our businessmen visit the works that its national government is carrying out in the energy sector.” He added that “Bolivia knows that we, Argentinians, come to strengthen this bond of close collaboration, so that our countries develop together. An increased reciprocity between Bolivia and Argentina will be useful for the region as a whole.”
