A Private Meeting at the Elysee
President Javier Milei was received by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Thursday afternoon. Milei arrived with his sister, Karina Milei, secretary general of the presidency, in a black car. A military band played as Macron greeted him with an embrace, and Brigitte Macron welcomed Karina Milei. The four posed for photographers before climbing the palace steps. The private meeting lasted about 40 minutes, according to official sources, and was followed by a wider working session that included ministers, governors and business figures from both countries.[S1][S2][S4]
The Argentine delegation included Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, Economy Minister Luis Caputo, Health Minister Mario Lugones and Justice Minister Juan Bautista Mahiques, along with Media Secretary Fabian Fernandez and Argentina's ambassador to France, Ian Sielecki. Economy Minister Federico Sturzenegger was also listed among the officials. The business delegation included Horacio Marin, Marcos Bulgheroni, Martin Varsavsky, Mariano Bosch, Jose Luis Manzano, Manuel Antelo, Alejandro Elsztain and Francisco de Narvaez. Before the Elysee visit, Milei received state honors from the Republican Guard at Les Invalides, the complex housing Napoleon Bonaparte's remains.[S1][S2][S4][S6]
Fiscal Adjustment and French Concerns
In the private meeting, the two leaders discussed artificial intelligence, the progress of Argentina Week in Paris and announcements by French companies, particularly in energy. When the talks widened, the French side asked how Argentina would sustain its fiscal surplus and how the public accounts adjustment was carried out. Argentine officials described the fiscal adjustment as a subject that greatly worries the French. The question came in a week that saw protests by public employees in France. Milei and Macron both spoke and took questions during the broader session.[S1][S2][S4]
The meeting was the second bilateral summit between the two presidents since Milei took office. Milei had described Macron as a friend before traveling and highlighted his role during Argentina's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. The visit was private in character, and the press was not allowed inside, unlike previous trips by Argentine leaders such as Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernandez. The Elysee is located in the eighth district of Paris, and the Argentine delegation traveled there from the OECD headquarters, where Argentina Week was being held.[S1][S4][S6]
Argentina Week and Investment Pitches
Argentina Week, a business seminar organized by the Argentine embassy in France, ran from Wednesday to Friday in Paris. Ambassador Ian Sielecki, 36, called it the largest road show in recent history and said the aim was to attract investment, accelerate the mechanisms that channel it and generate contagion. On Thursday, Milei spoke for nearly 50 minutes to investors and business leaders, focusing on opportunities in hydrocarbons, mining and food. He also sought to address questions about exchange-rate volatility and dollar supply, aiming to prevent a run like the one in 2025 before the legislative elections. Economy Minister Luis Caputo had made a similar presentation earlier, and the economic team later met with investment funds as country risk rose again.[S1][S3]
At the OECD headquarters, Milei opened Argentina Week 2026 and highlighted macroeconomic order and the development of Argentine resources as ways to attract new investment, with a focus on expanding energy supply to Europe. He also held a private meeting with the 13 governors attending the event, including Rolando Figueroa, Ignacio Torres, Alberto Weretilneck, Alfredo Cornejo, Rogelio Frigerio, Gustavo Saenz, Juan Pablo Valdes, Leandro Zdero, Carlos Sadir, Claudio Vidal, Marcelo Orrego, Raul Jalil and Jorge Macri, as well as Cordoba's vice governor, Myrian Prunotto. The governors came from different political backgrounds, and their presence was meant to project political support and governability ahead of the 2027 re-election bid.[S3][S4][S5][S6]
TotalEnergies and Milei's Economic Promises
Among the announcements highlighted by the Argentine delegation was a plan by France's TotalEnergies to invest about $10 billion to expand gas and oil production in Argentina. Patrick Pouyanne, the company's chairman and CEO, linked the plans to Milei's reforms and encouraged French business leaders present to invest in the country. Pouyanne met with Milei and they chose the name Alberdi for a new offshore development in Tierra del Fuego involving a $1.5 billion investment. In his remarks at Argentina Week, Milei promised to maintain the economic course and rejected a spending splurge for next year's elections.[S4][S5]
Milei told investors and bankers that his government has a $75 billion arsenal to confront destabilizing and coup attempts during the electoral process, and said 2028 would be the best economic year in Argentine history if he wins re-election in 2027. He projected accumulated growth of more than 16 points by the end of his term, compared with average growth below 6% in OECD countries, and said that performance would be three to four times the national historical average. He had made the same forecast for 2028 during an appearance before Wall Street investors in New York. In France, he defended his administration's policies and criticized Kirchnerism, saying that force would not win another election.[S2][S5][S6]
