Professor Minichiello said the Inaugural Australia- Argentina Binational Workshop in Bahia Blanca was a great opportunity for collaboration between the two countries.

“Australia and Argentina have a number of areas in common, they are both located in the southern hemisphere, they have strong and evolving agriculture and mining sectors, and they have growing industrial and technological sectors,” he said.

“We also both face the challenges of delivering health and education services to rural and remote communities.

Presenters at the workshop will include academics, scientific national organisations, government officials, inventors and ministerial advisers from both countries, who will collaborate on projects such as Massive Open Online Courseware, science innovations in farming, agriculture and robotics and tele-health.

“UNE has taken a leading role in these areas, developing SmartFarming technologies, agricultural innovation, health and tele-health innovations to promote services to regional communities, and there are countless opportunities to expand and extend these innovations into South America,” Professor Minichiello said.

New England MP Tony Windsor, who facilitated discussions in Canberra during the Argentina-Australia mission visit last year, said the talks leveraged the ability of high-speed broadband to overcome geographic distance.

“Students, academics and scientists in both Australia and Argentina will benefit from this collaboration, and the sharing of expertise will benefit both countries more broadly,” he said.

“The provision of a university education will become increasingly competitive in an online world, and this collaboration will help universities from both nations carve out space in the global marketplace.”