Argentina - Useful Guide for Brazilians

The relationship between Argentina and Brazil is both close and historical, and it encompasses all possible dimensions: economy, trade, culture, education and tourism. The creation of the MERCOSUR strengthened this historical bond even more. And, in order for the bond to be even closer, there follow a guide with useful data and tips -in pdf to download- for all those Brazilians wishing to travel, study or invest in Argentina.

Over 600.000 Brazilians visit Argentina every year. The volume of trade between these countries amounts to more than 10 billion dollars. Many Brazilians have chosen Argentina to take postgraduate courses and study Spanish.

Argentina and Brazil share a 1261-kilometer border. The greatest icon of this shared frontier is the amazing Iguazú Falls. Cultural interchange has always been fruitful and intense: from the origin in common of both “tango” and “chorinho”, “mate” and “chimarrao”, “asado” and “churrasco”, their passion for football; Perón and Vargas; military dictatorships; summit meetings between Astor Piazolla and Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes´s frequent visits to Argentina, friendships between singers such as Mercedes Sosa, Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque, Víctor Heredia, Os Paralamas do Sucesso and Charly García and Fito Páez; the permanent residence of Argentine writer Manuel Puig in Rio de Janeiro and of film director Héctor Babenco. To put it in a nutshell, such close and long-established fraternity grows indefinitely.

Trade relations: how to invest in Argentina
Foreign trade has been one of the most evident features of such close ties between Argentina and Brazil in the last decade, especially as from the creation of the MERCOSUR.

Further information about investment or setting up in Argentina in the Guide.

Let´s study
The vital need to master Spanish together with continuous education at professional level make Argentina an attractive study destination for Brazilians, not only because of the close distance existing between both countries but also because of Argentina’s  prestigious educational system and the charm of its cultural life.

There are numerous options for graduate and postgraduate courses to wit: 103 universities spread all over the country offer courses and postgraduate courses to both national and foreign students. These same institutions, more often than not, offer Spanish courses to foreigners independently of whether they have taken up a university course or not.  Similarly, there are other institutions exclusively devoted to the teaching of the Spanish language. And, more specifically, there are Brazilian institutions in Argentina that teach Portuguese and Spanish to Brazilians. The Fundação Centro de Estudos Brasileiros (Funceb) is the agency disseminating Brazilian culture in Argentina, where you can also study Spanish.

In Argentina, the CELU Certificate (Certificate of Spanish Language and Use) may be obtained after taking the corresponding test which is equivalent to the CELPE Bras in Brazil- which is granted by the Ministry of Education. Moreover, this test can be taken in different venues in Argentina and in Brazil. According to CELU statistics, 523 Brazilians have already passed it, which makes up 53 % of the total of successful tests.

Steps to take to study in Argentina in the Guide.

Let´s travel
According to data provided by the Secretariat of Tourism, 559.219 Brazilian tourists came to Argentina in 2006. Visits increase 30 % each year therefore amounting to 397 million dollar revenues for Argentina. Not only are Brazilian tourists the ones who spend the most – an average amount  of 160 dollar a day – but they are also the ones who visit Argentina the most amount of time. The average stay is 14 days.

The destinations selected by Brazilians diversify more as time goes by: they travel to the traditional skiing resort in Bariloche, and to Buenos Aires, the traditional shopping area. Other destinations such as Mendoza, whose center of attraction is its wines and vineyards, as well as Patagonia (El Calafate, Ushuaia, Villa La Angostura) and the northwest of the country (Jujuy, Salta y Tucumán) are visited as well.

In the Guide there follows basic data for Brazilians wishing to visit Argentina.