Argentine President Javier Milei’s government said on Friday that foreigners who invest at least $350,000 in the country will be able to obtain citizenship. Argentina, Latin America’s third-largest economy, lagged far behind Brazil and Mexico in attracting foreign investment last year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Economist Marcelo Elizondo said investors are still waiting for Argentina’s volatile economy to show over time that the reforms will last.
The citizenship-by-investment programme announced on Friday sets out two simple and transparent routes to an Argentine passport. It was announced at Argentina Week in Paris.
Under the first, an investor makes a non-refundable donation of $350,000 to the national treasury. Under the second, the investor buys $800,000 of bonds the government will create for the programme. Spouses and children can also qualify, for a payment to the treasury of $100,000 for each adult family member and $25,000 for each child under 18.
The government said the money would be used to strengthen its revenue and fiscal position. The economy ministry said on X that investments would go through strict vetting to verify the source of funds, ensure transparent transactions, prevent money laundering and protect national security.
Milei visited Paris this week and met investors at Argentina Week at the OECD, where he secured several investment pledges, including $10 billion from France’s TotalEnergies for oil and gas exploration in Patagonia and $4 billion from Swiss mining company Glencore for a copper project. The “golden passport” programme is due to start late this year.
On Tuesday a court upheld a 2023 decree by Milei’s government that scrapped a 15 percent cap, in place since 2011, on foreign ownership of farmland.
Argentina received $3.134 billion in foreign direct investment last year, according to the OECD, compared with $76.877 billion for Brazil and $40.871 billion for Mexico.
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