TARIJA, Bolivia, July 22 (UPI) -- Presidents Néstor Kirchner of Argentina and Carlos Mesa of Bolivia are meeting Thursday in the altiplano city of Tarija, Bolivia.
The meeting comes less than a week after Mesa received permission in Sunday's gas referendum to establish new short and long-term energy accords.
As previously reported by UPI, Mesa said, "The most important part of my meeting with Kirchner is to accomplish the will of the Bolivian people by increasing its contracts of gas sales to Argentina in volumes sufficiently appealing to both countries and permit the development of projects that expand gas access to people and areas where it was previously unavailable in Argentina."
The Bolivian president also said "There is a great potential for gas consumption in Argentina, and we have to work just as hard as Brazil on the issue of value-added products, so that the Bolivian people see that we do not only sell gas as a crude resource but that we can also develop projects that add value to gas in Argentina."
After his meeting with Kirchner, Mesa will go to Venezuela to meet with President Hugo Chávez and analyze the energy potentials of that region.
