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On October 4, the approval of the Argentine government on setting up the Lithuanian embassy in the capital Buenos Aires was received through the diplomatic channels. Argentine government believed this new step of Lithuania would give the new impetus to develop bilateral relations between the two countries. On August 14, the Lithuanian government resolved to seek an embassy in Argentina after the Lithuanian embassy in Venezuela, operating since 1992, was decided to close, thus keeping Lithuanian diplomatic representation in South America. With the embassy in Buenos Aires, Lithuania will have new opportunities to expand trade with this country. Argentina will be a great central location for maintaining political and economic ties with other Latin American states important to Lithuania, including Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Some 10,000 people, a big Lithuanian exile community worldwide, make up the Lithuanian community in Argentina and have an interest to maintain ties with homeland. Lithuania had an embassy in Argentina, which operated until 1940. The volume of Lithuanian trade with Latin America came to USD 74 million in 1999. Over the proceeding year Argentina was one of the Lithuania's main trading partners in Latin America. Lithuania's import from Argentina reached USD 16,5 million in 1999.