In With a Bad Crowd? Macri Cozies Up to Israel, Brits in Davos

Argentine President Mauricio Macri agreed Thursday to build stronger relations with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, heralding a different direction in Argentine foreign affairs.

Macri met Cameron and Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, marking the first time an Argentine has attended the exclusive Swiss Alps event in 13 years.

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Macri said that he and Netanyahu discussed the possibility of “firming up an exchange of inter-ministerial delegations to try different themes of mutual collaboration,” including investment, science, technology, security, defense and nutrition.

In a further departure from his socialist predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Macri’s meeting with Cameron involved a highly anticipated conversation about the tricky issue of the Malvinas Islands.

“I want us to talk about all pending themes, including the Malvinas, with our differences and us maintaining our positions, but with dialogue,” Macri said after the meeting.

Earlier this week, Macri said that he is keen to kick off a “new kind of relationship” with Britain concerning the Malvinas Islands dispute, positioning himself closer to Western powers and trying to heal ties that suffered under Kirchner.

“Argentina wants to have a good relationship with the whole world,” he added, alluding to the new alliances he would try to forge at the glitzy event.

The previous day, Macri had a busy afternoon rubbing shoulders with business leaders in a bid to court new investment. He followed up on Thursday with a schmooze with Coca-Cola, in which he struck a US$1 billion deal with the drinks giant.

Under the initiative, the company will spend US$1 billion on expanding its bottling and distribution operations in Argentina over the next four years, according to a statement from Macri's office.

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His spree of new friendships continued as he met U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, gushing to reporters afterwards that the reunion will “open the work agenda” and that “ideological differences should not be an obstacle” to foreign relations.

“With Biden we did not talk about the theme of the holdouts, the most important thing on the agenda are other themes, like collaboration in security, climate change, etcetera,” Macri said.

Biden offered the Argentine president help in the fight against drug trafficking and said that from now on, Argentina will “find its path towards development.”

On Friday, Macri is expected to meet Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and British billionaire Richard Branson.

Macri has vowed to roll back the progressive economic policies of his left-leaning predecessor, Cristina Fernandez, and move Buenos Aires away from Latin America's left.

WATCH: Argentine President Meets with World Leaders at WEF