Maria Margarita Melo de Vaquer was born in Washington D.C., USA, but is an Argentinean citizen.

Daughter of an Argentine diplomat, Mrs Margarita Vaquer lived and studied in Brazil, Peru, France, Algiers and Switzerland. She graduated as an Economist from the University of Buenos Aires and started her career in the banking sector, working for Boston Bank Foundation in Buenos Aires, and the Credit Lyonnais in Paris and Argentina.

During her time at the Credit Lyonnais she participated actively in the privatization process that took place in Argentina in the '90s. In particular, she assisted France Telecom which, in association with the Italian Stet, acquired the privatized telecommunications company Telecom Argentina. Hired later by the France Telecom group to organize and manage France Cables et Radio office in Buenos Aires, she would remain in that position until 1995, when she moved to Geneva, Switzerland due to family reasons.

Since 2000, she is the Director of Public Affairs of Rincon de Corrientes S.A., a food-industry group which owns cattle-producing ranches or "Estancias", an extremely important activity for Argentina both for the local market and for export. As such, she works closely with the authorities, at the provincial and national levels, on issues of environmental protection, road construction and maintenance etc. In 2006, in the province of Corrientes where the largest Estancia is located, she participated in the launch of a micro-credit program directed at remote rural areas.

Margarita Vaquer speaks 4 languages: Spanish, French, English and Portuguese. Married, with four children, she currently resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina.