Foreign Minister Vieira is making his first trip to Mexico since taking office in 2015. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen the trade and industrial ties between the two largest economies in Latin America.
Brazil is a key partner for Mexico in Latin America and the Caribbean. Trade in 2015 totaled USD 8.421 billion; Brazil is Mexico’s main export market and most important supplier in the region; and the most important source of investment in Latin American.
Foreign Minister Vieira is in Mexico with the Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, Armando Monteiro, to strengthen the economic component of the visit. At the Binational Commission meeting, the two Brazilian ministers and Mexican Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu will review all bilateral issues of concern and promote greater economic, trade and industrial integration.
One of the issues under discussion is the expansion of a complementary agreement signed in 2002, which was the subject of a previous bilateral meeting held in Brasilia.
Regarding the visit of Foreign Minister Vieira and his delegation, Foreign Secretary Chancellor Ruiz Massieu said that "Latin America can only be strengthened by the concerted action of Mexico and Brazil, hence the importance of the third meeting of the Mexico-Brazil Binational Commission. For Mexico, the goal of this third meeting is clear: to continue exchanging information about ourselves; find more areas of agreement in order to strengthen a dialogue that is based on trust; to dispel myths; overcome a decades-long lack of mutual understanding and to reiterate that, when Mexico and Brazil play together, the world wins.”
