Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso met for the second time with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Alfonso María Dastis Quecedo, at the Mexican Foreign Ministry to review this year’s dynamic artistic, cultural and promotional agenda that celebrates the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Spain. In addition, Minister Dastis invited Secretary Videgaray to visit Spain to co-chair the 12th meeting of the Binational Commission, the main institutional mechanism for political, economic, technical-scientific and educational-cultural cooperation and legal and consular affairs. The meeting will be held in Madrid in April 2017.
Secretary Videgaray thanked the Spanish Foreign Minister for the solidarity of the Spanish government and people regarding the various stances that have recently emerged on the immigration issue, stressing the protection of the rights and treatment of Mexicans in the United States.
The two officials agreed to continue promoting additional contacts between the private sectors in order to increase trade. They also discussed the recent reciprocal investments that have been made in energy, construction, food, mining and financial services. Both officials agreed to prioritize the modernization of the existing legal framework between Mexico and the European Union.
Spain is the second most important investor in Mexico and is ranked first among the EU members. Between 1999 and 2016, Spain's cumulative investment in Mexico reached USD 57.12 billion, with more than 5,000 companies in the financial, information, media and manufacturing sectors contributing to this total. In 2016, Spain was Mexico’s ninth largest trading partner worldwide, and ranked second amongst the EU countries, with trade of USD 7.736 billion.
