Governor General of Australia Sir Peter Cosgrove will pay an official visit to Mexico on Monday, where he will be welcomed by President Enrique Peña Nieto at the National Palace.
Although the first Honorary Mexican Consulate in Australia began operating in Sydney in the late 1930s, the difficulties arising from the Second World War prevented its consolidation.
In 1960, a Mexican consular office was officially established in Sydney, which paved the way for the establishment of formal relations.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on March 14, 1966, Mexico and Australia have developed a close relationship.
Economic relations
The two countries share interests regarding global economic liberalization and regional integration. This is reflected in their participation in the negotiations with the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), the Pacific Alliance and SICA.
Together with Mexico, Indonesia, Korea and Turkey, Australia is a member of MIKTA. Moreover, in 2013, Mexico collaborated with Australia in the G20 as a member of the Troika. Mexico held the G20 presidency in 2012 as did Australia in 2014.
In 2015, Australia was Mexico’s 29th largest trading partner worldwide, with bilateral trade standing at $1.6493 billion USD. Mexico's exports to Australia totaled $1050.5 billion USD, while Australian imports in Mexico amounted to $598.8 million USD.
That year, Mexico had a surplus trade balance with Australia of $451.7 million USD.
The main Mexican exports to Australia in 2015 were malt beer (14.7%), lead ores (13.4%) and monoammonium phosphate (6.8%). The main imports from Australia were bituminous coal (42.1%), bone-in lamb (3.3%) and ilmenite (3.1%).
Australia was the 4th largest investor in Mexico among the Asia-Pacific countries and the 21st largest worldwide. Accumulated investment by Australia between 1999 and March 2016 was $1.1289 billion USD.
Fact Sheet
Australia Total area: 7,741,220 sq. km.
Population: 23.5 million inhabitants
Capital: Canberra
Language English
Currency: Australian dollar:
Religion: Protestantism (27.4%), Catholicism (25.8%), Oriental Orthodox (2.7%), Buddhism (2.1%), Islam (1.7%).
Form of government: Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the governor general of Australia. The Prime Minister is the Head of Government. He is the leader of the party with the majority in the House of Representatives.