The Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, participated today in the XXVII Annual Meeting of Ambassadors and Consuls (REC 2016, by its acronym in Spanish). During his speech, the Secretary Guajardo shared with the diplomatic corps, the guidelines of the trade policy, mandated by the President of the Republic, Enrique Peña Nieto; structured through 4 cardinal axes as well as the importance of the recently completed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP, for its acronym in English):
1. First, to the North (US and Canada), the Secretary reaffirmed the importance for Mexico to further a business relationship that has over 20 years of success, through initiatives such as the Canada-Mexico Partnership and the High Level Economic Dialogue between Mexico-US.
2. The second axis, to the South (Latin America and the Caribbean), seeks a deeper integration, exemplified by the Pacific Alliance, where Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico are involved, and that is a cutting-edge instrument in the regional liberalization of trade in goods and services.
3. The Secretary also said that the third axis of integration is located in the East (Europe and Middle East), where Mexico has built significant economic ties that today have helped to advance in new initiatives: in Europe, the modernization of the Free Trade with the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). While in the Middle East two new free trade agreements are in negotiations: Turkey and Jordan.
4. Finally, he referred to the fourth axis, seeking the trade integration to the West; that is to say, the Asia-Pacific region, which it is with Mexico has had greater trade increases, and in which our country will be strongly positioned through the TPP.
The Ambassadors and Consuls Meeting is held each year in order to reflect on the achievements of the previous year and the challenges they face in the new year. In the 2016 edition, around 120 holders of the representations of Mexico abroad are participating.