H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy said that the economic relations between the UAE and the Republic of Mexico is witnessing continuous development under the reciprocal of the two countries to strengthen cooperation and build economic partnerships in common key areas of interest.

H.E. Al Mansoori explained that the UAE considers Mexico as one of the most important countries, based on its strategic economic position, to boost the countrys presence in Latin American markets and bring economic relations with these countries to a new level by spurring economic activities and raise the volume of non-oil trade with them, which has reached to around USD 6.7 billion in 2015, including trade from free zone areas.

The statement comes during a meeting held yesterday with Rogelio Garza Garza, Undersecretary of Industry and Commerce at the Ministry of Economy of Mexico, on the sidelines of the Global Business Forum on Latin America, organized by the Dubai Chamber at the Atlantis Hotel Palm Jumeirah. The forum was attended by top-level officials from the Ministry of Economy including H.E. Eng. Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Shehhi, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs; H.E. Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Affairs; and Mohammed Nasser Hamdan Al Zaabi, Director of Trade Promotion and Investment Department.

The UAE Minister added that there are many areas of economic cooperation with Mexico and the two countries enjoy a unique bilateral relationship and maximizing the benefits of this relationship could bring huge and diverse economic benefits, in line with both countries aspirations and objectives.

H.E. Al Mansoori noted that the UAE seeks to expand its cooperation and investment portfolio in Mexico to raise the volume of non-oil trade which hit USD1.5 billion in 2015, including the free trade area, highlighting that working through common goals and opportunities, the figure could increase significantly.

H.E. Al Mansoori emphasized the potentials of expanding trade in agricultural crops and increase UAEs investments in the Mexican agricultural and food industry sector in line with the countrys serious efforts on food security, noting that Mexico is one of the most important destinations in Latin America due to its large agricultural produce, including animal meat products.

H.E. Al Mansoori also discussed the tourism sector as one of the most important sectors that could open up a wide range of economic cooperation initiatives, particularly in establishing direct flights between the two countries. These potentials offer the possibilities for tourism exchange to flourish between Mexico and Asia via the UAE, which has become an important regional and global hub for civil aviation.

H.E. Rogelio Garza, Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry of Mexico welcomed the idea of a UAE economic delegation visiting Mexico, stressing that Mexico considers the UAE as an economic partner in the region. Garza said that Mexico is seeking to strengthen its presence in Middle East markets and the UAE represent the best trade and economic hub which have access to the rest of the regional markets.

Garza said that Mexico is currently focused on investing in human capital and developing its workforce by training them to become competent in modern technologies and contribute in vital economic sectors. This trend is in line with the UAE agenda towards knowledge economy and opens up new areas of development cooperation.

H.E. Garza also highlighted Mexicos significant achievements in the automotive industry and the countrys plan to bring in 10 European and American well-known brands in the automobile industry to set up factories and manufacture vehicles in Mexico, suggesting that the two nations can also consider the sector as another area of cooperation and promote as an economic trend.