La Jornada: Mexico and Japan agree to strengthen trade ties

Mexico and Japan agreed to strengthen commercial ties, after a bilateral meeting between the Mexican Foreign Minister, Roberto Velasco, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi, within the framework of the official visit of the Japanese official to Mexican territory.

At a press conference, both announced that they decided to create a joint working group to strengthen the Mexico-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and shared membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. They also agreed to launch a high-level economic dialogue between both governments.

This mechanism will seek to promote collaboration in artificial intelligence and the digital economy, and strengthen the resilience of supply chains. The chancelleries and the secretariats or ministries of Economy of the two countries will participate.

Japan is Mexico’s eighth trading partner and the fourth country with the highest investment in Mexican territory, the first among the Asia-Pacific economies. 1,600 Japanese companies operate in Mexico and generate nearly 350,000 jobs, according to figures presented during the meeting.

Velasco noted that President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s recent meeting with the Japan Business Confederation confirmed the shared interest in expanding that investment and deepening the dialogue on the USMCA.

They reaffirmed their interest in expanding their agreement for collaboration between the International Cooperation agencies of Japan and the Mexican International Development Cooperation. Within this framework, they will launch a joint program to address the problem of sargassum in the Caribbean Sea.

Motegi explained that in the meeting with the Mexican Foreign Minister, cooperation in the agricultural sector and in the service chain was addressed, as well as the strengthening of scientific and technological dialogue. He added that one million barrels of crude oil from Mexico arrived in Japan, the result of an agreement confirmed at a summit in April. Given the situation in the Middle East, he said, both countries agreed to strengthen energy cooperation.