Mexico to look to Asia for trade: official

Mexico will increasingly look to the Asia Pacific region, especially China, for trade, in a bid to reduce its dependence on the United States, a senior official said Wednesday.

"Mexico has been very focused on the north (the United States) and needs to reorient itself," Armando Alvarez Reina, director general for Asia-Pacific affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said. "There is no doubt the U.S. will be our most important trade partner for many years to come. But it is healthy to have a diversified economy."

Mexico is economically closely linked to the United States. U.S. consumers are the largest market for Mexican manufacturing exports, and U.S. banks are the largest foreign owners of Mexican financial institutions.

But such close ties spelled disaster for Mexico in 2009, when a financial crisis that began in the United States turned into the strongest worldwide recession since the 1930s.

"Last year's financial crisis began in the United States, the great power of this time," Alvarez said. "The recovery began in Asia, which is the upcoming power."

Mexico does look towards Latin America, but significant economic similarities don't make the nations ideal trade partners, he said. Like Mexico, the largest Latin American economies including Argentina, Brazil and Chile are large exporters of raw materials.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) is preoccupied with the integration of less developed nations of the former Soviet bloc.

"The Asia Pacific is the world's most dynamic region," Alvarez said. "Trade with the region already exceeds that with the EU and Latin America together."

China, as the most populous country and the largest economy in the region, is in the vanguard of this change. In 2000, China was the 25th largest buyer of Mexican exports but has now moved up to fifth place.

Political ties are growing closer as well, Alvarez said. The Mexico-China Permanent Binational Commission, which meets every two years, has become a high-level platform for the two countries to discuss cooperation in various fields. The latest was held in Mexico City at the end of July with over 150 participants.

"This is the broadest relationship that Mexico has with any Asian nation," he said. "China is an observer at the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank, both thanks to Mexico's support."

Mexico and China are also considering opening a direct flight from Beijing to Mexico City run by a Chinese airline, which would be the only one from a Latin American capital to Beijing.

"The bilateral commission is not a panacea," Alvarez said. "But it does show the political will of Mexico and shows that Mexico and China recognize each other as strategic partners."

"The firm support of China was essential for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference," Alvarez said. The conference will be held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 in Cancun, a resort city on Mexico's Caribbean coast. "Without the support of China, it would be very difficult to host the meeting here.

"The world in the 21st century will not be unipolar," said Alvarez, who identified the EU and emerging countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil as key players in this century.

Source: Xinhua