Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Micheál Martin T.D meets with Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa in Mexico City

Speaking from Mexico City during his first official visit to Latin America, Minister Michael Martin said:

“I am delighted to be here in Mexico today and to have had a most productive meeting with Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa. In our meeting we discussed a broad range of topics of bilateral interest, including bilateral trade and investment.

We discussed the increasing contacts between Mexicans and Irish, be it as tourists, students, businessmen or at the political level have deepened the warmth of Irish-Mexican relationships. The very open and friendly reception I have received today from Patricia Espinosa and her colleagues is a further example of this.

Our meeting took place in the backdrop of the global economic slowdown, which affects our export-driven economies, both of which have strong ties to the United States. I briefed Minister Espinosa on the initiatives being taken by the Irish Government to put in place a solid platform for the resumption of growth in the Irish economy. Our meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of the strength of our relationship, including our growing economic ties. Bilateral trade is now above $1bn per year, not to speak of Mexican investment in Ireland or Irish investment in Mexico, which is over $400m.

We discussed the economic transformation of Mexico and Latin America in the past decade and the opportunities for trade and investment throughout the region. I was struck by the sheer scale of the economic growth and development in Mexico in the past decade and I would certainly encourage those Irish businessmen and women who have not yet focussed on the market potential of this country to do so without further delay.

Also, Minister Espinosa and I discussed the European Union’s relationship with Mexico under the Global Agreement in force since 2000 and the new EU-Mexico “strategic partnership” agreed last year, which draws us even closer together across the whole spectrum of political, economic and social issues”.

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17th February 2009
Press Office