Since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Mexico has been working to build mutually beneficial partnerships and strong ties with these countries. We believe that the time has come to move forward and further strengthen our economic and trade relations.
During the last three years, Mexico has begun to break down the barriers that prevented the full development of its people, through a set of 13 structural reforms. Thanks to these changes, Mexico offers attractive investment opportunities in energy and other key sectors, and has the capacity to be a global trade hub.
As far as energy goes, Mexico is changing its paradigms. For the first time in decades, thanks to the Energy Reform, 30 companies from seven countries are joining the energy industry. In addition, 30 new pipelines will be added to the National Pipeline System by 2019 and more than 235 thousand square kilometres of exploration and exploitation areas will be tendered by 2019. Because Mexicans know the benefits of renewable energies, my country also passed the Energy Transition Law requiring that suppliers and users of electricity use a minimum amount of clean energy.
In terms of trade, over the last 30 years, Mexico has transformed itself to become one of the world’s most open economies. Our current network of free trade agreements (FTAs) provides us with preferential access to 52 countries with 1.3 billion potential consumers.
These commercial advantages, among many other competitive advantages, have turned the country into an attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Only in the last three years, Mexico has received the historic amount of over $90 billion in FDI, a clear sign of the world’s trust in the country.
For that reason, one of the main objectives of my state visits to the Arabian Peninsula is to strengthen the bilateral legal framework with each country, so we can continue to drive forward our commercial and investment exchanges on a solid and trustworthy legal platform. I think that the adoption of reciprocal investment protection and promotion agreements this week will be crucial to set the path for a closer collaboration among our nations.
This trip represents a milestone for our bilateral relations with each of these four countries and it is a sign of my administration’s commitment to continue strengthening Mexico’s ties with the major global economic centres. This wide range of agreements, without a doubt, will be the foundation of a long-lasting partnership.
