BUENOS AIRES – In a state visit to Argentina, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said that Mexico and Argentina share common goals of encouraging development and economic growth.
Peña Nieto said that the governments of Mexico and Argentina, as the two biggest economies in Latin America, have the political will to strengthen their relationship. He said in a press conference alongside his Argentinian counterpart Mauricio Macri that the 17 bilateral cooperation agreements signed during the visit stem from, “a genuine and reciprocal interest between the two governments to turn a new page in the relationship.”
At the “Pink House” in Buenos Aires, Peña Nieto reiterated Mexico’s support for Group of 20 (G20) meeting that will take place in Argentina in 2018. He referred in particular to one agreement coming out of the visit, which renews and expands the Complementarity Economic Agreement (AC6), signed 29 years ago, which had not been “touched or altered” previously.
“Today we have resolved to deepen the terms of this agreement, and explore and develop new protocols within the agreement. This will allow us to have better integration and free trade between Mexico and Argentina in the future,” he said.
Other agreements were signed to promote tourism between the two countries. Peña Nieto said that in the last year the number of Argentinian tourists in Mexico increased 40 percent, to 300,000 in total.
Agreements were also signed in science, technology, social security, education, the wine industry, agro-industry and agricultural and forestry research. Macri said the two countries face common challenges including, “the protection of human rights, fighting organized crime and drug trafficking and environmental protection.”
“These are all issues that bring us together … and they are challenges that working together we will be able to confront,” he said.
