Outcome of the Korea-Mexico Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the Sidelines of the APEC Summit

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan met with his Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa Cantellano following the 19th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting held in Honolulu, US, on November 11. The two Ministers discussed ways for their countries to work more closely in the G20 and other international mechanisms; on climate change and green growth; in various joint projects to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2012; and with regard to diverse other matters, including the resumption of negotiations for a bilateral FTA, Mexico’s participation in the 2012 Yeosu Expo, and the Korean flag carrier’s flight service to Mexico. Minister Kim requested that Mexico, the host of the G-20 Summit in 2012, play a leading role in continuing the implementation of and further developing the G-20 Development Agenda proposed by the Korean government at the Seoul Summit. In response, Minister Espinosa expressed a strong willingness to cooperate. The two Ministers appreciated close cooperation between their two countries in addressing climate change, one of the biggest current challenges facing humanity, and on green growth, and agreed to maintain such cooperation. The Environment Ministries of the two countries are seeking a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on environmental cooperation, in addition to an MOU on green-growth cooperation concluded between the Global Green Growth Institute and the Mexican Environment Ministry in September 2011. The Korea-Mexico Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held on the sidelines of the APEC Summit is seen to have served as an opportunity to solidify the strategic partnership with Mexico, a leading country in the Latin American region with abundant resources. For Korea, which recorded a trade surplus of US$6 billion in 2009 and US$7.3 billion in 2010 with Mexico, the country is its bridgehead to Latin America as well as close partner in addressing various global issues, including the financial crisis, UN reform and climate change. The two countries had forged a “strategic partnership for co-prosperity in the 21st century” during the summit in September 2005.