Mexico Opens 1st Trade Office in Africa

laht.com


RABAT – Mexico opened a trade office on Thursday in Casablanca that is its first in Africa, saying it will serve as a bridge for trade and investment opportunities on that continent.

The director-general of trade and investment promotion agency ProMexico, Francisco Gonzalez; and Mexico’s deputy foreign secretary, Carlos de Icaza, were on hand for the ceremony, Mexican diplomatic officials told Efe.

Morocco was represented by its deputy foreign secretary, Mbarka Bouaida; and the secretary-general of the Foreign Trade Ministry, Mohammed Benayad.

Mexico will share the new office, located in Kenzi Tower, with Peru, Chile and Colombia.

Morocco was chosen because of its political stability, its sustained development and its strategic location as a bridge to Europe, Mexico’s ambassador to that North African country, Andres Ordoñez, said.

Mexico also is looking to expand its diplomatic ties with Africa and the Arab world with its plans to open embassies in Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Jordan and Kuwait in the near future.

In addition to promoting expanded trade, the Casablanca office also could help Mexican companies – particularly in construction and agroindustry – establish operations in Morocco, a low-cost gateway to Europe, Ordoñez said.

In that regard, a Mexican trade delegation representing those two sectors is currently visiting Morocco and will meet with business leaders and officials in the foreign trade and investment area.

The delegation will include representatives of four leading Mexican companies: Cemex and Tamsa (construction) and Bimbo and Gruma (food-processing), who will get a first-hand look at the opportunities Morocco offers.

U.S., Mexico Agree on Greater Access for Airlines

online.wsj.com

By 

MARIA ARMENTAL

The U.S. and Mexico have reached an aviation agreement that will expand access for passenger and cargo airlines flying between the two countries, the U.S. Department of State said Friday.

The agreement is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1.

ENLARGE

An AeroMexico jet taxis at O'Hare in Chicago earlier this year. A new agreement will increase opportunities for airlines flying between the U.S. and Mexico. GETTY IMAGES

The deal still falls short of the so-called “Open Skies” partnerships, which the U.S. has been pursuing since 1992. Under those agreements, governments have no say in commercial airline decisions on routes, capacity and pricing

The two countries have been trying to build stronger economic ties despite issues on drugs and illegal immigration. Last year, the countries formed the so-called High Level Economic Dialogue to promote economic growth. The aviation agreement, U.S. officials said, is a “key element” under that pact by easing trade and tourism.

Cargo airlines, for the first time, will have more opportunities to provide service to destinations that had not been allowed before, the State Department said.

Mexico and Galicia Sign Tourism Agreement

laht.com

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain – Mexico and the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia signed on Tuesday a cooperation agreement in the field of tourism, which will strengthen bilateral trade and cultural ties.

The accord, signed by Mexico’s Tourism minister, Claudia Ruiz Massieu Salinas, and the President of the regional Galician Government, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, is aimed at increasing the number of Mexican tourists in Galicia and promoting the image of Mexico in Spain and of Galicia in Mexico.

Ruiz Massieu stressed the “brotherly and strategic” relationship between her country and Spain and said “the level of dialogue is increasingly deep” in the tourism sector.

Nuñez Feijoo described the agreement as “a great opportunity” from an institutional and economic viewpoint to increase cooperation in what he called a “strategic” and non contaminating “white industry.”

With Tuesday’s signing, Galicia expects to attract more Mexican tourists to the pilgrimage to the shrine in Santiago de Compostela’s cathedral where the remains of St. James the Apostle lie.

In a centuries-old tradition, tens of thousands of pilgrims each year visit the saint’s tomb after traveling, usually on foot, for hundreds of kilometers on the “Camino de Santiago” (The way of St. James) to the city.

The agreement also includes educational programs for Mexican tourism students in Galicia.

The possibilities offered by rural tourism, handicrafts, wine-tasting, gastronomy and spas were also discussed by the Spanish and Mexican authorities.

The tourism accord follows a commercial alliance in the naval sector for the construction in Galicia of ships for the Mexican oil company Pemex, and efforts to improve relations in the fields of food and agriculture.

“Ties between Mexico and Galicia are very solid,” said Ruiz Massieu, because “in Mexico there is a community of Galician origin who has contributed to the development of Mexico, but also each day to a cultural, commercial and permanent investment exchange” between the two sides.

Haiti tourism signs new agreement with Mexico's FONATUR

eturbonews.com

May 18, 2014 

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Thursday in Port-au-Prince, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Industry (MTIC) and the National Fund for Tourism Development of Mexico [Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (Fonatur)], the organization responsible for planning and development of sustainable tourism projects in Mexico, signed a memorandum of understanding which follows the basic agreement signed on July 4, 2012, between the tourism authorities of the two countries. The objective of this basic agreement was to develop and strengthen cooperation in the field of tourism between the two parties through Fonatur.

 

Source: HL/ HaïtiLibre