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The Rt. Hon. Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanNew Partnership on a Global Stage |
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Ministers, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is a pleasure to be here today. I want to welcome you all to this CBI Seminar on Mexico, which will be addressed later this morning by President Fox. It is just over a year since I visited Mexico with the Prime Minister and first met President Fox and his team. In that year, a partnership has developed between Britain and Mexico that reflects Mexico's increasing world importance – politically, economically and commercially. Mexico is a member of the UN Security Council and I would like to pay tribute to the important role Mexico has played in securing the SCR last week. In March this year she hosted the Financing for Development Conference. Last month she played host to the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit. Next year Mexico will host the important UN conferences on climate change and on corruption, as well, of course, as the WTO Ministerial Conference, to be held in Cancun in September. All this shows Mexico's determination to play an active role in world affairs. Time for us to shed outdated perceptions of an inward looking Mexico, preoccupied with its domestic agenda. Mexico today is experiencing profound change. The election of President Fox in 2000 was the culmination of one transition and the beginning of another. The Mexican Government is committed to building a more open, outward looking nation, and encouraging the rest of the world to consider Mexico as a partner in the broadest sense. The United Kingdom is responding to that invitation. The Prime Minister's visit to Mexico in August last year celebrated the closer links between our two countries. In addition to trade and commerce - on which I shall say more in a moment - we are engaged in valuable discussions with Mexico on human rights, environmental issues, and educational connections as well as on a range of international political issues. Mexico is a major global partner for the UK. Her clear commitment to free trade is central to this. As signatories to NAFTA and the Free Trade Agreement with the EU, Mexico can conduct tariff-free trade with the two largest trading blocs in the world. Mexico has more free trade agreements than any other nation. It is showing the way in recognising that bringing down trade barriers increases a country's wealth. As a result, Mexico is now the world's 9th largest economy and 7th largest trading nation. And she has successfully insulated herself from the problems that have afflicted other countries in Latin America. This is a powerful example to others. We, in the UK, would like to build on this by strengthening our trading links and promoting the benefits of two-way liberalisation. And together we must aim to open new markets and reduce trade barriers in other parts of the world: bilaterally, through the EU Mexico Free Trade Agreement and, multilaterally, through the World Trade Organisation: the "Doha Development Agenda". The UK is committed to working with Mexico to get some practical outcomes at Cancun to keep the work programme approved at Doha on track. We believe the figures speak for themselves. Halving trade barriers worldwide could boost developing country incomes by $150 billion a year. Three times the aid currently given to those same countries. This won't be easy. But we have to ensure that the promises made at Doha are kept. There is very little daylight between the British and Mexican positions on this. We are continuing to argue the case inside the European Union for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Prime Minister repeated that to EU leaders at the Brussels European Council last month. Europe cannot continue with the rhetoric on free markets if it maintains a system of subsidies that gives the equivalent of $2 a day to every head of cattle in Europe but leaves one thousand, two hundred million men, women and children around the world living on half that amount. Elsewhere, there is huge potential benefit in liberalizing trade in services. I know this issue is much debated in Mexico as indeed it is here. But I would say: let our experience be your guide. In the UK we have seen major benefits from the liberalization of power generation: more competition, more consumer choice and lower prices. Fostering investor confidence is the key to growth. Tackling corruption is central. I've already mentioned President Fox's hosting of the United Nations Conference on Corruption. And we hope that new negotiations aimed at getting a WTO agreement on competition and investment rules will also be launched at Cancun There will be big benefits for business. Better global governance in competition matters. A framework that would make it easier to fight anti-competitive practices worldwide. And a more predictable environment for investors. Bilateral trade has grown fast since the EU Free Trade Agreement came into force - by almost 40% to the end of 2001. Indeed Trade Partners UK has registered a three fold increase in the number British businesses visiting Mexico during the same period. And I'm pleased to see that Mexican companies have also found the UK a receptive market for their products as the tariffs have come down. Last year President Fox and the Prime Minister committed our two countries to strengthen the promotion of bilateral trade and investment. We have identified four sectors where there is a good basis for working in partnership – sectors that we can jointly promote to our mutual benefit: agri-business; automotive; ICT; and infrastructure projects. We are already seeing impressive collaboration at departmental, regional and national level in all these sectors. In agri-business we have an ambitious programme of events to bring together British and Mexican companies and ensure that Mexico benefits from the latest UK know-how and technology. We hope this will help Mexico to increase and add value to their production and improve quality and standards. In infrastructure, we are focusing on the airports, ports and water sectors. And I am delighted to see that Partnerships UK are working with the Mexican Government as it formulates and implements strategies to improve public services and get better value for money. The Department of Trade and Industry's Automotive Unit have appointed a specialist at the British Embassy in Mexico City, specifically to help UK and Mexican companies develop business relationships. He is talking to some of the large multinationals that have a presence in Mexico - such as Ford, Volkswagen and GM - and feeding back valuable information about their requirements to UK suppliers. But these are not the only sectors on which we are working. Last month around 100 UK companies attended oil and gas seminars in London and Aberdeen given by PEMEX. The Mexican speakers found that the UK could provide better than any other country much of what they needed especially in exploration, production and asset management. Travelex, who accompanied the Prime Minister and I to Mexico last year, will soon provide money transfer and remittance services targeted specifically at Mexican emigrants in the USA and Latin America. Not only is this an excellent example of a UK company identifying and following through a business opportunity but it also fulfils the Mexican Government's call for a lower cost operator of this type of service Tomorrow will see the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Healthcare between our Departments of Health covering important areas such as training and research. We are also providing a significant number of consultants in other sectors to advise on market reforms, liberalisation, and standards -all areas where we have some experience we are keen to share. As part of NAFTA, Mexico can act as a springboard to the USA. This makes it an attractive location for UK investors who think globally. This year, the UK is the third largest investor in Mexico. The most notable recent example is the purchase of BITAL, a leading Mexican bank by HSBC for over US$1 billion. With this operation, HSBC acquired their largest branch network outside the UK – a vote of confidence in the strength and potential of the Mexican economy and of its integration into the rest of North America. But it is not only UK based multinationals that have business in Mexico. We are also seeing our medium size enterprises establishing a presence there. Some of these companies are in the audience today: McCormick Tractors are setting up a greenfield assembly plant; NPL Technologies, suppliers the automotive sector, have acquired a majority share in a Mexican partner company; and Tibbet and Brittan purchased a local logistics company outright. Once the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement has been concluded with Mexico, there will be many others who want to follow suit. And as Mexico can act as a gateway into NAFTA for UK business, the UK is Mexico's bridge to the EU. We receive a higher percentage of foreign direct investment than any other country in the EU. Making us the second largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the world. So we do have a real partnership on a truly global stage. It covers the full range of government and business activity. It reflects the active international role Mexico is beginning to play, her strategic location and her economic importance. I urge UK companies to play their part too in strengthening this partnership. There are real opportunities to be had and the British and Mexican governments stand ready to help you realise them. But there is only so much that Governments can do and I urge all of you in the business community to see that those opportunities are grasped. |
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Other speeches by The Rt. Hon. Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
(the following are available from the archive) |
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