Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên (R) and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon meets on the sidelines of the 36th APEC Ministerial Meeting. — Photo MoIT

GYEONGJU — Việt Nam and Mexico have agreed to step up cooperation to sustain the achievements in their economic and trade relations while exploring new directions and practical solutions to address difficulties, thereby creating favourable conditions for businesses of both countries to strengthen trade and investment ties.

The consensus was reached at a meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon on the sidelines of the 36th APEC Ministerial Meeting in Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea (RoK), on Thursday.

The two sides discussed measures to promote cooperation in economy, trade, and investment, as well as coordination within regional and global frameworks such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Both ministers reaffirmed the importance of enhancing trade and investment relations between Việt Nam and Mexico, noting that bilateral trade has experienced robust growth in recent years.

Last year and the first nine months of this year, bilateral trade continued its impressive upward trajectory of over 20 per cent, with total trade turnover reaching US$6.4 billion last year (up 21.8 per cent) and $5.9 billion in the first nine months of this year (up 24.2 per cent). Mexico is currently Việt Nam’s second-largest trading partner in Latin America, while Việt Nam ranks as Mexico’s eighth-largest trading partner in Asia.

The two ministers agreed to intensify cooperation and actively review and implement the outcomes of the third meeting of the Việt Nam–Mexico Joint Committee for Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation, held in September 2021.

They also agreed to continue promoting business-to-business connectivity and facilitating participation in each other’s trade promotion events, thereby contributing to more substantive and effective bilateral trade cooperation. In particular, both sides will create favourable conditions for enterprises to capitalise on the CPTPP’s preferential mechanisms to expand trade and investment activities.

Diên proposed Mexico remove obstacles facing Vietnamese steel exporters. Ebrard agreed with the proposal, and both sides committed to facilitating information exchange to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of businesses.

They also agreed to maintain regular and timely exchanges to resolve challenges and bottlenecks in bilateral economic and trade cooperation. — VNS