Parliament of Australia Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico and Peru

Parliament of Australia Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico and Peru 22 September to 1 October 2018 Commonwealth of Australia 2018 ISBN 978-1-76010-839-7 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/. Members of the Delegation Leader of the Delegation Mrs Nola Marino MP Chief Government Whip and Member for Forrest Liberal Party of Australia Deputy Leader of the Delegation Senator Kimberley Kitching Senator for Victoria Australian Labor Party Senator David Leyonhjelm Senator for New South Wales Liberal Democratic Party The Hon Dr John McVeigh MP Member for Groom Liberal Party of Australia Official Mr Stephen Palethorpe Delegation Secretary Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico and Peru Background Manuel López Obrador, and members of the Mexican Congress. From 22 September to 1 October 2018 The Australia-Mexico relationship the parliamentary delegation travelled to Mexico and Peru to meet with a Australia has a strong and growing number of parliamentarians, senior trade and investment relationship with government officials and business Mexico. In 2017 two-way trade in leaders on the topic of free-trade and goods and services was valued at over global trade agreements. A$ 3.3 billion. Australian investment in Mexico is growing rapidly, increasing The objective of the delegation was to from A$ 200 million in 2010 to around provide a better understanding of the A$ 4.5 billion today. In 2017, Australia benefits of global free-trade within a was the sixth-largest foreign investor in rules-based order and why free-trade is Mexico. now being embraced by an emerging Latin America. There are significant opportunities to grow Australia’s economic relationship The delegation was comprised of the with Mexico. Mexico is seeking to following members: diversify its trade base, including in the Delegation Leader, Mrs Nola Asia-Pacific region. There is real Marino MP, Member for potential for Australia to act as a Forrest; gateway for Mexico into Asia and Deputy Leader, Senator conversely for Mexico to be a gateway Kimberley Kitching, Senator for Australia into the Americas. for Victoria; The delegation's visit took place in an Senator David Leyonhjelm, atmosphere of cooperation engendered Senator for New South Wales; by the recent visit of the Minister for and Agriculture and Water Resources, the Hon David Littleproud MP, on 19– The Hon Dr John McVeigh 20 July 2018 and subsequently the visit MP, Member for Groom. by then-Minister for Trade, Tourism The delegation was supported by and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo Mr Stephen Palethorpe (Delegation MP on 22–23 July 2018 to attend the Secretary). Pacific Alliance Summit in Puerto Vallarta. Delegation to Mexico Trade and economic cooperation The parliamentary delegation visited Mexico City from 22 to 26 September Both Mexico and Australia are strong (program at Appendix 1). The supporters of an international rules- delegation's visit was highly significant based trading framework. Both as it was the first by a foreign countries are also strong supporters of parliament since the Mexican elections multilateral trading partnerships. held on 1 July 2018 which elected a A prime example is both countries' new President, His Excellency Andrés commitment to the Comprehensive and 1 Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico and Peru Progressive Agreement for Trans- links and recent developments in Pacific Partnership (TPP-11). Mexico Mexico's government and parliament. notified signatories that it had ratified These topics were recurrent themes the TPP-11 agreement on throughout the visit. 28 June 2018, the first country to do so, The delegation's first official while on 17 October 2018 the roundtable was with several Mexican Australian Parliament passed trade experts and analysts: legislation making Australia the sixth nation to officially ratify. Ms Beatriz Leycegui, a partner at Comercio Internacional, Another major free-trade agreement Inversion Extranjera y Politicas (FTA) of importance to the two Publicas; countries is the Pacific Alliance (a trading bloc which includes Mexico, Ms Luz María de la Mora, the Peru, Colombia and Chile). Australia is designate Vice Minister for currently negotiating to become an International Trade in the new Associate State of the Pacific Alliance, Mexican administration; and which would enable Australian Ms Delia Paredes, Executive businesses to access the opportunities Director, Economic Analysis at presented by the growing Latin Grupo Banorte. American market. This roundtable involved a free- These multilateral FTAs will lead to flowing discussion on challenges and significant new opportunities for opportunities for Australia-Mexico cooperation in trade, services and trade relations as well as the trading investment especially around dynamics across the broader Asia- agriculture, education, water security Pacific region. Topics discussed and tourism. included: Briefings the likely stance of the The delegation's Mexican work President-elect and his program consisted primarily of a series government on free-trade of high-level roundtable meetings with arrangements; key members of Mexico's parliament, the distribution of the benefits government administration, and of free-trade and broader business community. structural reforms required The delegation's work program across the Mexican economy; commenced in Mexico City with a Mexico-US trade relations and comprehensive briefing from the their impact on Mexico's Australian Ambassador to Mexico, broader global outlook; Dr David Engel on the preeminent issues of the day. These included the Australia's reliance on export strength of Australia-Mexico bilateral markets in the Asian region; relations, economic cooperation and and trade, the depth of people-to-people 2 Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico and Peru Australia's comparative trade Mexico's manufacturing driven advantage through the export economy which is reliant on of niche products and services inputs from other countries. rather than high trade volumes, This feature creates for example in agriculture opportunities for Australian where Australia relies on its agriculture, education and clean-green image and not on mining companies to provide output volumes. technologies and services to Mexico; the likelihood of Australia ratifying the TPP-11 and importance of Australia becoming part of the Pacific Alliance; the recent appointment of an Education Counsellor to the Australian Embassy in Mexico From left: Mr Stephen Palethorpe, City, which will drive greater Ms Estelle Parker, Senator David Leyonhjelm, educational exchanges between Ms Beatrice Leycegui, Mrs Nola Marino MP, Mexico and Australia, and the Ms Delia Paredes, Mr Nick Baker, Senator Kimberley Kitching, Ms Luz Maria de la pending appointment of an Mora, Ambassador David Engel and Agriculture Counsellor, which the Hon Dr John McVeigh MP will improve agriculture and The delegation then met with senior AgTech trade, particularly representatives of Mexico’s Ministry of under TPP-11; and Trade including: the importance of Australia Ambassador Fernando de becoming part of the Pacific Mateo, Director General for the Alliance as an Associate State Evaluation of Economic member. Projects at the Ministry of Trade; and Mr Alberto Guadarrama, the Director for APEC, Asia and Oceania at the Ministry of Trade. The emphasis of this meeting was on the importance of the ongoing strength of the Australia-Mexico partnership and the close ties the countries enjoy. From left: Ms Estelle Parker, Highlights included discussion of: Mr Stephen Palethorpe, Senator David Leyonhjelm, Mrs Nola Marino MP, Ambassador David Engel, Senator Kimberley Kitching and the Hon Dr John McVeigh MP 3 Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico and Peru The delegation also had the opportunity to meet with senior representatives of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Ambassador Alfonso de Maria y Campos, Director General for Asia Pacific; Ms Patricia Von Wartenger Salgado, First Secretary, Joint Director General for Regional Mechanisms and Organisms of From left: Mrs Nola Marino MP, Latin America; Ambassador David Engel, the Hon Dr John McVeigh MP and Ms Estelle Parker Ms Atzimba Luna Becerril, The delegation's first day of meetings Deputy Director General for concluded with a security briefing from China, Japan and Southeast the Australian Federal Police on its Asia; work to counter the trafficking of drugs Ms Gabriela Ruiz Dieguez, and precursor chemicals that make their Subdirector for Regional way to Australia through Mexico, and Mechanisms and Organisms of an official reception with Australian Latin America; and and Mexican business leaders and government officials at the Official Ms Maria Fernando Selbach, Residence. Desk Officer, Asia Pacific. The discussion concentrated on the status of Pacific Alliance Associate State FTA negotiations and ratification of TPP-11. Attendees noted that expectations were high that TPP-11 would be ratified, and Pacific Alliance Associate State FTA negotiations concluded, by the end of 2018. There were also discussions regarding challenges faced by Mexicans in From left: Ms Estelle Parker, Mr Jeffrey Kokels, Australia’s visa application process and Deputy Superintendent Conrad Jensen, the Hon Dr John McVeigh MP, the desirability of direct flights between Senator David Leyonhjelm, Australia and Mexico to facilitate more

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