N Dlamini Zuma: Notes on press briefing on meeting with Mexican Foreign
Secretary P Espinosa

19 February 2009

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the media.

We are very happy to have welcomed our Colleague, the Foreign Secretary of
Mexico and the Deputy Foreign Secretary especially because it is the first time
that we have the Foreign Minister of Mexico here in South Africa and
particularly here in Cape Town although the weather is disappointing us a
bit.

We had really good discussions! First of all, we were very happy to hear
from our colleagues that Mexico has taken a very conscious decision to
co-operate and to work very closely with African countries and South Africa
committed itself to working with Mexico and assisting wherever it can in terms
of Mexico achieving that objective of working very closely with African
countries.

We also had discussions about financial crisis and the consequences thereof
and what our various countries are doing and what we are anticipating. We also,
of course, had very extensive discussions on climate change and environment and
in particular around the conference that is coming towards the end of the year,
the Copenhagen  Conference. And we are also thinking very much alike in
many areas and we also had some discussions around our co-operation as the G5
countries that tend to be invited for the outreach by the G8, but also that, as
we have taken the decision earlier, we should co-operate anyway not that when
we are faced with the meeting with the G8. So we have been discussing that even
our co-operation in the context of the G20.

So we have had a good discussion and we are going to continue off course our
discussion over lunch and we also talked about the domestic situation here. I
have had to brief Madam Secretary about our own domestic situation politically
and otherwise.  So we had very good discussions but I will allow Minister
to give more meat to the discussions.

Secretary Patricia Espinosa

Thanks very Much Minister Dlamini Zuma.  Thanks so much for your kind
much and again thank you for your very warm hospitality.

This is my first official visit to South Africa and it is also the first
visit I make as Mexico’s Foreign Secretary to a country in the African
continent. I view this as a privilege.

My presence here is the result of the commitment of President Felipe
Calderon of establishing a long-term, comprehensive relation between our
countries.

This has been a splendid opportunity to highlight the ties of friendship
that join my country with the people of South Africa.

This very month Mexico and South Africa celebrate fifteen years since the
establishment of their diplomatic relations. Fifteen years in which we have
strengthened our relations. Fifteen years of friendship and shared efforts. For
us this great country is and will remain an example of strength and vitality
and we are very proud of our growing relations.

This morning we had a very productive working meeting with Minister
Dlamini-Zuma and her delegation. We reviewed all relevant issues that concern
our countries at the bilateral, multilateral and regional levels.

We are building on the strong basis that we have developed over the past 15
years. Let me recall the presidential talks held by our Heads of State in the
framework of multilateral fora, such the one held by President Calderon and
President Motlanthe in the Economic Forum of Davos, last January.

In 2008 Mexico was honoured to receive visits from distinguished South
African officials, including the Deputy President of South Africa; the
President of the National Assembly; the Minister of Home Affairs; and the
Deputy Foreign Minister.

We wish to continue developing stronger ties between our two countries.
Mexico and South Africa share a wide agenda that we have agreed to push forward
through the Mechanism of Consultations on Issues of Mutual Interest, in which
both Ministries introduce and examine relevant international issues as well as
actions to develop the economic, trade and co-operation links. The first
meeting of this Mechanism was held in Mexico in 2007 and to further deepen our
relations, we decided to establish a Binational Commission with the signing
today of a Memorandum of Understanding.

On the economic front, we agreed to seek a better balance in our bilateral
trade. South Africa is the most important trade partner of Mexico in Africa,
but there is clearly a great potential to enhance our exchanges. In this
regard, both our governments will encourage reciprocal missions of business
delegations.

We also examined several prominent issues in the international agenda, such
as climate change. President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, has assumed a leading
role in this area by promoting an initiative to establish a World Fund on
Climate Change that we call the Green Fund. This aims to increase the available
resources for activities devoted to combat climate change so as to create
incentives for those countries willing to commit themselves further with this
cause.

We spoke about the expectations of the next G20 Summit, to be held in London
next April. In this regard, we agreed to foster communication between our
delegations. Dr Dlamini Zuma and I agreed on the importance of deepening the
participation of developing countries in those fora currently discussing and
making decisions on international financial governance. We recalled the need
for international financial institutions to have sufficient funds to support
global financial stability and mitigate the social effects of the crisis,
especially to support anti-cyclic programs in developing countries.

As you know, Mexico and South Africa maintain an ongoing dialogue in the
framework of the G8/G5 Outreach Dialogue. This morning we agreed to continue
our joint efforts to further strengthen this forum. In this regard, let me say
that in September 2008, the G5 members confirmed to mandate Mexico as
co-ordinator of the Group and as speaker before the current G8 Presidency.

I stressed to the South African delegation that Mexico’s foreign policy
strategy towards Africa seeks to build a new and much closer relation with this
region. Through a wider and more efficient diplomatic presence, the promotion
of mutual understanding, the enhancement of co-operation, trade and
investments, Mexico wishes to strengthen its links with the African
nations.

Since 2005, Mexico has been an Observer in the African Union. In 2007, we
opened an Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Last year we established Embassies
in Nigeria and in Angola. This year two new Honorary Consuls have been
appointed, one in Cape Town and the other in Mauritius.

For three years in a row, the Mexican Foreign Ministry has organised a “Week
of Africa” in Mexico, in the context of “Africa Day” in May. During the Third
Week of Africa held in Mexico City in 2008, the South African under 15 team
Orlando Pirates held friendly matches with Mexican teams, leaving many fans
among the young Mexicans who had the opportunity to see them play. Considering
the excellent support of South Africa to this event, I seized the occasion to
renew the invitation to have a substantial South African participation again
this coming May.

Our meeting closed, as you know, with the subscription of:

* The Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Bi-National Commission
which I already mentioned, and
* The Agreement to Avoid Double Taxation and to Prevent Fiscal Evasion.

I am certain that these agreements will enhance the links between Mexico and
South Africa and will help us broaden our relations of friendship and
co-operation with the African continent as a whole.

Thank you very much.

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
19 February 2009