On behalf of Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray, the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Carlos de Icaza, took part in the 8th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) in Busan, Republic of Korea on August 30-31.
Ambassador de Icaza’s attendance of the 8th FEALAC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting shows Mexico’s interest in further strengthening cooperation and integration with the 35 countries in both Latin America and the Caribbean and in the Asia-Pacific region that, together with Mexico, belong to the forum.
Undersecretary De Icaza acknowledged the leadership of the Republic of Korea and Guatemala, the FEALAC Regional Coordinators, and confirmed Mexico’s support for the new FEALAC Plan of Action, a highlight of which is the creation of a Cooperation Fund.
FEALAC is a biregional cooperation forum with 36 Latin American and Asia-Pacific members representing 40% of the world’s population, 35% of GDP and 33% of global trade.
While in Korea, the undersecretary also met with Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and the Chair of the Mexico-Korea National Assembly Friendship Group, Kim Sang-hee, and several members of that group.
He also held a brief meeting with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, Battsetseg Batmunkh, who asked for Mexico’s help with preserving his country’s cultural and artistic heritage.
With regard to business matters, the undersecretary met with Mr. Dong-wook Kim, Vice President for International Affairs of the Hyundai Motor Group to discuss Korean investments in Mexico, particularly in the automotive sector.
Mexico and South Korea have a Strategic Partnership that is expressed through an intense political dialogue and with wide areas of agreement in international forums and organizations, such as the United Nations, G20, MIKTA and FEALAC.
Mexico is South Korea’s main export market in Latin America and one of the 10 most important destinations for Korean exports. Korea is Mexico’s 6th largest trading partner in the world and ranks 3rd in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also the 2nd largest Asia-Pacific investor in Mexico and ranks 13th in the world, with cumulative investments (1999-June 2017) of more than five billion dollars.