Peña Nieto meets Canada’s Harper

Wednesday, 19 February 2014 00:10  
BY MAURILIO SOTO
The News


MEXICO CITY – President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed bilateral issues in Mexico City on Tuesday.

High on the agenda for the leaders’ meeting was the elimination of the visa requirement for Mexicans to enter Canada.

Peña Nieto said that Harper was open to the idea, and that the two would “continue to dialogue and find the formula and mechanisms that allow for the elimination of the visa that has been imposed on Mexicans visiting Canada.”

He said that the subject was approached with the “understanding of the reasons that prompted the decision, and also being open to dialogue that allows us to overcome this issue and have a much a much more fluid transit (between the two countries).”

Peña Nieto and Harper each signed four documents yesterday, including the 2014-16 México-Canada Coordinated Plan of Action. The plan, according to Peña Nieto, defines the economic priorities of both countries to make them more competitive and sustainable.

Harper said that the plan establishes a framework that will deepen commercial relations and increase cooperation in the energy sector. He said that Peña Nieto is reforming his country and energy sector in an incredible manner, and that it is “a pleasure” for Canada to witness these “great advances.”

The two also signed the Mexican-Canadian Air Transport Agreement, the Export Development Canada (EDC) Memorandum of Understanding for Inter-institutional Cooperation, and and the Financial Support Cooperation Agreement signed between the Bank of Montreal and six Mexican financial institutions.

Harper in Mexico to Talk Energy, Trade

By Paul Vieira

wsj.com

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper walks by the Monument of the Children Heroes in Mexico City on February 17, 2014.

His first act after his government aircraft landed in the Mexican capital was to lay a wreath at a military memorial at Bosque de Chapultepec, or the city’s version of New York’s Central Park. He then regrouped with aides Monday evening ahead of bilateral with Mr. Pena Nieto, to be held Tuesday at the presidential palace in the capital city’s Centro Historico, or the old center of town.

Officially, this is Mr. Harper’s first state visit to Mexico, although he’s previously travelled to the country to participate in multilateral forums, such as the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Los Cabos in the summer of 2012. He and his Mexican counterpart held a bilateral meeting in Ottawa in November 2012, about six months after Mr. Pena Nieto won an election.

In the Americas, Mr. Pena Nieto has turned heads over his ambitious reform agenda, covering labor, education and telecommunications.

“Mr. Harper should embrace this Mexican president. He’s a true reformer, he means it, and he has congressional support to get important things done,” said John Manley, a former Canadian Cabinet minister who now heads the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. “Canada should be helping, aiding and demonstrating the depth of our commitment, and that will pay dividends down the road.”

Mexico has plans to liberalize its energy sector in order to attract foreign investment. The goal is to boost production and refining capacity. This state visit could help open the doors to Canadian oil and gas firms looking to pounce on opportunities available through Mexico’s proposed energy revamp.

“Canada offers the technology and know-how in in the energy field, and the Mexicans are interested in partnering with companies with that expertise,” said David Robillard, head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico.

According to notes distributed by Mr. Harper’s aides to reporters travelling with Mr. Harper, the Canadian leader plans to discuss global issues, such as defense and security, with Mr. Pena Nieto but also “seek ways” to boost trade, investment and tourism. The bilateral talks are taking place the day before the Canadian and Mexican leaders are joined by President Barack Obama to discuss the North American Free-Trade Agreement, or Nafta, and ways to improve the 20-year-old trade pact.

Canadian business leaders indicate one way to boost two-way investment and tourism spending by Mexicans in Canada is to remove a stringent visa requirement Ottawa imposes on Mexicans wishing to come to Canada – an issue Canada Real Time has previously explored.

A senior government official told Canada Real Time that Canada has no intention to lift the visa restriction at this time.

Lifting the restriction, which is unpopular in Mexico, would also please some business people in Canada.
“The fact we can’t figure it out tells me that the folks in Ottawa don’t think of or understand Mexico,” said Art DeFehr, chief executive of Palliser Furniture, a Winnipeg, Manitoba furniture maker with factories in Mexico.

Mexico meeting in February gives Harper chance to talk trade

theglobeandmail.com

BILL CURRY

OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Jan. 13 2014, 3:20 PM EST

Prime Minister Stephen Harper – who is looking to sign a second major trade deal before the next election – will have an opportunity to talk trade directly with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts next month when North American leaders meet in Toluca, Mexico, for a summit.

Having reached a comprehensive trade deal last year with the European Union, Mr. Harper’s trade focus now turns to the 12 member Trans Pacific Partnership – a group that includes the U.S. and Mexico.

Though the three nations are natural trade allies due to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canadian business community is hoping February’s meeting will be an opportunity for them to work more closely together in order to bring the TPP negotiations to a close.

“There should have been much closer cooperation on TPP,” said Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “There hasn’t been that sort of co-ordinated approach. I would hope that they would do that.”

The meeting was first announced Monday by the White House.

With U.S. midterm elections coming up in November, there is a limited window of opportunity for U.S. President Barack Obama to close negotiations. The President has recently focused his domestic political message on fighting income inequality and protecting middle class jobs, but union leaders in the U.S. have warned they will not support a new trade deal if it is modelled on the North American free-trade agreement. The American Federation of Labor is a vocal critic of NAFTA, arguing it has cost American jobs and reduced wages.

The U.S. wanted to conclude negotiations before the end of 2013. The TPP is a wide-ranging trade negotiation that currently involves 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

Stephen Lecce, a spokesperson for Mr. Harper, confirmed the Prime Minister’s attendance.

“Prime Minister Harper will be focused on strengthening our trade, energy and security relationship with our partners in the United States and Mexico. Our top priority remains creating jobs and driving economic growth through free trade,” he said in an email Monday.

The House of Commons will not be sitting the week of the meeting in Mexico. The Globe and Mail reported earlier this month that the Conservative government is planning to table its 2014 budget during the week of Feb. 10, though no final decisions on budget timing have yet been made.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the talks would focus on “a range of issues important to the daily lives of all of North America’s people, including economic competitiveness, entrepreneurship, trade and investment, and citizen security.”