Mexico and Peru are to increase relations thanks to a bilateral trade agreement and an alliance that also includes Chile and Colombia, according to Mexico’s incoming president, Enrique Peña Nieto.
President-elect Peña Nieto was in Lima on Monday as part of a pre-inaugural visit to South America that also included stopovers in Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. He also visited Guatemala on the six-country tour.
Peña Nieto met with President Ollanta Humala on Sunday at the presidential palace, and on Monday held a meeting with members of the business association Confiep.
During his talk to business leaders, Peña Nieto highlighted Peru’s strong economic performance over the past several years, and his interest in deepening ties between Peru and Mexico after he takes office, Peruvian state news agency Andina reported.
“Peru has had sustained growth in the last few years that has been remarkable,” Peña Nieto said in Lima Monday. “And we can affirm that Peru is among the countries with one of the best performing economies.”
Within the past year, Peru and Mexico have signed a bilateral trade agreement. Bilateral trade has reached $2 billion so far this year, said Peña Nieto, who takes office at the start of December. Peru is the second most important destination for Mexican investments in Latin America, he added.
“Creating a society with more opportunity and equality happens because we are able to give an extra push to our economies, to develop spaces for opportunity and individual development for the people of Latin America,” he said.
Peña Nieto, who is expected to return to Mexico Monday, is the leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI. The PRI dominated Mexico’s national politics for much of the 20th century. Peña Nieto’s election victory returns the PRI to power after 12 years.
