Senator Manuel Cota Jimenez, president of the Committee on Agriculture and Livestock, received a delegation of German members of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, which was headed by Deputy Alois Gerig.
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Senator Manuel Cota Jimenez was telling them that Mexico was a gateway to a potential market of more than one billion consumers, and that the country wanted to improve its foreign trade of bananas, meat, sugar, agave syrup, canned tuna, orange juice, honey, alcohol, ethyl, asparagus, flowers and lemon, among other products.
"Mexico's strategy is and should be to seek the maximum degree of openness, in order to increase our exports. That's why we reiterate our interest to advance the negotiations with Europe and especially with Germany, to open our market and achieve positioning our agricultural and livestock products, as that will result in more income and employment for the whole rural sector."
Germany is the largest trading partner Mexico has in the European Union. The European Union is Mexico's third largest trading partner and its second largest source of foreign direct investment.
Just last year, trade between them amounted to 57,353 million dollars.
The Mexican products that have positioned themselves in the European market are mainly coffee, beer, tequila, honey, orange juice, shellfish, tuna steaks, chickpeas, lemon, and avocado, among others.
"Our country has made progress in the productivity and competitiveness of various export products, such as beef and sugar, so we will seek to further open the European market," he added.
The economic relationship between Mexico and Germany is dynamic in the food sector.
Flour, semolina, beans, and potatoes Pellet worth 2.6 million dollars account for 88 percent of the purchases Mexico made from the European Union in 2014.
Alois Gerig, head of the German delegation said the free trade agreement between Mexico and the European Union would be strengthened and modernized soon. He recognized the significant role played by the Mexican agricultural sector, from which they purchased products like honey, citrus, tequila, starch, and coffee.
The goal of trading with Mexico, he said, is that everyone involved in it wins. The German MPs expressed their interest in exchanging knowledge regarding small-scale agriculture and bringing new ways of producing food to Mexico. Such an exchange could take place in the formation and operation of cooperatives and machinery.
"It is important that Mexico increasingly supports small farmers more and more. This is important. We also have support systems for structural change in Germany. That way small producers have opportunities to remain economically viable," they stated.
The meeting was attended by senators and deputies of various commissions, Julio Cordoba, representative of Sagarpa; Rodrigo Moreno Gonzalez, from COPARMEX; Jorge Gage, head of the CNC Business Unit, and the presidents of several industries. ■