MEXICO AND COSTA RICA INSTALL A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL

The installation and first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council, established under the Mexico-Costa Rica Strategic Partnership Agreement and which came into force on August 21, 2011, took place today in San José, Costa Rica. The meeting was co-chaired by Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa and Costa Rican Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo Barrantes.

Prior to the Council meeting, both officials held a private meeting to extensively review the main bilateral and regional topics. They also agreed on the excellence of the bilateral relationship and on the fact that they have similar views of the major multilateral issues.

During the Council meeting, the two officials heard the reports of the Political Affairs and Cooperation Committees that had met the previous day, as well as a report by the Commerce Committee. They stressed that the results of this first Council meeting are illustrative of the big steps that have been taken to strengthen the strategic partnership.

During the meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, it was agreed to review the work of the Committee for Bilateral Cooperation against Drug Trafficking and Drug Addiction. The hard work being done in Mexico and Central America, especially in the joint fight against the transnational organized criminal groups that operate between the two countries was stressed, as was their commitment to remain actively involved in the Central American Security Strategy (ESCA) .

Costa Rica praised the steps taken by President Felipe Calderon’s administration to combat drug trafficking and organized crime and to mitigate their effects, and gave its support to President Calderon’s proposal at the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly for a thorough debate of the achievements and limitations of the current policy being used to tackle the drug problem.

At the regional and multilateral levels, the two sides stressed the importance of continuing to strengthen the integration process in Latin America and the Caribbean. They agreed to continue working together within the Tuxtla Dialogue to consolidate the progress that has been made over its more than two decades of its existence. They also agreed to strengthen the various areas of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, both their preventive aspects as well as giving support for democratic consolidation and for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

They discussed their full agreement on human rights, in particular on the need to continue participating actively in the search for a stronger inter-American human rights system. They also welcomed the mutual support that both countries have pledged for their candidates to the Human Rights Council, Mexico for the 2014-2016 period and Costa Rica for the 2015 to 2017 period.

The Mexican delegation expressed its satisfaction with the entry of Costa Rica as an Observer State in the Pacific Alliance, which is made up of Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and hoped that Costa Rica would become a full member.

Regarding the Cooperation Committee, both delegations praised the work that it has done. One year after beginning the Technical and Scientific Cooperation Program, a high degree of progress has been made, which reflects the high priority both countries give to cooperation. They also highlighted the results of the mid-term evaluation meeting of the 2011-2013 Educational and Cultural Cooperation Program, which has helped to achieve an excellent cultural relationship.

The report of the Trade Committee notes that significant progress has been made by the two countries’ trade relationship. Since the FTA, bilateral trade has grown 2,885.4% (20% annually), from 122.2 million dollars in 1994 to 3.65 billion dollars in 2011, a historic high. By the end of 2011, Costa Rica had established itself as Mexico’s most important trading partner in Central America. Trade with Costa Rica accounted for 38.8% of Mexico's total trade with the countries of that region.

The Mexican delegation expressed its hope that the Costa Rica Legislative Assembly would soon ratify the single FTA between Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, which will help standardize trade measures and increase trade between the signatory countries.