During his state visit to Mexico, President Lee Jae-myung held a summit with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the 24th (local time) and adopted the “2026–2030 Korea-Mexico Joint Action Plan,” a document that expands bilateral cooperation from its current trade focus to strategic industries such as supply chains, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence (AI). This move has elevated the level of cooperation with Mexico, which is Korea’s largest trading and investment partner in Latin America and a key gateway to the Latin American and North American markets.

At the National Palace in Mexico City, President Lee held talks with President Sheinbaum for about two hours, including a small-group meeting and an expanded session. Notably, the joint action plan document includes provisions not only to promote regular high-level exchanges between the two countries, but also to institutionalize a regular vice-ministerial-level high-level policy dialogue between their foreign ministries. The National Security Office assessed that the two sides “strengthened institutional cooperation in the economic and trade sectors and comprehensively expanded the scope of cooperation to finance, supply chains, AI and digital, aerospace, culture, and education.”

The government is pursuing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Mexico to enhance access to the Latin American and North American markets and to reduce trade uncertainty for Korean companies. However, in consideration of Mexico’s ongoing review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) with the United States, the two sides agreed first to monitor the outcome of the USMCA discussions and, in the meantime, to establish a director-general-level joint committee under a new “Economic, Industrial and Resources Cooperation Initiative” between the two countries.

On the occasion of President Lee’s visit, negotiations to revise the bilateral “Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments” were concluded for the first time in seven years. The revised agreement is a treaty that sets out safeguards for Korean investors, with the aim of protecting and increasing Korean investment in Mexico.

Popular News