Mexico wants business ties with Brunei

MEXICO, one of the world's largest food producers, is keen on exploring joint ventures with Bruneian food companies to help it grab a slice of the lucrative global market for halal products.

"We see a lot of possibilities in terms of food," said Mexican Ambassador to Singapore Juan Jose Gomez Camacho who led a Mexican business delegation that met with Bruneian businessmen in the Sultanate yesterday.

"We see a potential for exporting different Mexican products, but we also think that there are some areas like halal where maybe, some joint ventures can be warranted (with Bruneian companies)." The joint ventures could involve a Brunei investor or company establishing operations in Mexico, he said in an interview with The Brunei Times.

Gomez Camacho explained that his government's interest in building economic ties with the Sultanate jibes with Mexico's aim to reap the benefits of the anticipated economic recovery in Asia.

"Mexico has a lot of food companies that are based in Asia and in this period of the global economic downturn, Asia will most likely come out on top in the global economy," he said.

"We might be able to generate enough interest and enough good reasons for Mexican businessmen to jump from Singapore to Brunei," he said, adding that the Mexican embassy in Singapore receives numerous Mexican trade missions involving investors, businessmen and local government officials. "We are very committed to work hard to bring those missions to Brunei and I think that they would love the place both in terms of opportunities and leisure."

Mexican companies have joint ventures in Asia Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan and South Korea.

Moreover, the Mexican ambassador announced an open invite for Brunei-based businesses to participate in Mexico's US$300-billion spending plan "to enhance and develop multi-faceted business clusters or infrastructure ranging from communications, housing and its planned automotive industry".

The ambassador also broached the possibility of the two countries working together on eco-tourism.

"Both countries will be able to build strong rapport through the exchange of tourists," said Gomez Camacho.

Another area of possible cooperation is the oil and gas sector.

Mexico has successfully reduced its dependency on hydrocarbons from 70 per cent to 15 per cent within the span of a few decades, said Gomez Camacho. Brunei, which has long embarked on a similar initiative, can benefit from Mexico's expertise, he said. Currently 70 per cent of Mexico's GDP is derived from its services sector, while Brunei's energy sector has been responsible for more than 90 per cent of its export receipts.

Brunei and Mexico have had existing diplomatic ties through the United Nations, but yesterday's meeting marked the first step towards a possible bilateral pact.