Davutoglu drops a hint for a Free Trade Agreement with Mexico

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday said "Turkey and Mexico resemble each other in many aspects despite the distance" and highlighted the importance of economic relations between Turkey and Mexico which can be similar to recent effort for a Free Trade Agreement between US and EU. In a joint press conference with his Mexican counterpart Jose Antonio Meade Kuribrena in Ankara on Tuesday, Davutoglu said, "Turkey and Mexico resemble each other in many aspects despite the distance". Davutoglu highlighted the importance of economic relations between Turkey and Mexico which can be similar to recent efforts with Free Trade Agreement between US and EU. Noting that bilateral relations between Turkey and Mexico have been improving, Davutoglu said, next year "we will be celebrating 150th year of our relations with Mexico." Davutoglu said "we reviewed bilateral relations and took important decisions. Firstly, Turkey will have an historical visit on September 2-4. We will be hosting Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Turkey". Reminding the 1 billion USD  trade volume between Turkey and Mexico, Davutoglu said "Turkey ranked as the 16th biggest economy and Mexico as the 12th biggest economy in the world and acknowledged that the trade volume was not as high as expected." "Therefore, we will work on to avoid double taxation and investment incentives before Nieto's visit to Turkey," said Davutoglu. Mentioning about a joint decleration, called "Strategic Partnership in 21st Century", Davutoglu said, they would approve the declaration between Turkey and Mexico during Nieto's visit. Indicating that they discussed about direct flights between Turkey and Mexico with Turkish Airlines (THY), Davutoglu added, recently Turkey inaugurated five new embassies in Latin America. Reminding the 2012 G-20 Summit which Mexico chaired, Davutoglu said Turkey will chair G-20 Summit in 2015 "and we want to benefit from Mexico's experiences." Regarding economic relations, Kuribrena said "l believe we should work together to achieve growth". "Our trade volume is 1 billion USD, but l believe the countries like Mexico and Turkey should have extensive economic relations," said Kuribrena. Kuribrena emphasized that no Mexican president has yet paid a formal visit to Turkey but the visit of Mexican President will be the first one and "we will celebrate the 150th year of bilateral relations." "Turkey is very active and dynamic country in its region as we are in very strong and important position in our continent," Kuribrena added. Both Turkey and Mexico are seeking to establish a Free Trade Agreement before the end of 2013.