 Today on the our ambassador series we're here with Tim George Australia's ambassador to Mexico. Welcome Tim. Thanks for your time Well, thanks very much Bruce. It's a real pleasure to be here Perhaps you can start today Tim by telling us why is Mexico important to Australia? Yeah, Mexico. I think is a country which is very much on an upwards trajectory It's a country that's overall doing very well in the world You know, it's already an emerging economy of some size maybe 14th in the world But clearly it'll be in the top 10 within a few years and if its economic reforms are implemented It could well go much higher than that So it's a very important country globally both in terms of its economic weight, but also its political weight It's got a long tradition of being a very responsible and active player internationally And it's a country with which we need to engage very closely In addition to that We have quite significant bilateral interest there and I think there's a lot of potential to in areas like trade investment and education Things where we can really develop that relationship Third thing I'd mention is that Mexico currently is undergoing a very significant reform program There are a number of well-known challenges internally in the country, but the the new government of President Peña Nieto Has the backing of other parties to implement a very substantial number of reforms in areas like You know like the labor markets education Telecommunications financial reforms and and in some other areas as well including security So it's at a good point as I say it's a country very much going up in the world And it makes sense for us to be closely engaged with it So is Mexico a significant trade and investment partner for Australia? It's a It's not at the very top of our trade investment relations But it's grown a lot in recent years, and I think there's enormous potential for it to grow even even further It's it's our largest trading partner in Latin America with two-way trade around the three million dollar mark Investment there Australian investment has increased about 14-fold in the last five years And so we have a number of significant Australian companies and players there in Mexico like Macquarie, Lendlis Boral and some others and It's an area where we see a lot of potential in areas where Australia has strong expertise such as mining education water management infrastructure and so on The other thing I should say about some trade and investment potential is that While Australia currently does not have a free trade agreement with Mexico We are in the same group of negotiations under the Trans-Pacific Partnership as Mexico and when that is concluded that will Make it a more level playing field for Australian exporters to Mexico and will create many more opportunities in a whole range of sectors So overall, I'd say the outlook is very bright. You mentioned education. How is the education relationship? The education relationship is something Which has grown quite a bit in recent years, but again, I think there's a lot more that can be done in this area Currently there are about 1500 Mexican students studying at various universities and other institutions in Australia That's a lot more than a few years ago, and I'm very impressed By the fact that as I travel around Mexico, I'm meeting a lot of people now have either studied in Mexico in Australia or have You know kids and other family members who have as well. So that's that's becoming a very very good bond. I think too that's While they're already some quite good institutional links between universities in the two countries and some other institutions We could do more there as well. There's some very fine education institutions in Mexico and those links would make good sense And thirdly, I think that in certain niche areas where Australia has particular expertise I think we would be able to deliver more by way of training in Mexico in areas such as Sustainability and mining water management and so on and that's something that Australia is looking at very closely and we're supporting those efforts. So you've touched there on the many positives in the relationship What would you say is the main challenge in the bilateral relationship? It's a relationship that's Very good. It's a relationship with our problems But I think there is one major challenge and that is Just to up the levels of mutual knowledge and understanding of each other I think for reasons of history and geographic distance Mexico for example is not well known by a number of Australians Some in the business community some in the broader community and the same applies in the other direction There of course the at the government level and of those Australians who've done business or traveled to Mexico The knowledge is good. No problem there, but I think there are many others who Would probably be quite surprised and interested to learn more about Mexico and if you look at the economic side, for example the fact that Mexico is such a substantial exporter of Industrial goods and you know manufactured products and so on. I mean since Mexico joined NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement 20 years ago. Just have a look at its trade with the US for example It's it's 1.5 billion dollars not per year, but per day. So it's it's a huge trade Mexico is now the fourth largest exporter of cars in the world. It's the largest exporter of flat-screen TVs a Very large percentage of things like refrigerators and so on sold in the United States made in Mexico So I think these are things which Australians need to know and understand and see where in that supply chain we can play a role. I think other facts such as 23 million people a year visit Mexico as tourists. This is probably not well known in Australia as well and From the other end Mexicans I think have a positive view of Australia But not necessarily the sort of the detailed knowledge and understanding of our size our role in the world and in the Asia Pacific and all of our strengths and capabilities And so in what areas do Australia and Mexico cooperate internationally? Well, we quite a large range of areas and in some respects we are natural partners Given Mexico's size where it's heading globally and there are various responsible role. It is played in a range of areas one organization I'd particularly highlight is the G20 where Both, you know, Mexico and Australia share very common interests We work very closely together and we have a strong stake in the in the success of that very important organization Now last year Mexico was the president of the G20 and hosted the series of meetings For that 12 months Australia, of course will be the the host country next year the presidents And so we are working very closely still in the Troika the three countries That are relevant at the present time. So it's Mexico Russia the current host and Australia but beyond that we will continue to work very closely in this important organization the The range of other organizations, of course the United Nations and UN Security Council issues as well where we keep in close contact, but I would also mention Some bodies which are relevant to the Asia Pacific region was Pacific You know Mexico is a is a country with a long Pacific coast It's had quite a long engagement in organizations like APEC for example and currently in the trade sphere And we we share some very common interests in the trade policy and open trade with Mexico We're very like-minded on a lot of those issues We're part of the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations Mexico is an important member of the four-country Pacific Alliance, which is something that's going ahead at great at a great rate Australia is an observer to that organization and so on And we see under President Peña Nieto that the Mexican government is Wishing to become even more closely engaged with the Asia Pacific region We've just we've seen a successful visit to Mexico just two weeks ago by the president of China for example So I think that the Asia Pacific and those issues is another area where Australia and Mexico can share Experiences and engage very closely Now add to some of those to those areas Issues like disarmament and arms control environment The fight against transnational crime and so on these are all areas where Australia has cooperated closely work closely with Mexico and will continue to do so And for all those Australians who are visiting Mexico as tourists, what advice would you have for them? Well firstly the As I mentioned the the number of Australian visitors to Mexico has grown very substantially each year in the last five years or more And Australians have a fantastic time when they do visit Mexico I think it's important for all travelers to of course read the the DFAT travel advice carefully And there there's quite a bit of detailed information about what to do and what not to do including places which Maybe high risk and others and but how to conduct yourself generally I think it's all there And secondly I would very much encourage all Australian travels to travelers to register on On the DFAT website, which means we can contact them very quickly if need be but They have a great time when they visit Mexico And how's the Spanish coming along? I'm happy to say that Spanish has spoken in in Mexico is a relatively clear form of it and it's So yes, it's it's been great to be able to use my Spanish again in Mexico and It is important to be able to work in Spanish in that country, but It's got a tremendous richness too in literature and history and that's all an important part of it So anything you'd like to say in closing to our our Mexican friends then? I would like to say to all my Mexican friends that for me it's a great honor and pleasure to be the ambassador of Australia in your country Thanks, Tim. Thanks for your time That was Tim George Australia's ambassador to Mexico