Joint Communique

Rt. Hon Jenny Shipley

Prime Minister of New Zealand

His Excellency Dr Ernesto Zedillo

President of the United States of Mexico

1. On May 14, 1999 the Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, Prime Minister of New Zealand, made an official visit to Mexico.
2. In accord with the friendly and cordial nature that has characterised relations between Mexico and New Zealand, the President of Mexico, Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, and Prime Minister Shipley reviewed the current status of bilateral relations and exchanged opinions on regional and worldwide issues of interest to both nations. They congratulated each other on the excellent level of bilateral relations and agreed to continue fostering the necessary mechanisms to consolidate and strengthen cooperation between Mexico and New Zealand.
3. In discussing themes relevant to the bilateral relationship, they agreed that both nations share an interest in strengthening their trade and exchanges in the areas of culture, education, and technical and scientific cooperation.
4. They underlined the importance of fostering bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture, livestock and forestry in which New Zealand has extensive experience that Mexico can benefit from. They noted the existence of a phytosanitary agreement to facilitate the export of Mexican products to New Zealand and encouraged ongoing efforts to broaden product coverage.
5. During this meeting, the broad extent of agreement between both countries on disarmament issues was underlined and it was agreed to continue working together in multilateral fora to support the elimination of nuclear tests and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. As Parties to the Treaties of Rarotonga and Tlatelolco, New Zealand and Mexico, respectively, again declared themselves in favour of the initiative to link the four nuclear-weapon free areas in the Southern Hemisphere.
6. Both Government Leaders agreed on the importance of efforts to develop conventions for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical or biological weapons, as well as for the banning and destruction of anti-personnel mines.
7. The Prime Minister of New Zealand repeated to President Zedillo the invitation to attend the VII APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting that will be held in Auckland on 12 and 13 September. The President of Mexico kindly accepted the invitation and thanked New Zealand for supporting that Mexico take up the Chair of APEC in 2002.
8. The Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley set out the objectives and goals that her Government has proposed as Chair of APEC. She explained these as being to seek progress towards trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation throughout the region, to strengthen the functioning of markets to assist economic recovery and enhance economic resilience and to broaden the support and understanding of APEC among its members.
9. The Prime Minister acknowledged the support that Mexico has given to APEC in pursuing these objectives. The Prime Minister and the President confirmed their support for the three pillars of APEC: trade and investment liberalisation, trade and investment facilitation and economic and technical cooperation. They confirmed their commitment to the achievement of the goal of free and open trade throughout the region by APEC´s agreed target dates: 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies. Moreover, they affirmed the critical importance of the work carried out in other APEC fora, particularly in relation to small and medium size enterprises and to trade and financial issues.
10. They assessed the situation and outlook for the international economy, the spread and recurrence of the recent financial crisis, and the urgency to find national and international mechanisms to prevent, confront and reduce its impact. They also reviewed the topics to be discussed at the VII APEC Leaders Meeting.
11. They confirmed the importance of an objective and practical response from APEC to the economic situation that affects the region, and agreed that the achievement of healthy macroeconomic policies, the implementation of structural reforms and strengthening markets will be a key element in restoring confidence and speeding recovery and sustainable growth.
12. They repeated their strong commitment to ongoing multilateral trade liberalisation through the World Trade Organisation, without obstructing their participation in specific free trade agreements with other countries and regions.
13. Within this framework, they pointed out that they share the goals of providing an attracting environment for investment, incorporating small and medium size enterprises in the export sector, and expanding and improving productive infrastructure.
14. They indicated that Mexico and New Zealand are united by the will to work with the future of both countries in mind, which will furthermore provide better conditions for collaboration and competition with the economies of the Asia-Pacific region. For that reason, they declared that they were aware of the importance of continuing to develop the work of APEC in accordance with the mandate of the Leaders Meeting in November 1998 in Kuala Lumpur: the need to respond to the social impact caused by the financial crisis affecting APEC economies; the importance of strengthening the participation of women in APEC activities; and to develop a food system for the region.
15. During their conversations, the Government Leaders outlined that, within the bilateral framework, there is broad potential to develop greater economic ties, particularly in the field of trade and investment. With that objective, they resolved to encourage greater contact between the private sectors of both countries and foster greater cooperation and exchange in different areas of mutual interest.
16. Likewise, they agreed on the desirability of giving favourable consideration to frequent consultations between both foreign ministries on political issues of regional and multilateral interest.
17. Finally, the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of New Zealand congratulated each other on the signing of the Air Transportation Agreement between the Government of the United States of Mexico and the Government of New Zealand, which will facilitate greater tourist and commercial exchanges.

Mexico City, May 14, 1999.