Mexico

Last updated in April 2012

Political relations

Alexander von Humboldt’s reports on his trip to Mexico back in 1803/4 heralded the start of Germany’s fascination with Mexico, undiminished to this day. Germany, too, has traditionally been held in high regard in Mexico.

Germany is viewed as a privileged partner in Europe, of whom economic, political and cultural engagement in Mexico is expected as well as close cooperation at multilateral level. Relations are being intensified in all areas based on a Joint Declaration signed by the two countries’ Foreign Ministries in April 2007.  Official visitors from Germany, especially business delegations from a number of German federal states, are given a very warm welcome in Mexico.

There are twinning arrangements between Mexico City and Berlin and between the federal states of Jalisco and Bavaria.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Mexico in May 2008. Federal President Christian Wulff paid an official visit to Mexico City and Guanajuato in May 2011. Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón has travelled to Germany several times, most recently on a state visit to Bonn and Berlin from 2 to 3 May 2010.

Mexico’s Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa makes regular trips to Germany. In September 2010, she was guest of honour at the German Ambassadors Conference.

In July 2011, Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle visited Mexico City and the southern federal state of Chiapas. In late February 2012, he attended the first G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting, which was held in Los Cabos under Mexico’s G20 Presidency.

In November 2010, a high-ranking Mexican delegation comprising members of Congress, the security forces, academia and the research community visited Germany to exchange views on combating organized crime. In October 2011, a delegation of the German Bundestag’s German-Mexican Parliamentary Friendship Group visited in Mexico.

Economic relations

Economic relations between Germany and Mexico are soundly based.

In 2010, bilateral trade was worth some USD 15 billion. There have traditionally been strong trade relations between the two countries in the chemical, pharmaceutical and electronics industries as well as in the automotive sector.

Well-established German companies see Mexico as an attractive business destination, and some of them have had a presence there for decades now. Many of them have set up major branches in Mexico and employ a total workforce of more than 120,000.

Development cooperation/Environmental cooperation

German development cooperation with Mexico focuses on thefollowing sectors: sustainable energy (renewables and energy efficiency), urban-industrial environmental management (waste management and hazardous waste disposal) and climate change.

Since 2008, German development cooperation with Mexico in the environmental sector has been closely bound up with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety’s International Climate Initiative (ICI). Major projects under the ICI are Protecting Natural Carbon Sinks in the Sierra Madre Oriental Ecological Corridor, 25,000 Solar Roofs for Mexico and the German-Mexican Climate Alliance, which is designed to help the Mexican government develop and implement its ambitious climate protection programme.

Cultural relations

The ties between Germany and Mexico in culture and education go back a long way and have figured as a key element in bilateral relations since Alexander von Humboldt’s above-mentioned historic visit to Mexico in 1803 and 1804.

Mexico is a priority country of German Foreign Culture and Education Policy and all Germany’s major cultural intermediaries are active there.

The Goethe Institute (GI) plays a prominent role in cultural cooperation. Since its foundation in 1966, the Mexico City GI has been engaged in intensive language work and has also run a high-quality modern cultural programme. In addition, there are German-Mexican cultural centres in Monterrey and San Luis Potosí.

Since 2001, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has had a branch office in Mexico City, one of 14 worldwide. The wide range of activities being conducted across Mexico’s dynamic and flourishing academic landscape are supported by four academic teachers and a number of long-term and short-term lecturers. In addition to student counselling and the awarding of scholarships, work focuses on cooperation with the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT), the alumni associations and other Mexican partners.

There are a total of 231 registered partnerships between universities in Germany and Mexico. Cooperation is given further impetus by the special Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt Chair, which was established at the Colegio de México and the National University UNAM in 1998, and by the Association of Former Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Scholarship Holders.

There are several publicly funded German binational schools in Mexico – three in Mexico City and one each in Puebla and Guadalajara. The schools in Mexico City and the one in Puebla prepare students for the German university-entrance examination (Abitur), while that in Guadalajara offers the International Baccalaureate. Together they have nearly 6,000 students.

There are also schools in Mexico City, Puebla and Cuauhtémoc that offer instruction leading to the German Language Diploma. In 2008, it also proved possible to recruit five Mexican schools across the country as Goethe Institute partner schools under the ‘Schools: Partners for the Future’ initiative.

The Cultural Foundation of German Industry was established in Mexico City in 1997. In cooperation with the Goethe Institute, the German Embassy and the German-Mexican Chamber of Industry and Commerce, it funds outstanding cultural projects with a broad impact in Mexico. In 2005, a second – smaller – Cultural Foundation of German Industry was set up in San Luis Potosí.

Relations between the two countries’ armed forces

For a number of years now, the German Federal Armed Forces have provided the Mexican Armed Forces with training under the Military Training Assistance Programme. Mexico is allocated, on request, up to four places in training courses each year. Interest has traditionally been keenest in the course General/Admiral StaffDuty Training Course with International Participation(LGAI).