Mexican president calls for more Qatari investments in Mexico

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto urged Qatari businessmen and companies on Thursday, during the Business Forum MexicoQatar, to inject more investments in his country for its “growth development potentials and high reliability” as well as being the second biggest economy in Latin America after Brazil.

Peña Nieto, who is the first Mexican president to visit the Arab country, urged local businessmen to participate in infrastructure projects in Mexico, especially in sectors open to private investments, such as telecommunications and energy.

The Mexican president, who concluded his Persian Gulf visit on Thursday in Doha, made this call in the forum which included 30 Mexican firms and 157 Qatari companies.

Mexico’s Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell explained during the forum that his country will need a $14 billion investment to extend a 10,000 kilometer (around 6,200 miles) national gas pipeline network.

He added that Mexico will also need to inject $116 billion, mostly from private capital to modernize electricity networks in the country.

The president highlighted to the Qatari investors the ideal geographical area of Mexico, its economic stability and sound financial system, as well as the average levels of growth over the past five years, which have reached 3.3 percent.

The president of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Jassim AlThani, stressed that Peña Nieto’s visit represents an encouragement to boost relations between the two countries.

The governments of both countries are scheduled to sign 12 agreements on Thursday in different sectors after the meeting between the Mexican president and the Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

In 2014, bilateral trade between Mexico and Qatar stood at $284 million, an official from the Mexican delegation told EFE.