Weekly Report - 1 June 2004

TRADE & INTEGRATION | Mexico to join Mercosur. Perhaps the most important development on the sidelines of the EU-Latin American summit last week in Guadalajara was the Mexican decision to begin negotiations to join Mercosur as an associate member. The formal announcement, together with the timetable for the talks, will be made at Mercosur's forthcoming assembly, to be held in Buenos Aires on 8 July.
Mexican presidential spokesman Agust ¡n Gutiérrez Canet said, `The idea is to propel a process of regional integration, not just of an exchange of doos and services. He added that Mexico had not yet decided whether it will later seek to become a full member of Mercosur, which would entail adopting the bloc's common external tariff. Chile, one of the two existing associate mambers, has so far not taken this step because its own tariffs are lower than Mercosur's.
About 40% of Mexico's investments in Latin America has gone to member-countries of Mercosur.

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