Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto is scheduled to arrive in the Kingdom this week. Mexico is the second largest Latin American economy with 120 million people. The last visit of a Mexican president to the Kingdom was 40 years ago.

“The visit is vital for the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Mexico and will take relations to a new level. We are both members of the 20 largest economies in the world,” Mexican ambassador, Arturo Trejo said on Tuesday.

He said that during the visit a number of agreements covering such areas as combating organized crime, energy, air services, tourism and education will be signed.

“We hope to have a direct flight between Riyadh and Mexico City in the near future,” the ambassador said.

Mexico’s GDP amounts to $1.3 trillion, making it Latin America’s second largest, fourth in the Americas and fourteenth in the world.

“This historic visit will be instrumental in strengthening both our economic and political relations,” he said.

He added, “We will also sign an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with the Ministry of Finance, and on norms and standards with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.”

The president will meet Saudi private sector businessmen at the Council of Saudi Chambers as well as representatives of the energy sector at the International Energy Forum on Sunday. There will be meetings with Saudi officials in finance, commerce and industry, petroleum and tourism, which will boost the potential for future cooperation between the two nations.

According to the ambassador, Saudi Arabia is the first of a series of state visits that also includes the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.

He said the highlight of the president’s visit will be a meeting with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman. Mexico and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations in 1952. The foreign policy principles of both nations have a common base in that both are motivated by international law, the proscription of force in conflict-solving, no intervention, and fostering international cooperation for development.

Many Mexican students, most of them engineers and students with science majors, are one of the largest foreign communities at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). There are also a number of Mexican scholars participating in different research programs at the university.

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