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Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with President-elect of Mexico Felipe Calderón
I was very pleased to meet with President-elect Felipe Calderón today. He is a man of strong principle, something I respect very much, and he has a realistic political and economic vision of Mexico. Mr. Calderón will lead a country that has made great strides in strengthening its democratic institutions as well as its overall economic prosperity. Mexico and Canada share a continent, but we both believe we haven't done nearly enough, and we can do much more together.
Our discussions today focused on issues that are of great significance to our two countries, for instance, how to strengthen the North American Free Trade Agreement in which we both participate along with the United States. Mexico is a key trading and investment partner in NAFTA for Canada. We discussed how we could facilitate the trade between our two countries. We discussed how we could use the Canada-Mexico partnership to enhance and expand our strategic bilateral relationship, particularly in areas such as economic competitiveness, housing, agro-business and energy. Mr. Calderón and I also discussed matters involving national and border security. Both of us recognize that secure borders will not only protect our citizens, but also make North America a safer and more economically viable continent. That's why Canada is such a strong supporter of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a trilateral agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States. At the most recent SPP meeting in Cancun, our three countries agreed to work together on five priority areas.
These are North American competitiveness, human pandemics, energy security, emergency management and smart, secure borders. I believe Mr. Calderón will continue Mr. Fox's excellent work in these areas. Canada will continue also to consult and to develop common strategies with Mexico in regards to other key hemispheric and global issues.
I'm looking forward to working with the Mexican government under Mr. Calderón's leadership. Together we will strengthen Canada and Mexico's bilateral political relationship and trade partnership, and together we will make our economies grow stronger. Thank you, and I turn now the floor over to you, Mr. President-elect. Welcome to Canada. It's wonderful to have you here. Congratulations once again on your victory. I look forward to having you back in Canada in 2007 for the annual NAFTA leaders' meeting.
