ASEAN BUSINESS FORUM IN MERIDA, YUCATAN 14 NOVEMBER 2019

ASEAN BUSINESS FORUM IN MERIDA, YUCATAN

14 NOVEMBER 2019

The ASEAN Committee in Mexico City (ACMC) Working Group organized a second ASEAN Business Forum in 2019 in the City of Merida, Yucatan on 14 November 2019. Heads of Mission from Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and charge d´affaires of Thailand participated in the forum while Philippine Embassy was represented by its First Secretary. Malaysian Trade Councillor from MATRADE Office in Mexico City, Mexico and First Secretary of the Embassy also attended the forum. The participation of the Malaysian Embassy headed by the Ambassador also reflects our continued commitment towards ACMC and its activities in Mexico.

The visit to one of 32 Mexican State under the ASEAN Business Forum activity has been a biannual event of the ACMC Working Group with the objectives viz:

1. Promote greater interaction between ASEAN Missions and State officials with a view to enhance collaboration at all levels;
2. Main focus of the programme is to seek potential economic collaboration with different Mexican States;
3. As an outreach programme to enhance ASEAN awareness among the general public in Mexico with a view to strengthen and diversify the relations at different areas including cultural and tourism.

The City of Merida was chosen due to its economic and investment potential that has not been explored thus far by ASEAN countries.

For Malaysia, the visit has presented several opportunities in establishing networking and business engagement opportunities between the players in Yucatan Peninsula especially in Merida and MATRADE Office in Mexico City, Mexico. For the record, the Yucatan State Government was also in talks with the State Government of Malacca in Malaysia to establish the sisterhood relations between the Malacca and Merida as parts of expanding opportunities in historical tourism as well as bilateral trade between the two cities.

The visit has been well received by the State Government of Yucatan and business community in Merida. The visit has not only created greater awareness of ASEAN as a regional organisation in general, but also in promoting business and trade opportunities between the State of Yucatan and ASEAN countries. While no specific figures in terms of potential business could be generated during the visit, nevertheless through the country presentation and various interactions such as the B2B session, direct and indirect enquiries on doing business with Malaysia had been raised which potentially could result in real business dealings with Malaysian companies in the future.

The turn up of more than 100 participants during the ASEAN Business Forum session reflected the interest among the business community in Mexico especially in Merida to know about business opportunities with ASEAN countries including Malaysia. There was also admiration among the participants on economic achievement of ASEAN countries in maintaining growth momentum at the average of 4-6 percent annually.

As Malaysia would assume the ACMC Country Chair in the first half of 2020, the visit has also provided an ample opportunity and “case study” before Malawakil needs to organize and prepare the next ASEAN Business Forum trip, presumably in April 2020.

Prepared by:

Malawakil Mexico City

25 November 2019