MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK and Mexico sign trade agreement in Vienna

United Kingdom and Mexico signed Friday a bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) in Vienna. This agreement will offer investors, shareholders and both governments a mechanism for bilateral protection of their investments in the UK and Mexico.

"I am delighted to be signing this agreement with Mexico which will benefit both UK and Mexican investors alike. Our concern worldwide is to ensure that British investments are secured through agreements such as this and it is very encouraging that UK companies, such as HSBC, have recently decided to invest in Mexico. I hope that this agreement will encourage more bilateral investment and strengthen further the ties between our two countries", said Lord Triesman, the Foreign Officer Minister for Latin America who signed on behalf of the UK.

United Kingdom has Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements, IPPAS, in Latinamerica with Argentina, 1990; Bolivia, 1988; Peru, 1993 and Venezuela, 1995.

The Foreign Office reports that demand for IPPAs and other types of bilateral investment treaty is growing, in response to the growth in global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the need to protect it. There is evidence that bilateral FDI is more developed wherever such agreements exist.

British companies with substantial investments in Mexico include Astra Zeneca, British American Tobacco, Cadbury Schweppes, GKN, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson Mathey, Tate & Lyle and Unilever. Some major operations recorded are Mexico's Cemex bought British RMC for an enterprise value of 5.8 billion US dollars in 2005 and British HSBC bought Mexican Bital bank for a total cost of 1.9 billion US dollars in 2002.