Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg led a high-level delegation to Mexico this week in a bid to boost British presence in a country that he said has been “too small, too reticent and too modest for far too long.”
“The UK took its eye off the Latin American ball, and as a result we’ve fallen behind many of our other European competitors,” Clegg said prior to his February 3-5 visit.
Nonetheless, UK exports to Mexico have increased by over 60 percent since 2009 and the European giant is the fifth largest investor in Mexico.
Clegg reiterated his government’s target to double the UK’s market share in Mexico to 1.5 percent by 2020.
Clegg was accompanied by more than 40 UK business leaders representing global big-hitters such as banking giants HSBC, engine manufacturers Rolls Royce, commercial banknote printer De La Rue, oil and energy firm Shell and designer architects Zaha Hadid.
After finishing in Mexico, the trade delegation flew south to Colombia. “So much of new growth in the world economy will be in Latin America, in open, reforming economies such as Mexico and Colombia,” Clegg said.