Sitharaman Meets Mexican Minister, Discusses Economic Ties

New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday met her Mexican counterpart Rogelio Ramirez de la O and discussed areas of mutual interest and boosting economic ties between India and Mexico.

During the meeting in Mexico City, Sitharaman congratulated Ramirez de la O for being appointed as Secretary of Finance and Public Credit for a second consecutive term, and also commended the strong performance of the Mexican economy in the last six years following prudent fiscal policies.

Sitharaman proposed a mutually beneficial partnership between India and Mexico through the Indian startup ecosystem, and emphasised that the youth is capable of coming up with innovative and effective solutions, and such an exchange of ideas can help both countries.

She also shared India's continued focus on infrastructure-related spending as well as on Ease Of Doing Business by removal of around 1,500 archaic laws and around 6,000 compliance regulations across sectors, the finance ministry said in a post on X.

The finance minister said India will be happy to share its experience with the Government of Mexico and explore collaboration based on India's digital transformation, it said.

Detailing the philosophy of the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its third term, she drew parallels between India and Mexico on provision of basic minimum to all Indians like food security, housing, electricity, cooking gas, tech-driven #FinancialInclusion, and supplementing of income to name a few.

Sitharaman also addressed the India Mexico Trade and Investment Summit in Mexico City, the finance ministry said in another post.

Addressing the Summit, she said that cooperation between India and Mexico can be potentially broad-based and multi-sectoral for a deeper and more dynamic collaboration between the two nations, with India offering tremendous opportunities for growth and investment, especially in pharma manufacturing and automotive sectors.

Emphasising India's political stability, a large skilled workforce, and growing infrastructure, she said that joint efforts can focus on strengthening resilience through diversification, especially for critical components like semiconductors, printed circuit boards and other high-tech electronics.

The Union Finance Minister said that India and Mexico partnership may encourage deeper penetration into each other's markets through investment incentives for electronics manufacturing and R&D facilities, especially in growing sectors like 5G, AI, and consumer electronics.

She underlined India's emergence as global leader in digital economy with adoption rate of 87 per cent in FinTech sector with initiatives like UPI an India Stack, and with Mexico's growing digital ecosystem, India-Mexico partnership can provide a fertile ground for cross-border collaborations and innovation in FinTech and digital payments.

The Finance Minister also invited entities in Mexico for exploring collaboration and investment opportunities in areas like banking, fund management, Global in-house capability centres, aircraft leasing, ship leasing, setting up of foreign Universities among others in GIFT-IFSC.