The Asia Pacific region with stable economic growth and political climate is always given priority in the development strategies and international cooperation of Mexico.

Opening the Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) in Mexico’s southwestern city of Puerto Vallarta on January 13, Forum Chairman and President of the Mexican Senate Raul Cervantes Andrade highly valued the potential of the region which is having big effects on the world’s development.

Though the region faces great challenges, it has still reaped achievements in various fields, especially in gender equality and poverty reduction, reducing the number of people in poverty from 1.5 billion in 1990 to 947 million in 2008.

Mexican Economic Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal emphasised that Mexico’s enhancement of its cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries plays a key role in expanding economic and trade ties and win-win collaboration.

To this effect, the Mexican parliament executed a wide range of comprehensive reform activities focusing on education, energy, telecommunications and business.

Established in 1992, the forum aims to promote a flexible cooperation mechanism for peace, security and sustainable development in the region.-VNA