In the multilateral sphere, both countries maintain a close and solid relationship and coincide in various international forums, such as the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the G20, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), the MIKTA group (made up of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia), among others. Mexico and Australia share topics of interest on the multilateral agenda, in particular, climate change, disarmament, human rights, trade liberalization, combating transnational organized crime and terrorism, nuclear non-proliferation, and they work together in the aforementioned forums. On international security issues, they are partners in groups such as Wassenaar (conventional weapons), the Australia Group (chemical and biological) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

In the framework of the MIKTA initiative, in which Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia participate, the foreign ministers or their representatives have met annually in the context of the different international forums to coordinate joint positions. Thus, their representatives have met on different occasions, the last being the 18th Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the MIKTA member countries that took place by videoconference, at the beginning of February 2021. A meeting in which the countries proposed themselves as part of their agenda to review MIKTA activities during Korean coordination, identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration, and hand over coordination to Australia for the next 12 months.

The five countries agreed that MIKTA has increased its visibility in multilateral forums and agreed to take advantage of this momentum to continue promoting cooperation during 2021, when Australia is responsible for coordinating the group. In this sense, the topics on which they will focus their attention and efforts have to do with: Covid-19 health, economic and environmental aspects related to response and recovery; vaccine distribution; strengthening of the international health architecture and preparation for future pandemics; gender equality and climate change. Through this mechanism, the member countries maintain coordination between their permanent missions to international organizations, as well as between their embassies and the private sector, civil society and academia of each country, promoting these priorities with initiatives and actors at the local level.

Parliamentary relationship

There is a friendly and cordial relationship between the parliamentarians of both nations, which has gained tremendous momentum and contributed significantly to strengthening the ties both at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

Mexico and Australia have been dialogue partners in various parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Conference on Environment and Development (APPCED) and the World Parliamentary Forum (WPF).

Bilaterally, the most critical meetings include: in May 2007 and 2009, delegations from the Australian Parliament's Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Committee visited Mexico. Likewise, in June 2007 and 2008, Senators and Deputies from the Mexican Congress visited Australia.

In January 2014, an Australian parliamentary delegation participated in the 22nd Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. In September 2014, Australia hosted the First Australia-Latin America Parliamentary Dialogue, attended by Senators Teófilo Torres Corzo, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations - Asia Pacific, and Manuel Cavazos Lerma, a Committee's member.

In 2015, Senator Gabriela Cuevas visited Australia to participate in the 2nd Australia-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Parliamentary Meeting. In that same year, the Australian Senate approved a study that analysed Mexico's bilateral relationship with Australia, proposing mechanisms to strengthen the relationship in its different areas. About 40 governmental, academic and private institutions participated. The Mexican Embassy participated with a document on the bilateral relationship. The study concluded with 13 recommendations, several of which have been endorsed by the Australian government. Amongst them includes the possibility of establishing direct air connectivity, work to achieve mutual recognition of studies and facilitate visa processing (Australia’s relationship with Mexico).

In 2016 and under the auspices of MIKTA, Senator Ana Gabriela Guevara and Deputy Alejandra Reynoso visited Australia to participate in the 2nd Meeting of Presidents of Legislative Chambers of MIKTA (informe).

In June 2017, Senator Marcela Torres, invited by the Australian Foreign Ministry, travelled to Australia. In the same year, Senator Gabriela Cuevas was elected to chair the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) with the support of Australia.

In September 2018, four Australian parliamentarians headed by Nola Marino, coordinator of the ruling party in the lower house, visited Mexico and met with the Senate's President, Martí Batres, and other congress members.

In January 2020, a delegation of Mexican parliamentarians attended the 28th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) held in Canberra. They had a bilateral meeting with the members of the Australia-Mexico friendship group of the Australian parliament.

Commercial relationship

Since 2018, Mexico consolidated its position as Australia's largest trading partner in Latin America. In 2022, Mexico not only accounted for more than 40% of all Australian trade to Latin America, but Australia imported more from Mexico than all of Latin America combined. This situation clearly reflects the enormous growth potential that exists between the two countries.

The average growth of bilateral trade was 9% in the last 10 years. It is important to highlight that Mexico and Australia are complementary as they share an important position in their respective regions and coincide as Pacific nations. Both are members of the G20, the OECD, TIPAT/CPTPP and in the near future Australia will join the Pacific Alliance as an associate member.

By 2022, total trade between the two countries was $1.948 billion U.S. dollars. this relationship continues to be in surplus for Mexico, with exports amounting to $1.235 billion U.S. dollars. In 2022, Mexico imported $713 million US dollars from Australia, making it Mexico's 37th largest trading partner worldwide and the 11th largest among Asia-Pacific countries. The surplus for Mexico was US$522 million. For Australia, Mexico is its 47th export destination, while it ranks 22nd as an import country of origin.

In 2022, from an Australian perspective, the main export products from Mexico to Australia were passenger vehicles, machines and data processing units, cell phones, minerals and concentrates, auto parts, medical instruments and alcoholic beverages. More details can be found here on the TradeMap page.

Evolution of bilateral trade

	1999	2009	2019	2020	2021	2022
MILLION U.S. DOLLARS
Imports	$ 273.7	$ 787.7	$ 351.3	$ 268.0	$ 388.8	$ 713.0
Exports	$ 122.0	$ 515.0	$ 1,006.0	$ 1,000.0	$ 1,053.9	$ 1,235.2
Bilateral Trade	$ 395.7	$ 1,302.7	$ 1,358.0	$ 1,268.1	$ 1,442.8	$ 1,948.2

In this context, and taking into account the strengths and needs of both countries, there are sectoral opportunities with export potential for Mexican companies. Particularly noteworthy are: digital processing units for automatic machines for data treatment or processing; automatic machines for digital data treatment or processing; refrigerator-freezer combinations with separate exterior doors; parts of air conditioning machines and apparatus; gas filtering or purifying apparatus; medical, surgical or veterinary instruments and apparatus; and auto parts and tractors.

In 2022, tequila consumption has increased rapidly, placing Australia as the third largest consumer of Tequila in the world. In 2022, according to the Tequila Regulatory Council, the trade of this beverage amounted to $1,452,882.73 US dollars. Other Mexican distillates, such as mezcal, have been very well accepted as niche products in the Australian market, so there are opportunities for exporters in this sector with high quality products.

Similarly, in the agri-food sector, there are opportunities for some fresh and processed products. Among fresh products, Mexico already exports garlic, asparagus, table grapes, Ataulfo mangoes and dates to the Australian market and is awaiting the protocol that will allow the export of Mexican Persian limes. Other products on the priority list are avocados, pork and mangoes from fruit fly-free zones.

Australian investment in Mexico

According to data from the Ministry of Economy, between January 1999 and December 2022, Mexico has received a total of $4,673 million U.S. dollars in cumulative Australian direct investment.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Australia is the 15th country with the largest investment in Mexico and the 3rd among Asia Pacific countries, only after Japan and Korea.

In December 2016, the Australian company BHP won a bid to jointly exploit with PEMEX the Trion field in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico with a 60% participation as operator of the project. According to estimates by the Mexican Ministry of Energy, it was projected that there would be an investment of up to US$11 billion over the life of the contract planned for 50 years.

In June 2022, Woodside Energy, Australia's largest oil and gas producer, merged with BHP Petroleum. After the merger with BHP Petroleum, Woodside announced that it would continue the agreement with PEMEX for the development of the Trion field.

Bilateral cooperation

In the field of scientific and technical cooperation, both countries are complementary and face common challenges. In this sense, an important legal infrastructure has been built that serves as a platform for deepening educational links and technical and scientific cooperation. In this regard, the Basic Agreement for Scientific and Technical Cooperation (1981) and the Memorandum of Understanding between the SEP and the Australian Department of Education (2008) give legal support to the relationship in this area. To date, there are more than 100 formal agreements between 37 Mexican institutions and 22 Australian universities. For its part, CONACYT has agreements with 8 Australian universities and has financed more than 150 Mexican master's and doctoral students in Australian institutions.

Scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries is fundamentally structured through productive collaborations between researchers. This cooperation involved, between 2015 and 2018, more than 3,100 Australian researchers working with Mexican researchers who together generated more than 1,800 publications. According to the Australian Department of Industry and Innovation, the main cooperation topics were: Medicine (20%), Agriculture and Biology (12.3%), Astronomy and Physics (12.8%), Biochemistry and Genetics (9.1%) and Science Environmental (6.2%). Bilateral cooperation in science and technology has a strong potential for growth, particularly as the joint committee meeting established between the two countries is held in the near future, which would allow to give a greater boost to the relationship and in turn take advantage of the existing collaboration between universities.

Cultural relationship

Between 2012 and 2018, the Mexican Embassy in Australia has organized or participated in multiple cultural promotion events in Mexico. Through these, it seeks to promote its historical wealth and current gastronomic culture. Among the most important cultural events held in Australia are: The great exhibition "Aztecas" (2014) in the museums of Melbourne and the Australian Museum in Sydney, respectively; the traveling exhibition of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2016), the photographic exhibition at the headquarters of the Australian Chancellery commemorating the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations (2016), the exhibition on Mexican Modernism in Photography at the National Gallery of Australia (2017), and the exhibition on Contemporary Art inspired by Mexico City at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne (2018).

Likewise, Mexico participates in cultural festivals organized each year in Canberra in which Latin American embassies are present, such as: The Multicultural Festival, which brings together more than 300 thousand people; the Latin American Gastronomic Festival; and the Latin American Film Festival, which runs through more than a dozen cities in Australia. Additionally, the Embassy organizes year after year, the traditional "Day of the Dead" in its facilities and supports the organization and participation of the Mexican community and artistic groups in multiple events in the city of Canberra.

Mexican community

The Mexican community in Australia is relatively small, but constantly growing. According to official figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2000, there were 1,270 registered Mexicans residing in Australia, while in 2018, the number of Mexicans (born in Mexico) in Australia amounted to 6,770, which represented a growth of almost six times. According to the 2019 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) approximately 7,420 Mexicans in Australia are estimated to be living in Australia, integrating various associations in the different states of the country.

The Mexican population in Australia is mostly concentrated in the main cities of Australia, with Sydney and Melbourne at the fore, making up approximately 50% of the total. Followed by Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Perth, Canberra, Darwin and Tasmania. It is also characterized by being mostly young and highly qualified professionals who work for Australian companies. According to the census published by the statistics office (ABS) in 2016, the average age of the total Mexican population living in Australia is 34 years with 47.8% being women while the other 52.9% are men. The main occupational profiles are: students, electronics and systems engineers, communications specialists, graphic designers, and homemakers.

It is important to note that even before the COVID 19 pandemic, the number of Mexicans who came to Australia to study increased according to figures from the Department of Education. From January to December 2018, the number of Mexican students in Australia amounted to 2,629, while during the first half of 2019 the figure had already reached 2,168. Most of the students were concentrating on language study and postgraduate studies, staying in Australia for an average of three months to two years.

Given the sociability of the Mexican and the ease of communication, the community has formed groups through social networks, such as those in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Where there are various groups of Mexicans who carry out professional, business, community and social activities.

In order to communicate with the Mexican community in Australia, the Embassy regularly distributes circulars that address different topics regarding the carrying out of mobile consulates, requirements for obtaining consular documentation, information on voting abroad, assistance to citizens facing family violence, consent in sexual matters, and others.

Part of the activities carried out by the Embassy in favour of the Mexican community, with the support of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME), there are:

• Diffusion of the bases and calls for the annual children's drawing contest.
• Encouragement of the participation of members of the Global Network of Mexican Talents.
• Distribution of the bases and call for the annual award of the “Distinguished Mexican” and Ohtli Recognition established by the IME in 2018.
• Promoting the celebration of the "Global Week" which consists of the organization and registration of various community activities in Australia, among which the celebration of the Day of the Dead stands out.

Mexican Associations in Australia:

Victoria

• Mexican Social and Cultural Association of Victoria (MEXVIC)
• ANZMEX - The Australia, New Zealand, Mexico Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc.
• Australian Association of Mexican Engineers AAME

South Australia

• Mexican Social and Cultural Association of South Australia Incorporated (MexSA)

Australian Capital Territory

• Mexico Lindo

Western Australia

• Friends of Mexico in Western Australia (FOMEX)

Latin American associations in Australia:

• Latin American Stories: recopila y comparte historias de éxito de inmigrantes latinoamericanos en Australia.
• Canberra Cool Bears: apoya a la enseñanza de español en Canberra y sus alrededores.
• Latin American Community of Queensland: organización que promueve actividades culturales y recreativas latinoamericanas en Queensland.

Legal framework

Both countries have a broad legal framework made up of agreements, treaties, memoranda of understanding, and inter-institutional agreements, including:

Legal framework Memorandum of Understanding In negotiation