ASiAn invASion wElcomEd - ProMéxico

32 Negocios illustration oldemar
The Friendship
that Plowed
through the
Pacific
This year, four centuries of bilateral relations between Mexico
and Japan are being celebrated through the strengthening of a bond
that began with a shipwreck. Mexico was the first Western country
that recognized Japan’s autonomy. Today, Japan is the seventh
biggest foreign investor on Mexican soil.
By Karla Bañuelos SAENZ
Mexico and Japan seem very far away from
each other, separated by the vast Pacific Ocean.
However, both nations have maintained a
friendship that has lasted four centuries.
This long and fruitful relationship began
the way others end: with a shipwreck.
In 1609, the sailing ship San Francisco,
originating from New Spain (now Mexico),
shipwrecked off the coast of what is today
Onjuku, Japan. The ship had a crew of more
than 300 onboard, including Don Rodrigo de
Vivero, governor of the Philippines.
During his stay in the Asian country, Don
Rodrigo talked to Japanese authorities about
trade and navigation. A year later, on October
17, 1610, the crew headed by Don Rodrigo
ran aground on the coast of Acapulco, on
board of San Buena Ventura. With them was
a group of 23 Japanese traders who wanted
to establish trade relations between the
Asian continent and the New Spain.
That was the first time both countries
came together and today they have a solid
bilateral relationship marked by mutual respect,
trade and technical cooperation and
cultural exchange.
Japan is the seventh largest
foreign investor in Mexico
It was in 1888, during Porfirio Díaz’s government
and after the restoration of Japan’s
imperial system with Emperor Mutsuhito,
when diplomatic relations between the two
countries were formally established with the
signing of the Friendship, Trade and Navigation
Treaty. It was the first such agreement
Mexico signed with an Asian country and it
turned it into the first Western nation to recognize
Japan’s autonomy.
Diplomatic and trade relations between
both countries were interrupted by World
War II. They were renewed in the post-war
years when Mexico began exporting various
products to Japan, mainly husk rice, henequen,
pita and zapupe (varieties of agave),
jute (a plant fiber) and cotton. After 1951,
Japanese imports increased as a result of the
country’s economic expansion.
In the second half of the 1950s, Japan
imported manufactured goods from Mexico
and it exported textiles, medicines, plastics,
machinery, radios and automobiles. Between
1960 and 1965, Japan’s economy enjoyed a
stage of tremendous growth this period is
actually known as the “Japanese miracle.”
Japanese companies began an internationalization
process by establishing themselves in
other countries. In Mexico it was mainly in
the manufacturing industry, with a total of 27
companies setting up shop, including Nissan,
Mitsui, Hitachi, Toshiba, Suntory, Mitsubishi,
Matsushita, NEC, Ajinumoto, Citizen and Japan
Airlines.
The strengthening of a relationship
As much in Mexico as in Japan there exists
a series of governmental and private institutions
that for decades have directed their
resources to strengthening the relationship
between both countries in all areas.
In 1958, JETRO (the Japan External
Trade Organization) was founded. It is a
government-related group that promotes
trade as well as investment, technological
and cultural exchanges. The organization established
an office in Mexico the same year
it was created.
Under JETRO’s sponsorship, a committee
to strengthen relations between Mexico
and Japan was founded in 1999. A year later,
it published a report on the reasons and
resulting effects of a free trade agreement
between both countries. After a series of negotiations,
the Economic Partnership Agreement
was signed in September 2004. Since
Japan in Mexico
Japan External
Trade Organization
(JETRO) México
www.jetro.go.jp/mexico/
+ 52 (55) 5202 7900
+ 52 (55) 5202 8003
Japanese Embassy
in Mexico
www.mx.emb-japan.go.jp
+ 52 (55) 5211 0028
The Japan Foundation
www.jpf.go.jp
www.fjmex.org
+ 52 (55) 5254 8506
Japanese Chamber of
Commerce and Industry
in Mexico
www.japon.org.mx
Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA)
www.jica.go.jp