(11 Feb 2002)
Mexico City - 11 Feb 2002
1. Mexico`s President Vicente Fox and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder walking in National Palace
2. Schroeder taking a picture of Fox posing with kids
3. Various round table of working session
4. Wide of Fox and Schroeder exchange protocols and sign of agreements, zooms in to Fox and Schroeder shaking hands
5. Cutaway journalists
6. SOUNDBITE: (German) Gerhard Schroeder, German Chancellor:
"If you know that more than 90 per cent of Mexican exports go into the USA, you also know, or you should know, that there is a big danger for the Mexican economy when the American economy enters a recession"
7. Cutaway media
8. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Mexico`s President, Vicente Fox:
"Precisely at the moment when Argentina goes into a crisis, Mexico is recognised by Standard & Poor & Moody`s as increasing its investment grade. It is a clear sign of how markets make a difference (between each country)."
9. Cutaway media
10. SOUNDBITE: (German) Gerhard Schroeder, German Chancellor:
"After all President Fox mentioned before, and what is also the belief of the international financial world, I think it is right NOT to expect a contagious tendency from the crisis in Argentina, which is not to be overlooked, to Mexico."
11. Cutaway media
12. Wide news conference
13. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Vicente Fox, Mexico`s President:
" No one, here or abroad, is talking about privatization (of PEMEX). Our fight against corruption will not mean privatisation. It is fundamental that this is made clear to all, especially the media":
14. Cutaway
15. Various officials leaving
STORYLINE:
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is in Mexico to promote German interests in a country dominated by U-S. influence, talked trade on Monday with President Vicente Fox, who said he wants Mexico to become an economic bridge between Europe and North America.
Germany is Mexico's second-biggest trade partner and importer after the United States and is also the country's fifth-largest foreign investor, with about 750 companies operating here.
Schroeder headed a delegation of business leaders and politicians including Economy Minister Werner Muller, incoming chief executives of automaker Volkswagen AG, Ferdinand Piech and Bernd Pischetsrieder, and the head of Siemens, Heinrich von Pierer.
Schroeder's visit comes as part of a Latin American tour that was originally scheduled for last summer but was postponed due to a German debate over sending troops to Macedonia.
The six-day swing will also take Schroeder to Brazil and Argentina.
Mexico's president has repeatedly campaigned for German business, saying his country could be an economic bridge between Europe and America and noting that both regions have free-trade pacts with Mexico but not with one other.
Fox said Monday that a trade agreement Mexico signed last year with the European Union will be as successful as the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada.
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