North American leaders meet to boost regional economy

US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has hosted a North American Industry Ministers meeting with Canada's Minister of Industry Tony Clement and Mexico's Secretary of Economy Bruno Ferrari that focused on boosting North America's economic competitiveness.

They also aim to strengthen trilateral cooperation on trade and economic issues, including implementation of US President Obama's National Export Initiative and measures for Canada, Mexico and the United States to better cooperate on industry and sector integration as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), reports the American Shipper.

"Canada, the United States and Mexico have a sophisticated and robust trade relationship because of NAFTA," Mr Locke was quoted as saying. "Because our businesses already cooperate in the production of goods and delivery of services, we must work together to develop strategies that will benefit these businesses and the workers of this region."

The three leaders also pledged to identify ways to encourage small- and medium-sized firms to export their goods and services.

The report added that in 2009, trilateral trade among the NAFTA partners rose to more than US$735 billion.
(Source:www.schednet.com)