Texas is looking to tighten its links with Mexico through strategic energy partnerships, according Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos.
The government leader said he hoped his legacy includes seeing the bordering countries trade in “energy at all levels”.
The El Paso native insisted he was working alongside the State’s leader to reassure those south of the border in a new a Trump era, which includes near constant rhetoric around building a wall.
“Govener Abbott and I have been working very hard on ensuring Mexico understands that we will never turn our backs on it,” Secretary Pablos said.
“The Texas Mexico relationship is very strong, it has been very strong in the past and we’re hopeful and quite positive that it will only get stronger. We are each other’s number one trading partner. We interact on a daily basis along our border. We are very, very bullish on the Texas Mexico relationship and understand that even though there are some bumps in the road, at the end of the day, we’re going to be stronger for it.”
He added: “I am really hopeful that there can be a day where Texas and Mexico are able to trade in energy at all levels, including electricity. I’m hopeful that Texas companies are able to invest in Mexico’s oil and gas infrastructure and the Mexican electricity infrastructure. We are a natural partner as we have seen with other areas of commerce, but when it comes to energy we are the partner of choice for Mexico. We are very hopeful that the relationships on the energy level between Texas and Mexico will only get stronger.”
However, Luis Domench, who works with the bordering Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce insisted rhetoric around the wall was secondary to discussions around altering the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The Mexico City native works with US companies, who are interested in entering Mexico’s energy sector.
Mr Domech said: “The wall has affected the sentiment of many Mexicans. If you look at social media in Mexico there are people saying don’t buy anything American, let’s boycott American products.
“But I would say if there’s any effect it would be more on consumer goods rather than the technologies and oil and gas equipment.
“More than the wall what is worrying is the revision of Nafta. If Nafta is cancelled, if tariffs are imposed on American made products, many Mexicans will turn their eyes to other countries.
“Mexico has 46 free trade agreements. We can bring products from the UK, from France, from Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, South America free of duties.
“If American products are taxed, then I don’t think they will remain as competitive as they are now.”
Secretary Pablos said it was still early in the Trump’s presidency, insisting Texas has earned itself a competitive spot on the energy trade table.
“We’ve been working for the pst 23 years to make Texas the place to be when it comes to investment,” he said.
“We have developed a very favourable regulatory framework. We have excellent fiscal policy and we’ve worked on quality life.
“We’re able to provide a landscape link any other.
“It’s still very early into the Trump administration and we are very confident that Texas will continue to be an energy leader in the world. We are really honed in on ensuring we protect what we have and that we build on it and the way we do that is by providing an extremely fair regulatory envorionment. Having a conference of OTC’s magnitude here is a good example of what Texas is all about.”