AKIPRESS.COM - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia Battsetseg Batmunkh and Foreign Minister of Guatemala Carlos Ramiro Martinez held official talks on July 3 to discuss bilateral relations, cooperation, and regional and international issues of mutual interest, Montsame reported.
The meeting marks the first official visit by a Guatemalan Foreign Minister to Mongolia since the two nations established diplomatic relations 20 years ago. Minister Battsetseg emphasized that the visit opens a new chapter in the history of bilateral ties.
Battsetseg stated that Mongolia aims to expand relations and cooperation with Latin American nations within the framework of its "third neighbor" foreign policy, noting that Mongolia highly values Guatemala as a key partner in Central America.
Minister Martínez expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality and expressed confidence that the visit would elevate bilateral cooperation and strengthen mutual trust. He noted that Guatemala is actively seeking to boost engagement with Asian nations, particularly Mongolia, and emphasized that the appointment of Guatemala's non-resident Ambassador to Mongolia demonstrates this commitment. Guatemala also aims to utilize its ties with Mongolia to broaden its reach into Asia.
During the talks, both Ministers commended the successful organization of the inaugural political consultative meeting between their respective Ministries in Ulaanbaatar. They reaffirmed commitments to boost cooperation across trade, economy, education, culture, humanities, and tourism.
In particular, the two sides agreed to jointly explore trade synergies between Mongolia's growing coffee market and Guatemala's world-renowned Arabica coffee industry, as well as sharing Mongolia's high-quality cashmere and textile expertise with Guatemala's rapidly expanding textile industry.
Highlighting the broad potential for expanding bilateral cooperation across numerous sectors, Minister Battsetseg proposed sharing Mongolia's experience in digital transformation and e-governance, promoting collaboration in startups, innovation, and digital commerce to overcome geographical barriers.
The two sides agreed to pursue mutually beneficial bilateral and tripartite cooperation by leveraging Guatemala's existing economic and preferential trade framework established with Asia countries.
Minister Martínez emphasized the importance of fostering direct connections between businesses and strengthening partnerships between the chambers of commerce of both nations.
The Ministers agreed to expand academic, archaeological, and historical research collaborations. Guatemala also expressed interest in learning from the marketing strategies of Mongolia's "Go Mongolia" national tourism branding initiative.
The meeting concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Research Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to mutually supporting each other's proposals and initiatives at the international and regional levels, and to continuing active cooperation within the international organizations.
Additionally, Minister Battsetseg invited the Guatemalan delegation to participate in the upcoming 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the Global Forum of Women Parliamentarians, both to be held in Ulaanbaatar. The two sides also pledged continued cooperation within the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC).