What about Canada? Nafta's Northern member is making major inroads into Mexico. (Cover).

Six months ago, you might not have heard of the downtown office complex known as Torre Mayor. Today, even as the steel and glass are going up on Avenida Reforma at breakneck speed, already looming above neighboring buildings, many are unaware that when it is finished at the end of this year, it will be the tallest skyscraper in Latin America. Fewer still know the developer is a Canadian company, Reichmann International, of London's Canary Wharf fame.

The US$200 million project is a symbol of the way in which Canada-Mexico business is growing--silently and very, very quickly. The numbers are still small when compared to business with the United States, and perhaps always will be. But while Nafta dialogue in both countries has turned largely around access to U.S. markets, trade is growing much faster between Mexico and Canada than between any other two Nafta partners. And as it does, relations of every kind are strengthening.

Ten years ago, Mexico and Canada hardly seemed to share the same continent. With the United States between them, garnering the lion's share of their attention, and most of their exports, it was rare that either peered past their powerful neighbor to see what the other was up to.

That is changing radically, says Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Keith Christie. He credits Nafta and the recent political changes in Mexico for a new urgency in both countries to develop stronger ties.

"Our relations are better than ever, and expanding in every area," he said. "There is a growing recognition in Canada that Mexico is a top-tier partner."

Mexican President Vicente Fox must feel the same about Canada. His first trip abroad, after winning the federal election in 2000, was a visit to Canada to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Chretien gave only a lukewarm reception to Fox's proposal for a more integrated North America, but the meeting did mark the beginning of an unprecedented series of high-level exchanges between the two countries. Last January saw the first-ever visit of a Canadian defense minister to Mexico.

"More Canadian ministers know their Mexican counterparts than ever before," said Christie.

Those meetings have yielded tangible results, such as several information-sharing agreements between the two countries in the areas of energy, sustainable development and e-government. Canada has been helping Mexico's s new administration tackle some of its most pressing problems, including debt reduction and the creation of a workable social security system. The country's groundbreaking Freedom of Information Act, passed last July, is styled similarly to Canada's version.