Mexico City - With the goal of boosting trade and helping local businesses, the Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, Greg Stanton, traveled this week to Mexico City to meet with Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera Espinosa. On Tuesday, the two mayors signed a formal memorandum of understanding to establish a Global Cities Economic Partnership between the two cities.

The mayors of Tucson, Mesa, Surprise, Nogales and Yuma, as well as more than 30 Arizona business leaders and economic development experts accompanied Stanton on the trip.

This was Stanton's 13th economic development trip to Mexico since he took office in 2012 and it comes on the heels of a few major economic connections between Arizona and Mexico. Last year, the City of Phoenix opened up a trade office in Mexico City and Mexico will open up a ProMexico office in Phoenix officially this November.

On the first day of the trip, Stanton and the Arizona delegation met with leaders of ProMexico before touring Startup Mexico, the country's top tech-hub incubator. There, the Arizona Technology Council signed a memorandum of understanding to help tech startups in both countries find new markets across the border.

And Stanton said he hopes to get much more out of the agreement than just trade.

"It's not just trade, it's intellectual talent," he said.

Stanton hopes to take advantage of a cultural exchange that can come from the agreement. "We need a lot more Arizona students spending time in Mexico City, and students from Mexico spending time here" the Phoenix mayor said. "Our economies are so closely linked that students who have a better understanding of the other culture will have a leg up in the future," he added.

Stanton believes Phoenix's aerospace and computer industry exports will continue to increase, and he highlighted Mexico's advanced manufacturing industry, as well as its telecommunications and energy sectors.

Mexico's government made policy changes recently that will open up those industries to foreign competition, and Stanton said he hopes Phoenix companies can take advantage of that. "We want to send a message that Arizona is open for business," he said.