US President Barack Obama is travelling to Mexico on Thursday for talks expected to focus on bilateral trade.
Mexico is the third largest trade partner of the US and the president has said he is keen to discuss job creation on both sides of the border with his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto.
President Obama's planned immigration reform is also likely to feature high on the agenda.
During the three-day trip the president will also visit Costa Rica.
Policy shiftUS National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said strong economic ties between Mexico and the US had been overshadowed by a focus on security in the past, but that Thursday's trip would attempt to redress the balance.
That sentiment was echoed by Sergio Alcocer, Mexico's Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, who said the two presidents would discuss "the benefits and the need to re-balance and diversify the relationship" between Mexico and the US.
It will be the second meeting between the US leader and Mr Pena Nieto, who was invited to the White House even before he was sworn in on 1 December 2012.
His predecessor, Felipe Calderon, focussed on security co-operation with the United States as part of his war on Mexico's powerful drug cartels.
Under Mr Calderon, US security agencies were given unprecedented access to intelligence gathered by Mexican agents.
On Monday, Mr Alcocer announced that this arrangement would come to an end, with all contact between the different US agencies and their Mexican colleagues going through "a single window".
He said all requests would now have to be channelled through Mexico's interior ministry, which controls security and domestic policy.
Mr Alcocer insisted the new policy would improve co-operation rather than hamper it, but US analysts said the move could put an end to ties forged between agents on the ground.
The White House said it would have to see the new policy in action before judging it.
Reversing trend
With immigration reform high on his domestic agenda, President Obama is also expected to urge Mexico to help the US secure their joint 3,200km-long (2000-mile long) border.
"All the immigration plans that have been contemplated put a focus on securing the border as an essential priority and starting point for immigration reform," National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said.
Getting Mexico's backing on securing the border could prove key for President Obama as he tries to sell his immigration reform to US politicians.
Bipartisan senators currently debating the reform have insisted that tough border security be in place before undocumented immigrants can gain legal status.
A strong Mexican economy could also help cut down on emigration from Mexico as workers do not feel the need to seek employment abroad.
Last year, for the first time in four decades, about the same number of Mexican migrants returned home as arrived in the US, bringing net migration to zero, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
The trend has been ascribed to tougher border controls and immigration laws on the one hand, and the US recession and a growing Mexican economy on the other.
President Obama is expected to try to further encourage that trend in his talks with Mr Pena Nieto on Thursday and his speech to Mexican business leaders on Friday.
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