Obama welcomes Nieto to White House

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto to the White House, saying he's confident they will have a strong relationship.

"Over the last four years, I've been able to work with President Felipe Calderon and I think we established an excellent working relationship so I wish him all the best in his new life," Obama said Tuesday before the bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, the White House said in a statement.

"I'm very confident that I'm going to establish a strong personal as well as professional relationship with the president-elect, who I know has an outstanding reputation for wanting to get things done."

Obama said he believes Nieto has a "very ambitious reform agenda" and said he was looking forward to discussing how the United States and Mexico can strengthen their economic and security ties.

Nieto congratulated Obama on his re-election and said they share a "very important vision ... of creating more jobs" and increasing "the integration of North America."