Today, Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray and Allen Chastanet, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Saint Lucia, co-chaired the first regularly-scheduled consultation between the foreign ministries of Mexico and Saint Lucia on matters of common interest, during which they discussed the main commitments agreed on during the Prime Minister's visit to Mexico in October 2017.
Other topics discussed included trade and investment; various cooperation projects in areas such as handicrafts, security and the teaching of Spanish; and regional and multilateral issues, including climate change and renewable energy, the situation in Venezuela and the importance of Saint Lucia's participation in the Lima Group.
They also discussed the initiatives presented by President Enrique Peña Nieto at the 4th Mexico-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit, especially the Mexico-CARICOM Strategy for Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management.
The Foreign Secretary's visit underscores the importance Mexico attaches to cooperation with regional integration organizations such as the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), of which Mexico is a member.
The two officials signed the meeting's Final Act that includes the most salient results for the political dialogue and educational-cultural and technical-scientific cooperation, in areas such as agriculture, security and national heritage, as well as international issues of common interest. Regarding economic and investment issues, there has been a notable 30% increase in bilateral trade in the last five years.
While in Saint Lucia, the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Chastanet attended the inauguration of the Dennery North water treatment plant financed by Mexico through the Infrastructure Fund for the countries of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean (Yucatan Fund).
The Foreign Secretary explained that Mexico backed the infrastructure project because of the close ties and relationship of cooperation between Mexico and Saint Lucia.
"Many people think that, in economic and trade issues, Mexico is a North American country that belongs to North America along with the United States and Canada. And from a cultural point of view, Mexico can be considered a Latin American country. And yes, we are part of Latin America. But very few people remember that we are also a Caribbean country, which is why we concern ourselves with the Caribbean. Mexico and Saint Lucia are neighbors and we are partners, because we share values," said the Foreign Secretary.
Lastly, Foreign Secretary Videgaray visited the Mexican embassy in Saint Lucia, where he met with the diplomatic personnel and thanked them for their efforts, calling on them to continue working to strengthen the ties that unite our country with the Caribbean nation.