- Mexican and Chilean cooperation agencies provide resources for energy-saving initiatives in vulnerable communities
Today, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard headed a group delivering 880 solar water heaters to families in Encarnación de Díaz, San Diego de Alejandría, Tonalá and Zapotlanejo in Jalisco.
The project is financed by the Mexico-Chile Joint Cooperation Fund. A total of USD200,000 was allocated to Mexico for initiatives that promote energy savings and efficiency in vulnerable communities by giving them access to clean energy alternatives.
The Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid) and its counterpart in Chile, the Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation (Agcid), decided to provide direct support to four municipalities in the state of Jalisco to improve local energy use and savings.
Secretary Ebrard said that the use of solar heaters saved gas and water. “We need initiatives like today's […] Today we are in four important municipalities, because each municipality is important no matter how poor it is, no matter how far away it is, because they are also Mexicans.” He added that the initiative "also helps our environment [...] and we save gas, so it is cheaper."
He recalled the instructions of President López Obrador: "Everything we do has to benefit our communities and we always have to think of the poorest, those who have the least, those who have the most difficult life." “That is what our task must be […] to work every day, to do good,” he said.
Lastly, he thanked the Government of Chile: “We will not forget the generosity of the Chilean people." He also thanked the mayors of the municipalities.
A total of 880 solar heaters will be distributed: 630 in Tonalá, 100 in Zapotlanejo, 75 in Encarnación de Díaz and 75 in San Diego de Alejandría. The equipment will benefit vulnerable families, allowing them to save money by reducing their consumption of LP gas and polluting energy sources such as coal.
The event was attended by the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Martha Delgado; Amexcid Executive Director Laura Elena Carrillo; the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Chile in Mexico, Jorge Vidal; Bárbara Casillas from the Jalisco state government; Tonalá Mayor Sergio Armando Chávez; Encarnación de Díaz Mayor Gilberto Antonio Palomar; and San Diego de Alejandría Mayor José de Jesús Sánchez.
Foreign Secretary Ebrard meets with Jalisco business executives
While in Jalisco, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) in Tequila. He discussed the positive results of his meetings with the US delegation led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and his interest in strengthening the economic and investment relationship with Mexico.
“The state of Jalisco has many favorable possibilities for these investments to have a positive impact on the state, because Jalisco has been called the Silicon Valley of Mexico. It is the state with the most information technology infrastructure," said the secretary to the Guadalajara business executives.
"It also has a very powerful creative industry, so I think Jalisco has very good possibilities."
Foreign Secretary Ebrard also met with business executives from the tequila industry and with agave workers. Tequila is one of Mexico's biggest exports throughout the world, and it receives the support of our embassies and consulates.
The Foreign Ministry reaffirms its commitment to continuing to promote development initiatives for Mexican communities and to strengthen national companies.
