- Secretary Bárcena promoted an economic partnership for inclusion and sustainability
Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena concluded a 3-day trip to Washington, D.C., on behalf of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to participate in the first summit of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP). Her extensive agenda of activities included meetings with senators, heads of state, leaders, the consular staff and the Mexican community.
On the first day of her trip, the Foreign Secretary met with a group of senators to discuss the results and progress of the High-Level Economic Dialogue, the High-Level Security Dialogue and the Palenque Declaration.
On her second day in Washington, D.C., Secretary Bárcena participated on the panel on "Economic Integration as an Engine of Inclusive Growth" at the APEP-IDB Responsible Investment Forum, where she called for forging a partnership between the public and private sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region she described as the most unequal in the world. She highlighted the need to promote an economic partnership that provides inclusion and sustainability.
The Foreign Secretary said that Mexico is the United States’ top trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to 855 billion dollars last year, and she promoted nearshoring and reshoring so that, for example, the conductors and semiconductors manufactured by Asia can be made in North America and the rest of the region.
To this end, she called on the IDB and the North American Development Bank to invest in modernizing and strengthening the border infrastructure, which would also to help control drug and arms trafficking.
"That's the beauty of nearshoring and reshoring: we can attract investment to the North American region, and we have to do it together with the rest of the Americas. I see three sectors that we need to move into: electromobility, medical and pharmaceuticals, and third, semiconductors and conductors. I see these as three areas in which we really need to make a significant investment,” she said. She also spoke of the need to promote financial and digital inclusion in order to make progress in closing the inequality gaps in the region.
On the third day of her trip, Secretary Bárcena met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss the main challenges to stronger and more equitable economic growth. The meeting was attended by heads of state and officials from countries participating in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP).
On behalf of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Foreign Secretary participated in the Plenary Session of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders’ Summit, together with representatives of the countries of the region, with the mission of underscoring the need to bring together all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in this forum to contribute to economic integration.
The meeting addressed joint efforts to foster greater economic stability and prosperity under the Americas Partnership, and the economic stability pillar of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection.
The leaders of Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, United States and Uruguay established five priorities to focus and propel their efforts:
- Strengthen regional competitiveness and integration
- Enhance shared prosperity and good governance
- Build sustainable infrastructure
- Protect the climate and environment
- Foster healthy communities.
This will lay the foundation for a more productive and closer relationship in order to address challenges with specific actions and invest in specific economic sectors, creating jobs with rights, which is the key to fighting inequality and poverty and improving the lives of our peoples.
The intention is to expand APEP to include all countries in the region, excluding none, and to promote investment by strengthening regional and sub-regional financial institutions.
While in Washington, D.C., Foreign Secretary Bárcena also met with leaders of the Mexican and Mexican-American community to strengthen ties and discuss strategies for timely assistance and services.
