- The Summit will take place on January 10 in Mexico City
- President López Obrador will hold bilateral meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and U.S. President Biden
- Among Mexico's priorities are the actions that must be taken to reduce poverty and inequality: Ebrard
At today's morning press conference headed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard presented the agenda for the tenth North American Leaders' Summit (NALS) and its related meetings. The Summit will be held on January 10 in Mexico City.
The Foreign Secretary said that bilateral meetings will be held during the Summit. “The bilateral meeting between Mexico and the United States will include […] a wide range of actions focused on bilateral trade and investment, and on speeding up the border infrastructure projects.”
“Bilateral cooperation issues will be addressed, such as migration […] labor mobility, trade, security, education, culture, combating climate change… Labor mobility has already been added to the dialogue, the narrative, and the concept of the relationship between Mexico and United States. This did not exist [previously]; this is very recent […] Both the agreement we reached with Secretary Kerry, which was announced in Egypt […] on clean energy, […] and the Sonora Plan will be presented. The goal is for this dialogue to strengthen the integration of regional supply chains and the transition towards electromobility and clean energy.”
The Secretary said that, in the National Palace, the Summit tentatively includes "a private segment between the three leaders, that is, a conversation between the three of them, and then we will have an extended meeting with the delegations of each of the three countries."
He mentioned the six main topics that will be addressed at the summit: diversity, equity and inclusion; the environment; competitiveness with the rest of the world; migration and development; health; and shared security.
"The three nations will seek to continue the process of regional integration, based on the principles of respect, sovereignty and good faith cooperation for mutual benefit; that is the goal," he said.
The Foreign Secretary also announced that there will be a bilateral meeting between Mexico and Canada between President López Obrador and Prime Minister Trudeau. “They are going to talk about both governments' strategy for indigenous peoples and historically marginalized communities. This is a topic that both Minister Trudeau and President López Obrador have promoted. There is a lot of international interest in this, in what has been done with the Yaquis and with other indigenous peoples of Mexico.”
The Foreign Secretary said that, at the Summit, "One of Mexico's most important priorities relates to the actions that must be taken in 2023-2024 to reduce the poverty and inequality that are growing in the Americas [...] this is the most important priority from the Mexican perspective.”
“We are going to propose a Partnership for the Prosperity of the Peoples of the Americas […], this is what President López Obrador discussed with former Senator Dodd on his recent visit, and the Canadians have also been consulted," he said, adding, “The main goal (of the partnership) will be to fight poverty and achieve a more equal distribution of resources in the Americas based on strengthening the trade relations and relations of all kinds on the continent […] so that North America remains a leading economic power at a global level, which would make it possible to establish new ties with the rest of the continent, based on mutual respect,” he concluded.
