- The second meeting with governors of southeastern Mexico is held in Merida.
As part of the Mexico-U.S. High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED), Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard led a meeting today with U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar, the governors of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo and Tabasco, and representatives of the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Veracruz to continue discussing an action plan for development in southern Mexico.
Foreign Secretary Ebrard noted that the Mexico-U.S. relationship is experiencing its best moment, as seen by the North American Leaders' Summit (NALS). He recalled that, at their first meeting, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said to President Joseph Biden, “We have to look to the south. The south has been forgotten. The Government of Mexico forgot it for many years and now we want it to be the priority.” This is “because (the region) has great growth potential. That is why we are investing in the Mayan Train, the Trans-isthmus Corridor,” and others. In keeping with the presidential vision, the foreign secretary called for the officials to "work together so that southern Mexico is also part of this vision of North America."
The good relationship between the two nations "is already being translated into specific actions, largely thanks to the dynamism of the governors who are here today, and the interest, the commitment, they have shown, in addition to the activism of Ken Salazar," emphasized the secretary.
On behalf of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he expressed the President's "support and friendship, and his pledge that southern Mexico and the south-southeast, the entire southern region, will receive preferential treatment because it has been forgotten for many years. That is no more; that has now changed."
During the meeting, Ambassador Salazar thanked The Nature Conservancy for explaining a conservation program in southern Mexico that received USD 30 million in financing from the US government and could attract an additional $60 million.
The meeting, convened by Yucatan Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal, was attended by the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico and a delegation of US companies from the environment, services and technology sectors. Senior management for Mexico from the following companies attended: Julio Portales, Constellation Brands; Juan Carlos Pérez Rocha and Jorge Arce, HSBC; Jana Nieto, 3M; Monica Aspe, AT&T; Jorge Castilla, Accenture; Greta González, Uber; Manuel Macedo, Honeywell; Alejandro Posadas, Motorola; Isidro Quintana, Cisco; Jorge Torres, FedEx; Salvador Ledón, GE; Lisa Ornelas, Google; and Diana Posadas, Microsoft; in addition to the Vice President and Director General of the American Chamber of Commerce, Ana López Mestre; and the Director General of Political Coordination at the Foreign Ministry, Ximena Escobedo.
The aim of meeting with these U.S. companies was to increase trade and investment to bring greater prosperity to the region and inhabitants of southern Mexico. The governors gave an overview of their states, including the challenges and opportunities involved in promoting the region together with the U.S., our most important trading partner, and the Mexican president. The topics covered at the meeting included climate change, the digital economy, cybersecurity, development in the south and southeast of the country, and strengthening new and existing supply chains.
With this meeting, the Foreign Ministry continues the work entrusted to it by the President of contributing to the country's development and growth.
