THE MEXICO-CENTRAL AMERICA 2020 DIALOGUE BEGINS


• Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla and the Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vanessa Rubio Marquez, attended.

The dialogue on the “Mexico-Central America Relationship 2020” was inaugurated today in San José, Costa Rica; the event was attended by the Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vanessa Rubio Márquez.

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Miranda, who was also at the meeting, stressed the importance of the dialogue and a discussion of ideas for strengthening the relationship between the countries of Central America and Mexico.

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo stressed the strategic partnership between Costa Rica and Mexico.

The meeting served to discuss the future of Mexico’s relationship with the Central American countries. In view of the upcoming state visit by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to Costa Rica and his participation in the first summit of Mexico and the Central American Integration System (SICA), a group of 40 experts discussed new ways of strengthening the political dialogue in the region.

Experts from academia, business, government and international organizations participated on the three roundtables. The first addressed political challenges, including regional positioning and security. The second panel discussed at length the creation of economic opportunities and growth, and was divided into two groups: trade and investment, and physical and logistical integration. Lastly, there was a roundtable on a comprehensive approach to social and technical cooperation that included the Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation, Juan Manuel Valle Pereña.

The findings of each roundtable will contribute to the first Mexico-Central American Integration System (SICA) Summit.