THE UNDERSECRETARY FOR NORTH AMERICA, SERGIO M. ALCOCER, IN CANADA

The Undersecretary for North America, Sergio M. Alcocer, began a two-day visit to Ottawa, Canada today to intensify the dialogue with federal officials and review ways to increase economic, educational and employment-related cooperation.

Undersecretary Alcocer met with Deputy Foreign Minister Morris Rosenberg. The two officials agreed to bolster the region’s competitiveness and dynamism. They decided to set an ambitious economic agenda that leverages the complementarities of the two economies, both at the bilateral level and with the United States. They exchanged views on Canada's interest in the Pacific Alliance and discussed other regional issues of shared interest.

He also met with the Assistant Deputy Minister for North America, William Crosbie, to evaluate bilateral cooperation and to renovate the priorities of the two governments. They agreed to hold the next meeting of the Mexico-Canada Partnership on July 8-9. The partnership is the main forum for consultation between the public and private sectors of both countries. They also discussed consular cooperation and strategies to increase student exchanges between Mexico and Canada.

This afternoon, there was a roundtable on current and potential Mexico-Canada collaboration in education and research. Organizations and associations of universities and community colleges in Canada were represented, and government officials from both countries attended, as well.

Canada is Mexico’s third-largest trading partner and fourth-largest source of foreign direct investment in Mexico. Each year, more than 1.6 million Canadians visit Mexico. In addition to the Embassy in Ottawa, Mexico has five consulates there, more than in any other country except the United States.