Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena promotes sustainable and inclusive economic development at APEP Ministerial

Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena promotes sustainable and inclusive economic development at APEP Ministerial

• Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena participated today in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Ministerial.
• Mexico, in collaboration with Chile, the United States, and Uruguay, is organizing a seminar on international best practices for developing a national hydrogen strategy roadmap.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena participated today in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) Ministerial held in Washington D.C., where she reaffirmed Mexico's commitment to promoting sustainable economic development and prosperity in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken led the meeting, which included APEP foreign ministers from Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Panama, Peru and Uruguay, as well as Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen and Chilean Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Gloria de la Fuente González.

In her remarks, Secretary Bárcena emphasized that, as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has stated, Mexico seeks to extend the prosperity it has achieved with the United States and Canada to the entire hemisphere. "We want a development plan that transforms the hemisphere into one that is more resilient, integrated, prosperous. We want to achieve this with equality and create job opportunities to address the structural causes of migration."

She said, "Boosting the region's economic growth must be a priority, especially in a world that is regionalizing, where each region is opting for intraregional projects…In the Americas, we need to advance with a pragmatic, de-ideologized approach to truly develop value chains in areas such as conductors, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, and agriculture."

Secretary Bárcena also highlighted the importance of promoting clean energy and emphasized Mexico's active role in the Clean Hydrogen Working Group. She said that Mexico, with support from Chile, the United States, and Uruguay, is coordinating a seminar on international best practices for developing a national hydrogen strategy roadmap. This initiative aims to promote national hydrogen strategies across the region through strategic partnerships.

"You can count on Mexico. The Americas have always been a land of ideals, action and hope. We cannot let this moment escape us, when we are all here together," concluded the Foreign Secretary.

Secretary Bárcena was accompanied at the meeting by a delegation comprised of Chief Officer for North America Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Mexico's Ambassador to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, Director General of Global Economic Promotion Rodrigo Morales Castillo, and Director General of Political Affairs for North America Cristina Planter Riebeling.

On behalf of the Government of Mexico, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirms its commitment to promoting inclusive regional economic development to create more equitable societies.