[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Prime Minister of St Lucia, the Honourable Allen Chastanet, arrived to Mexico on Monday the 23rd of October 2017 accompanied by a high profile delegation to undertake an official visit geared towards further strengthening the ties of friendship between Mexico and St Lucia. This is the first official visit of a Prime Minister of St Lucia to Mexico.
This visit follows the unprecedented tightening of ties between the two countries, as is evident considering the cooperation projects currently being implemented in St Lucia by Mexico, including the construction of a water system in Dennery North, the morgue and ambulance buildings of St Jude Hospital, which will start operating in the next couple of weeks, as well as the many capacity building, technical and scientific and educational cooperation projects currently being implemented.
In that regard, Prime Minister Chastanet met with President Enrique Peña Nieto on Tuesday the 24th of October 2017 to discuss issues of bilateral relevance and the strengthening of cooperation, economic and political ties. Additionally, the Prime Minister and his delegation met with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Education, and Agriculture of Mexico, as well as with representatives of the Private Sector in order to promote investment and commerce between the two countries.
In his speech on the occasion, the President Mexico stressed the relevance of the OECS for Mexico, considering the Prime Minister’s position of Chairman of the OECS during 2017. The President of Mexico also emphasized the common positions of the two countries in international issues, such as climate change, risk management, democracy, and the rule of law. Finally, the President of Mexico expressed his gratitude to the Government and People of St Lucia for their solidarity after the earthquakes that struck Mexico in September, and repeated the solidarity of the Mexico with the Eastern Caribbean States that were struck by hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Some of the areas that were identified during the many meetings as key areas for increased cooperation include infrastructure, climate change, trade facilitation and comprehensive risk management.
Prime Minister Chastanet also gave a high-level conference entitled Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Climate Change and New Developing Imperatives in which he showcased the situation faced by countries like St Lucia.
The President of Mexico and Prime Minister of St Lucia underscored the strength of the bilateral relation with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a mechanism of consultations on matters of common interest between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation, External Affairs and the Public Service of Saint Lucia; as well as a Letter of Intent for Cooperation in Artisanal Matters between the Ministry of Social Development of Mexico and the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Empowerment, Youth Development, Sports and Local Government of Saint Lucia.
Videos of the event are linked here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMCaNwUnu1k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXrNcV7PR70
