| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2009 
State Visit by President Calderón to United Kingdom
 Presidencia de la República
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Los Pinos - In response to the invitation sent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, President Felipe Calderón will pay a state visit to the United Kingdom from March 29 to April 1, 2009. During her address to Parliament in January, Queen Elizabeth II mentioned Mexico as the only state invitation planned for this year so far. This State Visit will be the first by a Mexican president since 1985.
On Monday 30, the Mexican president and his wife Margarita Zavala will be officially received by British Head of State Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh at the Horse Guards' Parade of Buckingham Place at a ceremony with the protocol that the Palace and the British Government confer on visiting heads of state. As part of the welcome ceremony, which is politically significant for both countries, President Felipe Calderón will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey and Queen Elizabeth II will host a luncheon in his honor.
The Mexican President’s State Visit will take place at a time when bilateral relations between the two countries have achieved a stage of advanced consolidation, as a result of the constant political dialogue and numerous bilateral contacts and meetings at various levels.
Within this context, at various working meetings, the Mexican president will reinforce political dialogue and reconcile positions on issues of bilateral, bi-regional and multilateral interest. He will promote the comparative advantages of Mexico as a safe, reliable place for foreign investment, and as a strategic partner in trade and cooperation. He will also confirm Mexico's position as a strategic interlocutor in relations between Latin America and the European Union.
He will exchange points of view on key aspects of the international agenda, such as: the economic crisis, Mexico’s participation in the UN security council, environment, climate change, renewable energies and human rights.
President Calderón will have an intense schedule that will include meetings with key players in Great Britain’s political life, such as Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, David Cameron and Nick Clegg respectively.
Together with the Duke of York, Queen Elizabeth II’s third child, the Mexican president will pay a visit to Aberdeen, Scotland, to see the technological advances in energy first hand.
In the legislative sphere, the Mexican president will address members of both houses of parliament, when he will be accompanied by the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, Helene Hayman and Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin.
He will also participate in a seminar organized by the Confederation of British Industry, ProMéxico and the government of the City of London on trade and investment and new opportunities between Mexican and British companies. He will take part in the Commemorative Ceremony of the 75th Anniversary of the British Council and attend a meeting with leading members of the financial sector, led by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the municipal authority responsible for contributing to the City's leadership as an international financial center and with editors of the main British newspapers.
In 2008, the United Kingdom was Mexico's fifth largest trading partner and third largest investor of European Union countries, the fourth largest destination of Mexican exports and the sixth largest supplier of the region. Worldwide, it has the 13th largest volume of trade with Mexico, and is the 11th largest purchaser and 14th largest supplier.
At the end of his state visit, President Calderón, at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's invitation, will participate in the G-20 Leaders' summit, to be held in London on April 2. The aim of the Summit will be to determine ways of responding to the challenges of the international economic crisis through coordinated actions to reactivate the world economy, by stimulating growth and employment. It will analyze the reform and improvement of financial systems, by presenting the advances achieved as a result of the Plan of Action achieved at the Washington Summit. Attendees will also discuss the reform of international financial institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund, the Forum of Financial Stability and the World Bank. |
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