New York, New York - On Sunday night, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto became the first Latin American president to be presented the "Global Citizens Award" by the Atlantic Council. The annual event was held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York city.

The Atlantic Council, a US NGO, honored the Mexican President with the award for creating the multi-party agreement known as the "Pact for Mexico," and for extraordinary leadership in pushing through sweeping reforms in telecommunications, energy, education, labor, and more in less than two years in office.

"The changes," according to the nonpartisan council, "have already recast Mexico’s image as a global innovator."

In his acceptance speech, Pena Nieto highlighted the changes ushered in by the reforms and Mexico’s position in the Americas, where it has a strong presence in Latin America but belongs to North America as well.

"These reforms establish the modern legal framework necessary for Mexico to realize its full potential and open up more opportunities for its people," Pena Nieto said.

He also highlighted Mexico’s relationship with the United States, with which it shares almost 2000 miles of border, trade equaling $1 million a minute, and 1 million legal border crossings a year.

Mexico is the third largest trading partner of the US.

Pena Nieto concluded his acceptance speech urging the international community to "know Mexico, a country that dared to change and today, is in motion."

Other honorees this year included: the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko; the former prime minister of Israel, Shimon Peres; the former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew; the actor, director, and producer Robert De Niro; and Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, a pianist, composer, and philanthropist. Former Secretary of State of the United States and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Henry Kissinger, gave the opening remarks of the event.