Castries, St. Lucia, August 12th 2009:- OECS Director General Dr. Len Ishmael today received Letters of Credence from Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, His Excellency Ambassador Gerardo Lozano Aredondo. 

The historic presentation ceremony marked the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the OECS as a regional grouping of sovereign states.

In accepting the credentials of the Mexican envoy, Dr. Ishmael noted that Mexico now joins a growing list of countries that have become so impressed with the achievements of the OECS that they feel compelled to enter into a closer relationship with the Organization. She listed Spain, which had recently appointed an Ambassador to the OECS, as well as other countries in Europe – European Union members and others – who were indicating an interest in pursuing closer relations with the OECS; Brazil which had established a Mission to the OECS; Venezuela which had announced the appointment of a special ambassadorial envoy to the OECS; and Trinidad and Tobago which had indicated an interest in merging its economy with that of the OECS, among others. 

Dr. Ishmael saw Mexico’s establishment of relations with the OECS as a sign of that country’s growing confidence in the future of the regional grouping. This she considered most heartening, in view of the Organisation’s efforts to establish the OECS Economic Union by the end of this year. 

The OECS Director General spoke of building upon the excellent relations which have existed to date between Mexico and the individual Member States of the Organisation, noting the many bilateral programmes of assistance implemented by Mexico in a wide range of areas including marine coastal management, cadastral management, forestry management, agricultural diversification, information technology, civil protection and primary health care. She also noted that scores of OECS students have benefitted from scholarships to pursue university level training in Mexico under its Special Scholarship Programme for the English Speaking Caribbean for Bachelor and Post Graduate Studies. 

The Director General conveyed the deep appreciation of the Governments and people of the OECS for the significant contribution made by Mexico toward the development of the OECS. 

In his remarks, Ambassador Gerardo expressed the Mexican government’s interest in negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding with the OECS in order to institutionalize and strengthen the existing cooperation relations. He indicated Mexico’s willingness, within its capacity, to continue to assist OECS Member States in meeting their development objectives. 

The Ambassador pointed to Mexico’s cooperation initiatives with OECS Member States covering such programmes as technical assistance in trade negotiation, training workshops on protocol, and the annual course on Foreign Policy for officials of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, intensive seminars on prevention of HIV/AIDS, and training courses for the teaching of the Spanish Language. He proposed executing an MOU to identify areas of further cooperation with the OECS at the soonest possible time. 

Ambassador Gerardo said Mexico recognizes the significant efforts of the OECS to contribute to the sustainable development of its Member States by facilitating their bilateral and multilateral cooperation and assisting them to maximize the benefits from their collective space. He said in this regard, Mexico acknowledges the efforts to establish an OECS Economic Union and create a single financial and economic space.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Diplomatic Corps in St. Lucia and senior personnel of the OECS Secretariat.