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President of Mexico to visit Canada
October 21, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario
NEWS RELEASE
Prime Minister Paul Martin today announced that he will host the working visit of Mexican President Vicente Fox from October 24 to 26 in Ottawa. President Fox will be accompanied by several members of his cabinet, representing foreign policy, economic and social portfolios, as well as parliamentarians and a business delegation.
“This is a significant year for Canada and Mexico, marking ten years of tremendous growth in trade and investment relations under NAFTA, 60 years of diplomatic relations between our countries and 30 years of success with the seasonal agricultural workers program,” said the Prime Minister. “The Government of Canada places great priority on this partnership and looks forward to the visit as an opportunity to roll up our sleeves and build on these successes.”
President Fox arrives in Ottawa on October 24 and meets the following morning with Prime Minister Martin when they will hold a bilateral meeting and an expanded working meeting with the Ministers accompanying President Fox and their Canadian counterparts. The two delegations are expected to work on a broad agenda of bilateral issues including governance cooperation, health, environment, economic cooperation and trade. The delegations are expected to conclude agreements in these areas, demonstrating a commitment to strengthening bilateral engagement. Discussions are also expected to cover a variety of hemispheric and other multilateral issues of mutual interest including the situation in Haiti and UN reform.
Following these meetings, President Fox will meet with Canadian business leaders. In the afternoon President Fox will address a joint session of Parliament and then meet with Opposition leaders. Later in the day the Mexican President will meet with members of the local Mexican community. President Fox is also scheduled to meet with Quebec Premier Jean Charest that afternoon, and attend a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Martin that evening.
On October 26 the Mexican President will meet with academics and students at Carleton University, and will visit Canada’s International Development Research Centre to participate in a presentation on the @Campus Mexico Programme. This Canadian programme offers web-based training and evaluation tools for Mexico’s public service. Following these events, President Fox will deliver an address at a luncheon hosted by the Economic Club of Ottawa.
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