Nick Clegg meets President Enrique Peña Nieto
The Deputy Prime Minister met President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico today (4 March 2015) during the President's state visit to the UK.
Credit: Matt Dunham/AP/Press Association Images
The Deputy Prime Minister and the President also attended a business breakfast together at Buckingham Palace where they heard details of a number of joint proposals from the UK-Mexico Senior Business Leaders Group.
The Deputy Prime Minister and the President discussed the importance of bilateral trade and investment between the 2 countries. The Deputy Prime Minister underlined his support for Mexico’s groundbreaking domestic reforms and highlighted the extensive British expertise available in the energy, infrastructure and education sectors.
Both leaders discussed the human rights situation in Mexico. The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the proposals presented by the President to improve Mexico’s security and justice institutions and reinforced the importance of a comprehensive response to recent human rights abuses, particularly in Iguala. The Deputy Prime Minister offered continued UK assistance in improving security, the justice system and human rights in Mexico.
They also discussed the strength of our education links and the importance that both countries placed on English and Spanish language learning. The Deputy Prime Minister announced a new initiative by the British Council to produce ‘Mexico Assembly Packs’ that will become available to 10,000 UK primary schools. The packs will teach children Spanish words and phrases and introduce them to Mexican culture. The Deputy Prime Minister also announced the Young People’s Mexican Poetry Translation Challenge, organised by the Poetry Society, and in partnership with the British Council.
After the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister said:
President Peña Nieto’s visit reinforces the strength of UK-Mexico relations in culture, business and wider society. We discussed continued work to promote opportunities for British business and the wide-ranging expertise we can bring to Mexico. We also discussed the complex challenges of security and human rights and the need to strengthen and reform existing institutions.
The warmth of our countries’ relationship was clear to me when I visited Mexico last year and today’s meeting has bolstered those connections. 2015 has been designated as the Year of the UK in Mexico and Year of Mexico in the UK. I hope that this will create a new era of UK-Mexico relations which will bring our people even closer together.
Last updated 4 March 2015 + show all updates
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Added translation
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First published.