President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Malacañang accepted yesterday the credentials of Mexico’s Ambassador-designate, Daniel Hernandez Joseph, to increase cooperation on trade and culture, signifying 70 years of diplomatic relations.
Hernandez said, “Mexico and the Philippines are connectors between Asia and America, and through that role, there is so much we can do in trade, culture, and science.”
Marcos stated that the new economy called for a new workforce with different skills than what countries traditionally depended on before.
“And much of the work we are doing to transform the economy is to transform the workforce so that they understand the daily technologies. It extends to every field,” Marcos said.
Geographically, Marcos said that Mexico has traditionally been seen as a distant country halfway around the world, but it doesn’t matter anymore today.
Marcos noted that the pandemic has taught people how to do business without physical travel.
“So I think that changes the relationship and the possibilities, the potentials that we should explore,” Marcos said.
Marcos expressed gratitude to Mexico for taking care of Filipinos there, stressing that there is a strong Filipino community in that country, which is now very much a part of Mexican society.
During their conversation, Hernandez Joseph reported that Mexico’s national university made offerings this year in the area of Filipino studies.
Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Mexico were established on April 14, 1953, with the Philippines opening its embassy in Mexico City in the same year. The Mexican embassy opened in Manila in the same year.
Last April 14, the Philippines and Mexico commemorated the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Bilateral Relations through the illumination of national monuments and buildings in both countries.
According to February 2023 data, there are 1,206 Filipinos in Mexico.
Since 2020, Philippine total trade with Mexico has been steadily increasing, reaching US$1.1 billion last year.
Mexico ranks as the 23rd trading partner of the Philippines.
