French envoy to visit Mexico

Monday, 13 October 2014 01:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thenews,com.mx

French envoy to visit Mexico

Visit to follow-up accords signed last year

THE NEWS

Special French envoy Philippe Faure will visit Mexico on Monday to follow up on the 41 accords signed during French President François Hollande’s visit to the country last April.

During the last meeting of the two countries, President Hollande and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed bilateral agreements on issues such as security, trade, energy, healthcare, aeronautics, space, education, science and technology. Specifics included the training of Mexican police forces by the French Gendarmerie and Hollande’s desire to double bilateral trade with Mexico.

Peña Nieto also encouraged Hollande to make use of Mexico’s energy sector, which the Mexican president said was a leader in the peaceful use of nuclear power, oil exploration and production, and the fight against climate change.

According to a press release from the French Embassy in Mexico, Faure, who is also co-president of the Franco-Mexican Strategic Council (CSFM), will place special emphasis on the subjects of aeronautics, health, training and culture between the two countries.

Although Faure’s two-day visit will be centered around the implementation of the 41 accords signed by the Mexican and French governments, the French envoy will also look for new means of cooperation, as well as revise the implementation of the recommendations made by CFSM, together with his Mexican counterparts.

The French official will also be in Mexico to help prepare for President Enrique Peña Nieto’s upcoming visit to France on July 14, which comes as a personal invitation by President Hollande during their meeting last April.

On the Mexican side, CFSM is co-presided by Jorge Castañeda, a former foreign affairs secretary. The entity relies on the participation of prominent businesses and public officials, from Mexico and France, alike.

Castañeda is in charge of establishing firm proposals to reinforce bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He delivered his first report to Hollande and Peña Nieto on April 10, 2014.

A new report indicating other means of bilateral cooperation is expected to be delivered after Faure’s visit to Mexico concludes.

Mexico, France sign cooperation deals

Friday, 11 April 2014 01:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thenews.com.mx

Nations repair ties through trade, security and energy

BY MAURILIO SOTO

The News

MEXICO CITY – French President Francois Hollande and President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday signed 42 cooperation agreements on issues such as security, trade, energy, healthcare, aeronautics, aerospace, education and science and technology.

According to Peña Nieto, the agreements include a training program that the French Gendarmerie will offer to Mexico’s police forces. He said that France also has much to offer Mexico on energy issues, as it is a world leader in the peaceful use of nuclear power, in oil exploration and production and in fighting climate change and its effects.

Hollande said that France wants to double bilateral trade with Mexico, which is worth €4 billion ($5.5 billion) so far this year, or 15 percent more than the same period last year. He added that the newly-created Franco-Mexican Strategic Council, staffed by prominent representatives of the business communities and cultural associations of both countries, will be in charge of proposing bilateral agreements.

According to Hollande, as both Mexico and France are countries that share a legacy of revolutionary history, they have common values such as liberty, dignity and human emancipation.

He went on to invite Peña Nieto to visit France on Bastille Day this year.

“July 14 isn’t just a national celebration for France,” he said. “It’s the celebration of liberty around the world, and each time we invite a head of state that represents an ally who shares our values.”

Map of The Most Popular Countries in the World

movehub.com

It might come as a surprise to some that France is the world's biggest tourist destination in the world! Receiving nearly 20 Million more visitors annually than the runner up, USA. Doubly impressive when you consider that the US is over fifteen times the size of France.

Here's a map of the world detailing how many visitors each of these 165 countries gets each year.



France's high-density of tourist attractions, museums, monuments, historical sites and rich culture make it the world's most popular tourist destination.

The five least visited countries (that we have data for) are; The Solomon Islands (23,000), Moldova (11,000), Kiribati (5,300), Marshall Islands (5,000), Tuvalu (1,200).

You can also see the top 50 in the table below.

Top 50 most popular countries by visitors

Rank	Country	Annual Visitors
1	France	81,400,000
2	United States	62,700,000
3	China	57,600,000
4	Spain	56,700,000
5	Italy	46,100,000
6	Turkey	34,000,000
7	United Kingdom	29,300,000
8	Germany	28,400,000
9	Russian Federation	24,900,000
10	Malaysia	24,700,000
11	Mexico	23,400,000
12	Austria	23,000,000
13	Hong Kong SAR, China	22,300,000
14	Ukraine	21,400,000
15	Thailand	19,200,000
16	Saudi Arabia	17,500,000
17	Greece	16,400,000
18	Canada	16,000,000
19	Poland	13,400,000
20	Macao SAR, China	12,900,000
21	Netherlands	11,300,000
22	Singapore	10,400,000
23	Hungary	10,300,000
24	Croatia	9,900,000
25	Korea, Rep.	9,800,000
26	Egypt, Arab Rep.	9,500,000
27	Morocco	9,300,000
28	Czech Republic	8,800,000
29	Switzerland	8,500,000
30	South Africa	8,300,000
31	Indonesia	7,700,000
32	Ireland	7,600,000
33	Romania	7,600,000
34	Belgium	7,500,000
35	Denmark	7,400,000
36	Portugal	7,300,000
37	Bahrain	6,700,000
38	Bulgaria	6,300,000
39	India	6,300,000
40	Japan	6,200,000
41	Vietnam	6,000,000
42	Australia	5,900,000
43	Argentina	5,700,000
44	Brazil	5,400,000
45	Sweden	5,000,000
46	Norway	5,000,000
47	Tunisia	4,800,000
48	Dominican Republic	4,300,000
49	Finland	4,200,000
50	Jordan	4,000,000

French officials praise reforms

Wednesday, 26 February 2014 00:10 
THE NEWS


The structural reforms approved in Mexico last year were an important step that the country needed to take to place itself among the world’s leading nations, according to a French official.

Senator Gérard Cornu, president of the Mexico-France Friendship Group, said on Tuesday that “with all due respect and with no desire to meddle in Mexico’s internal affairs,” the French government approves of what he said was the level of political maturity shown by all of Mexico’s political parties during last year’s reform process.

His comments were made during a visit to Mexico by French legislators belonging to the Mexico-France Friendship Group, which is designed to lay the groundwork for French President François Hollande’s official visit in mid-April.

According to Cornu, France and Mexico have entirely overcome the diplomatic problems that arose during the administrations of former Presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón over the imprisonment of French citizen Florence Cassez, who was convicted of belonging to a kidnapping ring, despite claims from the French government that she was innocent.

The Supreme Court ordered Cassez’s release in Jan. 2013, shortly after President Enrique Peña Nieto took office.

Cornu said that the two countries have not only recovered their relationship following what he described as “the episode,” but said that bilateral relations were better than ever.

Cornu said that France considers its relationship with Mexico to be of the utmost importance, not just because of their historical friendship and cultural affinities, but also because of a strong relationship opens up a gateway to trade with both North America and Latin America as well as Mexico itself, which has an internal market he said is important and growing.

He said that Mexico has a bright future ahead thanks to its economic capacity and its strategic geographic location, which he said, when combined with structural reforms allowing for increased competitiveness, will allow Mexico to become one of the seven most important countries in the world, according to criteria established by the French government.

French Senator Jean Marc Pastor, who belongs to the ruling Socialist Party, also praised last year’s reforms, especially because of the political civility he said was achieved by the creation of the Pact for Mexico.

“Those of us who are republicans should feel admiration for an achievement like that,” Pastor said, adding that he hopes that the benefits of the structural reforms are felt by all sectors of society, as is expected in mature democracies.

Nation’s universities boosting enrollment

Thursday, 26 December 2013 
BY CIRCE VARGON
AND VÍCTOR MAYÉN
The News


The Public Education Secretariat (SEP) said in a Wednesday press release that the number of spaces in Mexico’s public universities has increased during the 2013-14 school year, offering an additional 41,406 spaces through the Emerging Enrollment Program for Higher Education.

The press release also said that it is prioritizing college educations for young people from indigenous communities through an evaluation of the Intercultural Universities system, which are designed to address the educational needs of Mexico’s indigenous population.

These universities have an enrollment of 11,600 students — over half of whom speak an indigenous language — and offer 56 majors, 11 master’s degrees and one doctorate.

The SEP also said that it has established an agreement with the French government to promote student exchanges between the universities of both countries, which it claimed will help modernize Mexico’s economy.

Nevertheless, Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) Deputy Miguel Alonso Raya said that the SEP must publish a review of Mexico’s current educational system by Jan. 15 at the latest, as required under the terms of the education reform passed earlier this year.

Alonso Raya went on to say that the education reform’s controversial teacher evaluations — which led to a prolonged teachers’ strike this past fall — are still unclear, adding that what exactly the evaluations will consist of should be cleared up as soon as possible.

France’s Alstom to Build Geothermal Plant in Mexico

laht.com

PARIS – French conglomerate Alstom said Thursday it signed a 30-million-euro ($41-billion) contract with Mexican state-run electricity utility CFE to build a geothermal plant in the central state of Puebla.

The “Los Humeros III – Phase A” plant, which is expected to begin operating in the second quarter of 2016, will have an installed capacity of 25 MW and produce an average of more than 200 GWh per year of renewable energy, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 40,000 people, Alstom said in a press release.

The Alstom-designed project includes the construction, set-up and operation of the plant, which will use heat obtained by drilling steam-extraction wells at a depth of up to 3,500 meters (11,475 feet).

The facility will operate in tandem with two other Alstom-installed geothermal power plants located in the same area, the company said.

“Over the last decade, Alstom has participated in numerous geothermal power projects in Mexico, that all combined add up to nearly 200 MW of installed capacity. We are happy that Alstom’s technology will contribute to the diversification of non-fossil energy sources in the country, a goal that the current government has set to reach 35 percent by 2024.” Cintia Angulo, Alstom Mexico’s president, was quoted as saying.

A total of 350 geothermal energy projects have been carried out in 24 countries, amounting to worldwide installed capacity of 10.7 GW, according to Alstom, which describes itself as a “pioneer” in that field.

The company said Mexico has the fourth-biggest geothermal power reserves in the world, behind the United States, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Alstom Agrees to Build $40 Million Geothermal Project in Mexico

12/11/2013

alstom.com

 

Alstom signed a contract worth €30 million with the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission¹  (CFE) to build the geothermal power plant “Los Humeros III – Phase A”, located in Chignautla, state of Puebla. This power plant will have an installed capacity of 25 MW and will produce an average of more than 200 GWh per year of renewable energy, equivalent to the annual energy used by 40,000 people in Mexico.

“Over the last decade, Alstom has participated in numerous geothermal power projects in Mexico, that all combined add up to nearly 200 MW of installed capacity. We are happy that Alstom’s technology will contribute to the diversification of non-fossil energy sources in the country, a goal that the current government has set to reach 35% by 2024.” said Cintia Angulo, Alstom Mexico Country President.

This Alstom turnkey project includes all of the engineering, as well as the power plant construction, set-up equipment, steam turbine, turbo generator, systems control and high voltage electric substation, and related equipment. The power plant is expected to start operations during the second quarter of 2016, and will operate using heat obtained by drilling steam extraction wells at a depth of up to 3,500 meters (11,500 ft.).

Mexico has the fourth biggest geothermal power reserves in the world, just behind the United States, the Philippines and Indonesia. “Los Humeros III Phase A” power plant will operate in tandem with 2 other geothermal power plants recently installed by Alstom in the same area (Los Humeros IIA, and Los Humeros IIB). Combined with the new power facility, those three projects will have an installed capacity of 75 MW, meeting the annual power needs of 120,000 local inhabitants.

During nearly five decades of Alstom’s presence in Mexico, the company has installed over 11,000 MW of power generation equipment in the country, which represents almost 20% of the country’s total power capacity.

Pres. meets with French council

Category: Mexico

Published on Tuesday, 16 July 2013 01:10

Franco-Mexican trade on the table

THE NEWS

MEXICO CITY – President Enrique Peña Nieto oversaw a meeting of the Franco-Mexican Strategic Council on Monday, with the two nations looking to build on their cultural and commercial relations. Peña Nieto said that the council, founded in October 2012, mutually benefits both countries and helps build on an already strong relationship. The meeting was held at the National Palace in the center of Mexico City and was attended by Foreign Affairs Secretary José Antonio Meade Kuribreña and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

 According to Peña Nieto, there are currently 5,000 Mexicans living in France and 30,000 French citizens living in Mexico. Peña Nieto said that France is now the second most important partner for Mexico in the fields of technology and science after the U.S. France is the eighth-largest foreign investor in Mexico. In 2012, their trade relations were worth $5 billion in 2012. Mexico currently invests around $800 million each year in France.

 Peña Nieto said that trade between the two nations had grown 200 percent over the last decade, but said that there is still a lot of room for further expansion. “In Mexico there are 300 aeronautical businesses, 90 percent of which — that is 270 — are French. It’s a sector that is growing in Mexico and the biggest investments are coming from France and we welcome them and hope more will come,” he said. He added that a key part of their relationship is that both nations share the same principles: democracy, human rights and social justice. He said that both countries were born of social revolutions whose ideas are now ingrained in their respective societies.

 French President Francois Hollande is due to travel to Mexico in 2014 and is said to be eager to strengthen relations with Mexico after a rocky few years in diplomatic relations. In 2011, French authorities canceled a Mexican cultural event in Paris after Florence Cassez, a French citizen living in Mexico, was imprisoned because of alleged links to a kidnapping that took place on a farm outside Mexico City. Cassez protested her innocence and denied knowledge of the kidnapping. She was released in 2012 and returned to France.