Under Secretary Fernandez’s Travel to Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica

Under Secretary Jose W. Fernandez will travel to Mexico City on September 12 to join Secretary Blinken as part of the U.S. delegation to the U.S. – Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) to advance our shared objectives for North American economic prosperity.  The HLED discussions will review advances and achievements over the past year and help define our shared vision to enhance regional competitiveness.  Under Secretary Fernandez will also engage with private sector stakeholders and civil society from the United States and Mexico on opportunities to deepen economic cooperation and strengthen regional supply chains.

The Under Secretary will travel to Panama City on September 13 and San Jose on September 14 to discuss collaboration and further strengthen our strategic economic partnership with Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD) countries on supply chains, including new opportunities for investment in more resilient and secure technologies.

In Panama, Under Secretary Fernandez will also meet with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Environment, Finance, and Commerce, with the National Secretary of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and separately with the Panama Canal Administrator to discuss the strength of the bilateral relationship and explore areas for further collaboration including supply chain bottlenecks and logistics, energy and maritime cooperation, and investment opportunities.

In Costa Rica, the Under Secretary will meet with President Rodrigo Chaves Robles to discuss our shared regional objectives for promoting trade and investment, supporting the development of 5G telecommunications infrastructure, and protecting our oceans through marine governance and transparency with cooperation on the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR).

Throughout his travel, Under Secretary Fernandez will also meet with leaders in government and business to promote U.S. investment and trade, supply-chain diversification, ocean conservation, the clean energy transition, and digital connectivity for the region, as well as engage with potential partners across sectors to further our multilateral efforts to tackle the effects of climate change, food insecurity and malnutrition, as well as pandemic threats.