SOCIETY 378

SOCIETY
Austria is very advanced as far as green energy, water and waste
management, Smart Cities and other innovative technologies are
concerned.
in continuing the work with Mexico.
Besides these promising and rapidly
growing figures, on the first of July the
new US-Mexico-Canada agreement
entered into force, boosting North
America as one of the most competitive
regions in the world. The agreement
will provide a lot of stability for investments
in Mexico. The USMCA will, for
example, raise the labor standards
and wages of approximately 980,000
workers of the automotive industry.
Austrian companies will be able to
benefit from this possibility as well,
therefore the Embassy is organizing
meetings, webinars and other events
to foster our economic ties with Austria.
Additionally, in April we concluded
the negotiations on the new Global Agreement
between the European Union
and Mexico, which is expected to be
signed by the end of 2020 or beginning
of 2021. During the last 5 years, we
negotiated in order to modernize the
pre-existing free-trade agreement from
2000, also including current issues like
sustainable development and commitment
to the Paris Agreement, human
rights and fight against corruption. The
revised treaty will make room for new
opportunities surrounding e-trade,
financial services and participation in
public bids, which were previously restricted.
The agreement also enhances
the intellectual property of European
products in Mexico. All this is very
important and attractive for Austrian
businesses and will create interesting
new chances for trade and investment
between the two countries. Even more
possibilities of economic interchange
can be found in agriculture, production
of medical equipment, mining, green
energy and technology. Covid-19 especially
reminded us that we must boost
international cooperation on science,
research, bio-technologies, health
science pandemic management. In a
meeting with Heinz Faßmann, Minister
for Education, Science and Research,
we discussed intersections between
research centres in Austria and Mexico,
noticing a lot of complementarity.
We are looking forward to establish
even more links in the scientific sphere.
Austria is very advanced as far as green
energy, water and waste management,
Smart Cities and other innovative
technologies are concerned. We would
like to explore possibilities of cooperation
on these fields as well. For Mexico,
environmental issues and making big
cities as sustainable as possible is very
important.
You also are Permanent Representative
to the International Organizations
in Vienna – how important is it for
your country to be represented on an
international level and what are your
objectives in this regard?
Mexico is well recognized as an active
participant in the multilateral arena.
Our participation at the UN Office in
Vienna follows this strong commitment,
for example by holding relevant
positions within the government bodies
of the International Organizations
based in this city. Together with Austria,
we have moved initiatives of great importance,
regarding for example the humanitarian
impact of nuclear weapons.
On this matter, for instance, we keep
promoting the Treaty on the Prohibition
of Nuclear Weapons. I was very glad to
hear Minister Alexander Schallenberg
say in an opening conference of the
IAEA, that he was looking forward to
host the first meeting of the treaty, as
soon as it enters into force. During the
last General Conference of the IAEA,
Mexico held the presidency and is now
hopefully to be elected into the Board
of Governors. Moreover, we have an
important relation with the UNODC
and are part of the Commission on Narcotic
Drugs. Next month we will take
part in the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime,
the Palermo Convention. Covid-19 has
been causing a lot of distress for such
meetings, nevertheless, we think continuing
the negotiations is vital, since
defending multilateralism is a very
crucial aspect for us. Nowadays there
is a tendency for unilateral responses,
but when facing global challenges,
working together is the only way to
overcome them. This is not only the
case for Covid-19, but also for climate
change, nuclear threat, illicit traffic of
arms, corruption or human trafficking,
as well as many other concerns the UN
is affronting. At this point we have to
congratulate Vienna for hosting the UN
for 40 years, considering we celebrate
the 75th anniversary of the institution
this year. In strongly committing to
International Organizations in Vienna,
Mexico is eager to promote multilateralism
as an answer to global challenges.
Is there something else you would
like to communicate to our readers?
Since last year, next to Sweden, France,
Norway and Canada, Mexico is the
first Latin-American country that has
adopted a feminist foreign policy, which
focuses on human rights and applies
a gendered perspective in all sectors.
Mexico‘s feminist foreign policy is based
on a set of principles that seek to
promote government actions to reduce
and eliminate structural differences,
gender gaps and inequalities, in order
to build a more just and prosperous society.
The strategy will be implemented
over the 2020-2024 period, based on
guidelines such as visible equality, parity
and feminism within all areas of the
Foreign Ministry, a Foreign Ministry free
of violence that is safe for all, foreign
policy with a gender perspective and
a feminist agenda abroad. Also, for the
first time in history we have gender
parity in our parliament.
MEXICO
079