NEWS

         

The French Ambassador to Mexico, Ms Maryse Bossière, awarded her country’s National Order of Merit to Mr Eugène Zapata Garesche, METROPOLIS Regional Secretary for North America, on Wednesday 10 June.

Ms Bossière emphasized that, by working for the international relations of Mexico City, Mr Zapata has, over the course of his career, been “the craftsman responsible for bringing our two countries closer together”.

“This true mission has taken various forms, but most often was performed within the framework of cooperation between our cities, States and regions at an international level. He has created bridges, been a facilitator between the local governments of our two countries and, in his desire to boost the international relations of the Mexican capital, has brought Paris and Mexico City closer together”. The Ambassador said that the two cities have a lot to share with regard to tourism and urban development, for example.

In a ceremony held at the Ambassador’s Residence, Ms Bossière pointed to various decentralized cooperation projects with which Mr Zapata has engaged, including for example, the “Solidarity of Chocolate” yacht race that connects Saint Nazaire with Progreso in memory of the Yucatan chocolate route and the AL-LAs (Euro-Latin American Alliance for Cooperation Between Cities) project, which connected various Latin American cities online.

Of note was the dynamic decentralized cooperation that exists only at the French-Mexican level. In effect, these relations already take in a great many spheres: technical partnership agreements in urban planning and public-service management; economic agreements, such as between image sector businesses; and cultural agreements such as between city-shelters, as is the case of Paris and Mexico City, the Ambassador said.

Source: French Embassy in Mexico