President Schneider-Ammann to travel to Germany and Mexico
Bern, 27.10.2016 - On Wednesday, 2 November, President Johann N. Schneider-Ammann will travel to Germany on an official working visit. In Berlin talks will take place with President Joachim Gauck, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Education and Research Minister Johanna Wanka. On 3 November, the president, travelling with a business delegation, will be received as a state guest in Mexico. The visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the world’s fifteenth largest economy.
The discussions between President Schneider-Ammann and Chancellor Merkel will focus on European policy issues, bilateral relations between Switzerland and Germany, and migration to Europe. In particular, Mr Schneider-Ammann will inform Ms Merkel of the state of deliberations in Parliament to implement Article 121a of the Federal Constitution on immigration. Further international political and economic issues will also be addressed; Germany assumes the chairmanship of the G20 on 1 December.
The meeting with the education and research minister, Ms Wanka, will be dedicated to current developments in education, research and innovation. Mr Schneider-Ammann will also meet German President Joachim Gauck, following previous meetings at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos and the gathering of German-speaking heads of state in Brussels.
Deepening of relations
The president's visit to Mexico will serve to deepen relations with Switzerland's second largest trade partner in Latin America and implement the Joint Declaration of 2015. The invitation to pay a state visit - the second in the 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries - will strengthen the partnership in a number of areas.
President Schneider-Ammann will be received by President Enrique Peña Nieto with military honours, after which the two presidents will hold official talks. Mr Schneider-Ammann will then attend the founding ceremony of the Swiss-Mexican Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, in the Casa de Suiza.
At the Colegio Suizo de México, Mr Schneider-Ammann and the Secretary of Education, Aurelio Nuño Mayer, will launch the ‘Alianza Suiza por la Educación Dual' (Swiss Alliance for Vocational Education and Training). Further agreements between the two countries are also set to be signed. The agenda includes a number of further meetings with the Secretary of Finance, José Antonio Meade Kuribeña, Miguel Ángel Mancera, the mayor of Mexico City, and a meeting with the Swiss community.
Switzerland and Mexico
Over 5,400 Swiss nationals live in Mexico and around 2,800 Mexican nationals are currently living in Switzerland. Since the entry into force of a free trade agreement between EFTA and Mexico in 2001 economic relations have intensified significantly.
Negotiations are currently under way to update the agreement. Switzerland and Mexico, a G20 member, also cooperate closely at multilateral level, particularly on climate change, human rights and in the Pacific Alliance, in which Switzerland is an observer.
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Irène Harnischberg, EAER Press Spokesperson
058 462 20 34, irene.harnischberg@gs-wbf.admin.ch
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Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch
