Eleventh Pacific Alliance Youth Encounter to Be Held in Mexico City This December

• This year's event will bring together young people from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, as well as Costa Rica, the bloc's next incoming member state, with the aim of expanding opportunities in training, employment, and productive inclusion

The Foreign Ministry hosted the launch of the eleventh Youth Encounter, organized in collaboration with Nestlé and several strategic partners. The event will take place on December 2 and 3 at the National Museum of Energy and Technology (MUNET).

The announcement, made this afternoon as part of Mexico's Pro Tempore Presidency of the Pacific Alliance, was led by Raquel Serur Smeke, the Foreign Ministry's Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean; María del Carmen Bonilla, Undersecretary of Finance and Public Credit; Farid Hannan, head of the Foreign Ministry's Economic Diplomacy Unit; and Alberto Guadarrama Grimaldo, Director General of Strategic Planning at the Ministry of Economy.

The launch was attended by senior officials from the Pacific Alliance's member countries and Costa Rica, representatives of national youth institutions, Nestlé executives led by CEO Fausto Costa, and representatives of the regional private sector.

Undersecretary Serur Smeke stressed that coordination among governments, regional cooperation bodies, and the private sector is essential to turning integration into real opportunities for younger generations, including training, decent employment, productive initiatives, and leadership development, as well as to closing the gaps young people face.

She pointed in particular to the potential of agricultural entrepreneurship as a path to productive inclusion for rural youth, noting its role in bringing them into value chains, driving innovation and sustainability in agrifood systems, and creating new development opportunities in their communities.

At the launch, Mexico's Pro Tempore Presidency also unveiled the essay contest "Voices of Pacific Alliance Youth," open to young people from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, to collect proposals for strengthening regional integration based on their own experiences, needs, and priorities.

The winner from each country will join their national delegation at the eleventh Encounter. Contest rules and deadlines will be announced through the official channels of the Pacific Alliance and Nestlé.

The launch also featured young people who took part in previous years, whose careers reflect what the Encounter can do for professional growth, regional networking, and community-impact initiatives.

Through efforts like this, Mexico is advancing one of the central priorities of its Pro Tempore Presidency: putting young people at the heart of the regional agenda and bringing the benefits of integration closer to citizens.

The Pacific Alliance reaffirmed its commitment to continue combining public and private capacities to support the talent, participation, and development of the region's younger generations.