Mexico and US Build More Modern, Streamlined and Efficient Border Following Binational Bridges and Border Crossings Group Meeting

• "This is the first meeting of this type between the new administrations, and it opens the door to a great opportunity: aligning our visions on what we want to accomplish in cross-border infrastructure over the coming years": Roberto Velasco
• With more than 210 in-person participants and more than 190 remote participants, this meeting had one of the highest attendance levels in the history of the group established in 1983

The Foreign Ministry hosted the Mexico-U.S. Binational Bridges and Border Crossings Group Plenary Meeting on June 10-11. This forum serves as the most important venue for presenting, analyzing and tracking binational cross-border infrastructure projects.

Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Chief Officer for North America, led the meeting, highlighting the tangible results for both economies achieved by this collaborative effort. "Today we have the largest commercial relationship in the world-no other two countries on the planet trade as much as we do. This would not be possible without the infrastructure that has been developed," he added.

Secretary Velasco emphasized the achievements of "Operation Northern Border" led by Mexico's Security Cabinet. "We are not only building a modern border in terms of infrastructure and technology, but our goal is also to make it the safest that our two countries have ever had," he said.

Mark Johnson, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, thanked all attendees for contributing ideas and finding medium and long-term solutions that will be decisive for the future of communities on both sides of the border.

The meeting highlighted the commitment to cooperate on opening the Mesa de Otay II-Otay Mesa East international crossing and establishing regional binational technical groups to advance joint planning of projects in Sonora-Arizona, Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, and Tamaulipas-Texas.

The Mexican delegation included officials from the Ministries of Defense, Interior, Finance, Economy, Environment, Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation, the Customs Agency, the National Service for Health, Safety and Agrifood Quality, and the Railway Transportation Regulatory Agency, among others. State representatives from the governments of Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Sonora also participated.

The United States delegation consisted of personnel from the Departments of State, Transportation, and Commerce, Customs and Border Protection, the General Services Administration, and representatives from the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.