Ducey to visit Mexico for summit and inauguration
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will take a two-stop trip to Mexico before the end of the year to take part in a trade mission and to witness the inauguration of the country’s incoming president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The trip was announced in a statement from the Governor’s Office on Friday.
On Nov. 30, Ducey, a Republican recently re-elected to another four-year term, will attend the Arizona-Mexico Commission’s annual summit in Hermosillo, Sonora, where he will meet with his counterpart, Gov. Claudia Pavlovich Arellano.
This is Ducey’s first trade mission since the midterm election on Nov. 6, when he defeated Democratic candidate David Garcia.
Earlier this year, Pavlovich, who has three years left in her term, and her husband attended Ducey’s State of the State address as his guest.
The Arizona-Mexico Commission’s stated mission is to “improve the economic prosperity and quality of life for all Arizonans through strong, public/private collaborations in advocacy, trade, networking and information.”
The two-day event, which will kick off Nov. 29, is dubbed “Strengthening Collaboration for Innovation,” and will feature various speakers and panels ranging on topics from trade to workforce development.
Ducey’s second stop in Mexico will be Dec. 1, when he will attend the inauguration for López Obrador, who won Mexico’s presidential election in July after unsuccessfully running for president in 2006 and 2012.
The inauguration will take place in Mexico City, where Ducey will meet with other elected Mexican officials, according to a news release sent Friday by Ducey’s office.
“Throughout his first term, Governor Ducey championed strong cross-border collaboration — promoting growth in the economy, jobs, and increased border security,” a statement from the Governor’s Office said.
In 2015, Ducey led a trade mission to Mexico City, which was the first such trip in almost a decade at the time.
“The economic opportunities between Arizona and Mexico are countless, and based on the warm response we received on our visit, Mexico agrees and stands ready to partner with us,” Ducey said in an opinion piece published by The Arizona Republic in July 2015.
Questions recently were raised about the Arizona Border Strike Force touted by Ducey during his campaign, including over its failure to prioritize 24-hour highway patrols, and a lack of information about how the force operates, despite receiving more than $80 million in state money.