On 9-16 March 2013, Dr. Somjai Phagaphasvivat, a Spanish-speaking and distinguished political economist from Thailand, visited Mexico. During his one-week visit, Professor Somjai delivered lectures on the topics of “Developments towards the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015” and “Relations between Thailand and Latin America, with emphasis on Mexico” at various academic institutions including the Instituto Matías Romero (The Diplomatic Academy of Mexico’s Foreign Ministry), EGADE Business School of Tecnológico de Monterrey, El Colegio de México, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) and University of Guadalajara.

In addition to the academic circle, Professor Somjai met Mr. Alejandro Madregal, Director-General of the Asia-Pacific Department of Mexico’s Foreign Ministry. He also had meetings with business communities to share information regarding recent developments in Thailand and the ASEAN region, inviting them to explore business opportunities with Thailand and use Thailand as a gateway to the ASEAN Economic Community and the wider Asian region.

Professor Somjai’s visit made an important contribution to the promotion of Thailand and ASEAN in Mexico as well as the strengthening of people-to-people relations between the two countries.