PEOPLE & EVENTS

Mexico hosts
National Day party

Ambassador and Mrs. Jose Luis Bernal of Mexico hosted a reception at the Hilton Hotel in Seoul on Sept. 23, 2013 to celebrate the National Day of Mexico.

There were many distinguished guests from Korean society and from the Seoul Diplomatic Corps and other segments of foreign community in Korea.

Among the Korean guests Director-General Jang Myung-soo of the Latin American & Caribbean Affairs Bureau of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ambassador Lee Jeong- gwan for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs at MOFA, Director General Chang Jae-bok for Protocol Affairs at MOFA, Senior Vice President M.K. Kim of POSCO and Publisher- Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post.

Attendance from the Diplomatic Corps and other segments of foreign community was also very large, who included Ambassadors Mohammad Yunos Farman of Afghanistan, Hocine Sahraoui of Algeria, William Paterson of Australia, Petar Andonov of Bulgaria, Hernan Brantes of Chile, Jaime Alberto Cabal of Colombia, Manuel Lopez Trigo of Costa Rica, Nicolas Fabian Trujillo of Ecuador, Hector Roberto Gonzalez of El Salvador, Nikoloz Apkhazava of Georgia, Gustavo Adolfo Lopez Calderon of Guatemala, Michelldiaquez Baradat of Honduras, Baasanjav Ganbold of Mongolia, Aram Cisneros of Panama Kyzysztof Majka of Poland, Ahmad Y. Al-Barrak of Saudi Arabia, Slodoban Marinkovic of Serbia, Hidalfo de Ortiz of Venezuela, and Edmundo Sussumu Fujita of Brazil.

Speaking to the guests, Ambassador Jose Luis Bernal of Mexico said in part: “Mexico is also an emerging power that has pioneered the adoption of deep structural reforms and in numerous international initiatives, which has taken far-reaching steps towards structural change to combat poverty, consolidate democratic transformation and battle local and transnational organized crime.”

Excerpts from the speech follow:
203 years ago, on September 15th 1810, the Mexican people declared its independence and began a long road towards national integration, institution building, and defense of its sovereignty, development, and growing international presence.

The road has been long and difficult, but today we can introduce ourselves to the world as a great nation, with a rich ancient culture and diversity. As an economy that seeks to take his place in the world according to their relevance and potential, as a people committed to meet the challenges of internal development and ready to contribute to the best causes of humanity.

Indeed, today Mexico’s economy is the 13th in the world, an economy that has continued to grow at modest but positive rate despite the global slowdown. A country with a GDP per capita that has already reached $ 15,000 in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), an economy that creates jobs and that remains attractive for large investments. An exporting country, with trade exceeding 700 billion dollars, connected through trade agreements with more than 44 countries, totaling more than 1,200 million consumers. A country renowned for its hospitality and infrastructure that is ready to receive more than 23 million tourists every year.

Mexican Food Festival at Millennium Seoul Hilton

In a related development, there was a Mexican Food Festival at the Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel for a month beginning with the attendance of Ambassadors Jose Luis Bernal of Mexico and Nicolas Fabian Trujillo Newlin of Ecuador, General Manager Eric Swanson of Millennium Seoul Hilton, Deputy Head of Mission Jorge Alberto Icaza Gustinez of Ecuador Publish-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post.

There was a wide variety of Mexican delicacies, which the guests and customers enjoyed.
To add accent and excitement to the Mexican festive mood, a traditional Mexican music troupe, Mariachi Latin, presented performances which included Korean songs that attracted the attention and approving responses from the Korean guests. Mexican music also got strong applause from the audience as many Mexican songs are already popular in Korea.
Mariachi is the representative music of Mexico and is recognized as an Intangible World Heritage by UNESCO. Rare for a typical Mariachi band, Mariachi Latin has an extensive repertoire, performing traditional Mariachi Music from Mexico as well as modern Latin music. They are a renowned and recognized band in Mexico.

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