Educational and cultural diplomacy play a vital role in strengthening the bilateral relations between Malaysia and Mexico beyond trade association, said Dr Rozita Che Omar, Head of Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, and President of Malaysian Association of Spanish Teachers and Students.
Dr Rozita emphasised that education has become a focal point of bilateral collaboration, with academic partnerships and joint projects flourishing between Mexican and Malaysian universities, owing to the shared values and aspiration of the two countries.
In recent years, Malaysia has emerged as one of Mexico’s top ten trading partners. In 2022, Malaysia-Mexico bilateral trade reached an impressive US$15 billion. Additionally, entrepreneurs from both nations are presented with opportunities to cooperate in various technological fields including robotics production, semiconductors and electronics, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
She added that year 2024 is another milestone for the bilateral relations, marking the 50th anniversary since the two nations first established diplomatic ties in 1974.
From then onwards, Malaysia and Mexico have consistently collaborated in key areas of global engagement, participating in multilateral platforms such as the United Nations (UN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum.
UN is an international political organisation founded in 1945 counting some 200 member states, acting as a platform for the world’s nations to gather, hold discussion on common problems and find solutions to these problems.
APEC, on the other hand, is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to promote greater prosperity for the people of the Asia-Pacific region through balanced, inclusive, innovative and sustainable growth.
Dr Rozita also thanked the the Embassy of Mexico in Malaysia for the embassy’s instrumental support towards the tertiary studies of the Spanish language administered by Universiti Malaya.
The embassy has enriched the Mexican experience of many Spanish students in Malaysia through cultural events and the generous donation of 300 books worth RM43,000 to the Centre of Latin American Studies housed by the university.
