Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price met with Foreign Ministry officials during an official visit to Mexico City.
At a meeting with the Director General for North America, Mauricio Ibarra, they discussed various aspects of the relationship between Mexico and Fort Worth, with Counselor Ibarra noting the importance of the relationship with Fort Worth. For her part, Mayor Price acknowledged the contributions the Mexican community makes to the region. Both officials agreed that the North American Free Trade Agreement has had a positive impact for both Mexico and Fort Worth since its entry into force in 1994.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 245,000 Mexicans live in Fort Worth, Texas, or 30% of the city’s population.
In addition to the mayor’s meeting, the directors of the Fort Worth Opera met with Dr. Susana Pliego, Director Geneeral for Educational and Cultural Cooperation in recognition of the dynamic cultural agenda between Mexico and Fort Worth. They discussed various possibilities for collaborating on operas, especially “The Last Dream of Frida and Diego,” scheduled for 2020. It was agreed that they would collaborate in order to bring the opera to other cities in Mexico and the United States.
Texas is Mexico’s main trading partner. Of all of the U.S. states, it exports the most to Mexico. In 2016, bilateral trade between Mexico and Texas totaled USD 172.8 billion. 39.7% of Texas’s global exports go to Mexico and more than 380,000 jobs depend on its trade with Mexico.