IPN’s Director General assumes the position of headman the Mexico Chapter of the Franco-Mexican Strategic Council

• The Secretario de Relaciones Exteriores, Marcelo Ebrard, expressed his satisfaction that the IPN heads the organization in an international context favorable to Mexico.
• Arturo Reyes Sandoval said he will promote actions in the health, aeronautics, aerospace, agribusiness, sustainable energy, culture and sports sectors.

With the aim of strengthening bilateral Franco-Mexican relations through the link between higher education institutions, industry and government to promote projects that contribute to social welfare and sustainable development, the director general of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Arturo Reyes Sandoval, assumed the presidency of the Franco-Mexican Strategic Council (CEFM), Mexico Chapter.

The Secretario de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE), Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, expressed his pleasure that Reyes Sandoval assumed the representation of Mexico in the CEFM, since the current context is favorable for our country to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented internationally in terms of the flow of investments and the development of sectors such as "start ups", as well as to promote culture and sports.

In his message to the members of the Council yesterday in the "Benito Juárez" hall of the Foreign Ministry, Ebrard Casaubon highlighted the impetus given by the director general of the IPN to cooperation and links with scientific and technological institutions in other countries such as India, South Korea, Japan and the European continent.

Secretary Ebrard acknowledged the management of Fernando Chico Pardo, who headed the organization for five years, and assured that the new stage of the Franco-Mexican Strategic Council, with Reyes Sandoval as president of the Mexico Chapter, will give continuity to the leading role of our country in the international arena.

During the presentation of his work plan at the SRE, Reyes Sandoval stated that from the Polytechnic he will launch actions for the development of joint projects of interest to Mexico and France, focused on addressing priority problems of both nations, and pledged to promote entrepreneurship to meet the technological challenges required by the industry.

The IPN’s director general pointed out that Mexico and France consider it a priority to address problems related to the health sector, agro-industry, the aeronautics and aerospace industry, sustainable energy, culture and sports.

In order to carry out these actions, Reyes Sandoval informed that working groups by sectors will be formed shortly, with the participation of representatives from both nations to define the objectives to be achieved in the short and medium term.

"From my position, as director general of the IPN, I will rely on the capacity and strengths that the Institute has in terms of more than 220,000 students, to call on other higher education institutions to promote entrepreneurship for the generation of "start ups" that address the technological challenges identified by the industry," he said.

The main lines of the work plan that the director general of the IPN presented to the members of the CEFM are: the promotion of multidisciplinary and multisectorial work; providing solutions from scientific research and technological development to the main problems faced by society, and promoting innovation through technology transfer and knowledge.

In order to fulfill the work plan, Reyes Sandoval said that first an initial definition of the projects and organization of CEFM will have to be carried out, then the execution and follow-up of progress, and finally the identification of results will be made one year after assuming the presidency of this organization.

The Franco-Mexican Strategic Council was created in 2013 and is made up of sixty French and Mexican individuals from the private sector, government entities and the academic, cultural and sports fields. Its objective is the emergence of new ideas and the promotion of the relationship between France and Mexico. CEFM's mission is to identify and implement concrete projects: cross-investment and economic alliances, scientific, cultural, sports and educational cooperation.

The CEFM meeting was attended by the French Ambassador to Mexico, Jean-Pierre Asvazadourian; the Director General for Europe, Bernardo Aguilar Calvo, and the Director General for Cooperation Policy, Javier Dávila Torres, both from the SRE; the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste and former President of CEFM, Fernando Chico Pardo; the Director of Strategies of Safran Mexico, Edgar Ciceño; and the representative of the National Academies of Medicine and Surgery of Mexico and France, Armando Barriguete Meléndez.

Also present were the general director of Strategy of the Business Coordinating Council, Odracir Barquera; the president of Grupo Marhnos, Nicolás Mariscal Torroella; the founder and general director of the Morelia International Film Festival, Daniela Michel; and the director of the Center for International Studies of El Colegio de México, Jean François Prud'homme.

Also in attendance were the director of the magazine "Artes de México", Alberto Ruy Sánchez; the general director of the Bolsa Institucional de Valores (BIVA), María Ariza García Migoya; the member of the Mexican Society of Pediatrics, Pablo Casaubon; the founder of the Instituto de la Mexicanidad, Gastón Melo Medina; the director of TEN Arquitectos, Enrique Norten, and the legal director of the Mexican Olympic Committee, Joel Sánchez.

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