In 2022, Mexico’s imports from Japan totaled 18,297 million dollars
Between Mexico and Japan there is not only an Economic Partnership Agreement that increased trade and investments, there is also the exchange of scholarship holders and volunteers either to study or to participate in cooperation projects.
In 2022, Mexico’s imports from Japan totaled 18,297 million dollars and only from January 1999 to June 2023, Japanese Foreign Direct Investment in Mexican territory totaled 33,208 million dollars.
In addition to the commercial sphere, in 1971 both governments signed a Japan-Mexico Exchange Program for students and professionals, which was only interrupted by Covid-19, establishing the students of the most recent exchange, in October 2023, with a total of 50 participants from each country.
To date, 5,181 students from both countries have benefited from the program, whether 34 students in long-term exchanges or 16 short-stay exchanges (2 weeks).
This year, Nao Murata and Sakika Nakamura, among other 48 Japanese students, submitted their application and obtained a scholarship to study in Mexico. They received an intensive Spanish course upon arriving in the country’s capital and during their stay they will receive a scholarship from Conahcyt
On the Mexican side, Abisag Quetzalli Gómez Corona, who was an intern at Wide Quality Control and Productivity Improvement, Aichi Industrial Research Association; Ernesto Moreno Martínez, who studied Start up Creation and Innovation Ecosystem Development, at Kagawa University; and Yukiko Uscanga Campos who participated in Modern Design and Traditional Craftsmanship, at Kyoto Institute of Technology.
In addition, between Japan and Mexico there is a volunteer program between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation and Development (Amexcid).
Mexico has received 446 volunteers from Japan for 30 years
This cooperation operates in the following way, some Mexican institution submits a request to the Mexican government, through Amexcid) that requires Japanese volunteers for a specific task, these requests are sent to JICA, to carry out a selection of candidates and subsequently send the volunteers.
For example, the Association for People with Cerebral Palsy (APAC) went to Amexid to request volunteers. After carrying out the volunteer selection process, Reina Satou arrived, a Japanese physiotherapist who worked for 10 years in a hospital in Japan and who now gives therapies for children.
JICA Technical Cooperation Program Officer, Akiko Nakayama, said that JICA selects the volunteers, gives them 2 months of language training in Japan and later upon arriving in Mexico they receive another 3 weeks of Spanish.
JICA currently has 19 volunteers working in Mexico and there will be 30 at the beginning of 2024, who can vary between 20 and 70 years old.
Since 1993, Mexico received a total of 446 volunteers in specialties such as education, nursing, automotive mechanics, information technology, quality and productivity, safety, occupational health and sports, among others.
The period of stay in Mexico is 2 years including the 3 weeks of the initial Spanish language course.
Source: El Universal
