Costa Rica is hosting the XVI Tuxtla Mechanism Summit with the participation of Presidents and high ranked delegations of Colombia, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic and of course Costa Rica; these countries are part of the the Mesoamerican group since 1996, when it was known as Puebla-Panama Plan.

Mexico’s President, Enrique Peña Nieto will discuss with other Mesoamerican leaders on the progress of lines of action to achieve integration and regional cooperation in transportation, energy, telecommunications, commerce, competitiveness, risk management, health, environment and food security.

During the meeting held today, Mexico’s President touched on the topic regarding Mexico’s current relations with the United States, Peña Nieto extended his appreciation to the Mesoamerican countries, “I thank you for the demonstration of solidarity and trust that has been shown to Mexico in the last months”.

Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Latin American Economic Commission (CEPAL); Luis Antonio Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank and Carmen Isela Vergara, general secretary of the Central American Economic Integration Secretary (SIECA) are also attending the summit.

This year the slogan is “Mesomerica Nos Une” (Mesoamerica unites us), countries hope to take advantage of the potential of public-private partnerships in the area, which last year generated 62 operations with an investment of $612 million.

Some of the projects include the International network of Mesoamerican roads, the System of Electrical Interconnection for Central America, the program Mesoamerica without hunger, the 2015 Mesoamerican Health, among others.