Johor Bahru, 14 June 2015 – Mexican Ambassador to Malaysia, H.E. Carlos Isauro Felix Corona, visited UTM to discuss with UTM top management possible collaborative initiatives. He received a warm welcome from UTM Vice-Chancellor, Prof Datuk Ir Wahid Omar, UTM Deputy Vice-Chancellors and other UTM top officials.
In his speech, H.E. Ambassador Corona highlighted the fact that Malaysia and Mexico are significant trade partners with more than RM7 billion in total trade, per annum. Trade between the two countries is dominated by electrical and electronic components and auto parts. He pointed out that Free Trade Agreements would open up new possibilities and opportunities for further collaboration between the two countries.
The above underscores the importance of a robust relationship between Malaysia and Mexico, not only between governments and business communities, but also between other entities like Higher Education Institutions.
To remain competitive, H.E. Ambassador Corona stressed the need not to limit bilateral cooperation to only between certain sectors. He said that Mexico has much to offer as it is the gateway to North America, Latin America, as well as Canada. Mexico strongly believes that human capital development must be vigorously pursued through quality education.
Hence, H.E. Ambassador Corona suggested that a more structured and strategic alliance between Mexico and UTM should be forged, particularly in areas involving research and publication, as well as staff and student mobility.

UTM could in fact form a partnership with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which is the largest public research university in Mexico City, Mexico, and also the largest university in Latin America. He urged UTM to capitalise on the fact  that Mexico offers a high number of scholarships for postgraduate studies.