Official visit to Mexico: Welcoming Ceremony

Presidente Felipe Calderon,
Ministros, Señores y Señoras
Muy buenas días a todos y todas.

It is a great pleasure and honour for the Crown Princess and myself to be the first representatives of the Norwegian Royal family to pay an official visit your wonderful country.

Mexico was one of the first countries to recognize Norway’s independence in 1905 and since then – for more than hundred years - Norway and Mexico have enjoyed excellent diplomatic relations. We are here today to strengthen and deepen these relations.

One of the areas of the greatest and closest exchange and contact between our two countries has traditionally been in the oil sector. Mexico and Norway are among the largest oil producing countries in the world. We have brought with us a large business delegation that will discuss further cooperation in the energy sector but also in other potentially interesting areas.

Mexico is globally renowned for its rich culture. The Crown Princess and I are pleased to be able to present to you some of the trends and leading names in Norwegian architecture and film. We look forward to longstanding cooperation in these fields and not the least to be inspired by what we are about see and experience here in Mexico.

Norway shares Mexico’s strong support of the multilateral cooperation. We congratulate you on your recent election to the UN Security Council. We look forward to learning more in the coming days on how we can further strengthen our fruitful and exciting cooperation in the areas of climate change and protection of the environment as well as in the area of the rights of our indigenous population.

The Crown Princess and I, as well as the sizeable delegation accompanying us, look very much forward to the days ahead. Besides visiting this impressive and multifaceted world city, we will travel to Veracruz and the Gulf of Mexico.

President Calderón, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting us to your beautiful country. I am convinced that this visit will contribute to another 100 years of deepened bilateral cooperation.

Thank you.