An International Luncheon Forum  for the 14th Annual Mexico Advocacy Day

Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma was appointed Ambassador of Mexico to the United States by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in February 2021. Ambassador Moctezuma has been a public servant since 1989 most recently serving as Mexico’s Secretary of Public Education from 2018 to 2021. Ambassador Moctezuma has also served as Secretary of Social Development from 1998 to 1999; Senator of the Republic from 1997 to 1998; and Secretary of the Interior from 1994 to 1995, during which time he was also in charge of implementing the autonomy of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

In addition to his government service, Ambassador Moctezuma served as the President of the Board of Trustees of the National Institute of Public Health, a member of the Assembly of the National Council to Prevent Discrimination, Vice President of Businessmen in Basic Education, and President of Social Commitment for the Quality and Equity of Education.

Ambassador Moctezuma holds a bachelor of economies form the National Autonomous University of Mexico, master’s in Development Economics from the University of Cambridge in the UK, a diploma in regional development from Tokyo, and a doctor honoris cause form the University of Sciences and Arts of Chiapas. Ambassador Moctezuma is also a prolific writer, publishing several books and columns in various Mexican newspapers.

Mexico continues to be California’s No. 1 export market, purchasing 16.5 percent of all California exports. California exports to Mexico amounted to $30.77 billion in 2022, an increase of 13.1% from 2021. Computers and electronic products remained California’s largest exports, accounting for 16.3 percent of all California exports to Mexico. Imports from Mexico into California totaled $60.47 billion in 2022. Mexico is the sixteenth largest source of FDI through foreign-owned enterprises (FOEs) in California. In 2021, Mexican FOEs in California provided 9,875 jobs through 401 firms amounting to $1.089 billion in wages.