MEXICO, September 22 (RIA Novosti) - Mexico is going to lead processes of change in Latin America, which has ceased to be an arena of economic crises, coups and various political issues in recent years, the country's President Enrique Pena Nieto said during a trip to New York.
"Mexico wants to be at the top of these changes, and in the two years that I was in office, we decided to take a deep modernization that will allow us to move [forward] and change the character of our country," El Universal quoted the president as saying when he was awarded the Citizen of the World prize by US nongovernmental organization The Atlantic Council on Sunday.
The head of Mexico recalled his administration's reforms. They relate to almost all spheres of life in Mexican society – from the reform in the energy sector to the financial sector. According to Pena Nieto, it is now the time for the country to take a share of responsibility for what is happening in Latin America as a whole.
He also stressed the belonging of Mexico to North America, with which it is associated to by a border that stretches for 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles), 1 million legal border crossings a year and trade with the United States amounting to $1 million per minute.
"Trade with the United States is so intense that the North American destination for Mexico, without doubt, is the most important, we are the third most important trading partner of the United States," the president said.
Pena Nieto was the first Latin American leader to be awarded the prize by The Atlantic Council.
