We are delighted to be welcoming the Mexican Ambassador to the college campuses tomorrow (Tuesday 9 December).

HE Diego Gómez Pickering, the Mexican Ambassador to the UK is visiting the Channel Islands on 7-8 December. As part of that he will visit Guernsey, where he will be meeting representatives from the States of Guernsey and having a tour of college campuses. He will also be addressing our level 3 BTEC students at Les Ozouets.

The main purpose of the Ambassador’s visit to Guernsey will be to develop academic links with Guernsey. The Mexican Embassy made contact with Guernsey College of Further Education’s principal Saboohi Famili earlier this year explaining that in recognition of 2015 being ‘The Year of Mexico’ in the UK, he was seeking to strengthen relationships and collaboration with academic institutions throughout Britain, including the Channel Islands. The Ambassador’s itinerary will include a tour of the college’s various sites, where he will give a talk to college students.

‘It’s a real privilege for the college to have been approached by Ambassador Pickering,’ said Saboohi. ‘We have been working extremely hard to build relations with other educational institutions in order to exchange ideas and to share experiences. We were very happy to play our part in the organisation of this event and I am looking forward to meeting the Ambassador and his team.

‘It’s extremely important that the outside world is aware of the high level of training and education in the island, delivered by both public and private sector providers and supported by iniitiatives such as Skills Guernsey. Despite its size Guernsey has the potential to have real presence in the global market. Our vision is to provide world-class education by 2020. This is a bold ambition but one that the Bailiwick and our learners deserve. Foreign and international alliances which can be developed through this kind of visit are key in extending the views of staff, students and States officials and we are proud to take on this ambassadorial role for Guernsey.’

The Chief Minister, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq said:

“I am delighted to welcome the Ambassador on his first visit to Guernsey, and I am particularly pleased that the focus of his trip is education, skills and the creative industries – issues that matter hugely to me personally and to us as an island economy doing business globally, and on which a great deal of work is currently happening in Guernsey. This is a great opportunity to build closer links with an influential member of the OECD and the G20.”

As well as visiting the College’s campuses, the Ambassador will meet with representatives of the Education Department and the Commerce & Employment Department.

Ambassador Pickering started his career in journalism working for CNN in Mexico City and the Americas edition of The Wall Street Journal. This experience led to his appointment as head of the Foreign Press Co-ordination for both President Nieto’s presidential campaign and from 2012 as Director for Foreign Media for the President’s Office.