UCLA delegates to join Mayor Garcetti on trip to Mexico

UCLA leaders will join Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Tuesday on his first international trade mission to Mexico City, to recruit more students from Mexico to UCLA and strengthen the university’s connection to the country.

The trip is part of Garcetti’s program to expand Los Angeles’ role in international trade. It is designed to promote investment and tourism from Mexico.

Representatives from UCLA, USC, Loyola Marymount University and CSU Northridge are also using the opportunity to promote international interest in higher education in Los Angeles. UCLA students are invited to apply to attend.

Rachel Brashier of UCLA Government and Community Relations said universities are attending the mission to highlight that higher education is a valuable resource in Los Angeles.

Heading the UCLA delegation is Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, who will give a lecture on trends in international trade.

Leamer said the lecture will focus on the need to foster closer communication and exchange of ideas between students in Mexico and the U.S. because Mexico is close in proximity to Los Angeles and many of the city’s residents have cultural ties to Mexico. It will be open to current UCLA students and to UCLA alumni who live in Mexico City.

“The exchange of ideas is critical for economic health,” Leamer said. “Successful countries build intellectual bridges for the free flow of ideas.”

While in Mexico, UCLA officials will explore expanding the Anderson School of Management’s international MBA program’s involvement in Mexico to foster stronger ties to Latin America, Brashier said.

Bob Pettit, the executive director of Anderson’s Global Executive MBA Program for the Americas, said the school is working with the mayor’s office to try and increase trade between Mexico and Los Angeles.

Pettit, who is part of UCLA’s delegation, said Anderson leaders are visiting Mexico to grow the number of Mexican students enrolled in the global MBA program, which currently has centers in Miami, Sao Paulo, and Santiago, Chile, as well as in Los Angeles.

Despite recent political, economic and social instability in Mexico, Leamer said a stronger tie to the U.S. and more robust economic activity would help the country overcome such volatility.

“Current instabilities in the region should not create a fear of involvement in Mexico and Latin America,” Pettit said.

Vicki Curry, the spokeswoman for the mayor, said Garcetti chose Mexico as the location for his first international mission in his position because of its important ties to Los Angeles.

Mexico is the city’s most important trading partner, with an annual flow of about $2.2 billion between Los Angeles and Mexico City, Curry said. Mexico is also the largest source of international tourism for Los Angeles, and the delegation hopes to encourage more flights to the city from Mexico.

“The mayor wants to promote Los Angeles as a good place for investment and to encourage more businesses to come to the city,” Curry said.

While in Mexico City, the mayor will meet with the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, the mayor of Mexico City, other Mexican national and municipal officials and executives from leading Mexican businesses.

The trip to Mexico is only the first of the mayor’s planned international trade missions. A mission to Asia is in the works for the upcoming fall and may include visits to China, Japan and South Korea.