State of Mexico（メキシコ州・英語）

In July 1978 when the Governor of Saitama Prefecture visited Central and South America, the person who was later to be the President of the Saitama Association of Mexico proposed that a sister-state relationship with the State of Mexico be developed. Sharing some common features such as a location adjacent to the capital and a rapidly increasing population, Saitama Prefecture and Mexico State signed a sister-state Agreement in October 1979.

About Mexico State

Mexico State is located in the center of the United Mexican States and mostly consists of highlands at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. The state surrounds the capital, Mexico City, from three directions. Agricultural industies such as corn production flourish in this region, and colorful woven cloth called zarape is a famous product. There are many archaeological and historical sites, including the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon built by the Teotihuacan civilization that flourished more than 2,000 years ago, and the Tepoztlan church, a majestic baroque building built during the Spanish colonial period.

Major exchange programs with Saitama Prefecture

- Acceptance of trainees (1983 - 2011)

- Organizing exhibitions of children’s paintings alternately (1986-2004)

- Acceptance of special researchers in the genetic analysis field (2002-2004)

- Official mission visit to Mexico (2004, 2014)

- Dispatch of scholarship students to the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (2005-2009)

- Visit by the Governor of Mexico State to Saitama Prefecture (2007)

- Visit by the Ambassador of Mexico to Japan (2015)

- Dispatch of 20 students from prefectural senior high schools to Mexico State (2015, 2017)

- Exchange of pyrotechnicians from Mexico State and fireworks experts from Saitama Prefecture (2018)

- Saitama-Mexico Pyrotechnics Technology Exchange Project held to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the sister-state relationship between Mexico and Saitama (2019)

- Conducted an online exchange event between Japanese and Mexican high school students (2021)