Mexican President Fox to visit Belize on 28 June
By BBC
Jun 26, 2005, 19:00 GMT

Text of report by Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) news agency on 25 June

Belmopan, Belize: Mexican President Vicente Fox is to pay an official visit to Belize next week, the ministry of foreign affairs has announced.

Fox will hold key meetings with Governor-General Sir Colville Young, Prime Minister Said Musa and the cabinet, and will address a special session of the National Assembly, a release from the ministry stated.

It said he would also use the opportunity to speak at a "business mixer", designed to promote trade and investment between the two countries.

The Mexican leader arrives here on Tuesday [28 June] and will be accompanied by members of his cabinet, governors of the southern Mexican states, other senior government officials and leaders of the business community of Mexico, the ministry of foreign affairs said.

"On Tuesday afternoon, agreements relating to infrastructural development, border security and emergency management will be signed between Belize and Mexico," the release stated.

Musa will confer the country's second highest honour, the Order of Belize on the Mexican president during a state dinner on Tuesday evening, the ministry revealed.

The Order of Belize, established under the National Honours and Awards Act of 1991, is reserved for heads of state whom Belize wishes to honour.

Only two people former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari (awarded on 21 September 1991) and President Fidel Castro of Cuba, (awarded 8 February 1999) - have previously been awarded the Order of Belize, according the government's website.

Fox leaves here on Wednesday morning for the Seventh Summit of Heads of State and Governments of Central America, Belize and Mexico in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Source: Caribbean Media Corporation news agency, Bridgetown, in English 1843 gmt 25 Jun 05

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Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring Service distributed by United Press International.