US secretary of state to visit France, Mexico next week

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the French capital Paris between Oct. 4 – 6 to chair a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Blinken will head the Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) and mark the organization’s 60th anniversary.

“The Ministerial theme is ‘Shared values: Building a Green and Inclusive Future;’ accordingly, advancing efforts to combat the climate crisis, promoting quality infrastructure development, and building a more inclusive and equitable future will be among U.S. priorities at the MCM,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Blinken will also meet with French counterparts to continue discussions on further strengthening the vital US-France relationship on a range of issues.

Those include security in the Indo-Pacific region, the climate crisis, economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the transatlantic relationship, and working with allies and partners to address global challenges and opportunities.

The MCM is the OECD’s highest-level forum, attended by ministers of finance, economy, foreign affairs, trade and other government departments from the organization’s member and partner countries, as well as by representatives of other international Organizations.

On Oct. 7-8, the top diplomat will travel to Mexican capital of Mexico City to co-lead the US delegation to the US-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue, said the statement.

“Discussions with Mexican counterparts on this trip will reinforce our strong bilateral relationship with Mexico and build upon various discussions in the previous months between our two governments,” it added.