Egyptian Ambassador Addresses Students at Alliant-Mexico City

Mexico City May 2, 2007

Ambassador Aly Houssam El-Hefny Mahmoud, the Ambassador of Egypt to Mexico, gave a talk at Alliant International University’s Mexico City campus. Ambassador El-Hefny, who has two daughters pursuing bachelor’s degrees at the campus, focused his speech on Egyptian relations with China, where he was previously posted.

In his speech, he addressed China’s increasing importance in the international arena—China has one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies, set to reach one trillion dollars in exports this year—as well as relations between the two countries. The ambassador also fielded questions on such topics as Egypt’s human rights and environmental issues, and China’s efforts to integrate Taiwan, which it views as a renegade province. 

The talk was well received. Eduardo Villanueva, a student in the bachelor’s program in International Business Administration, said, “I enjoyed his transparency, and his willingness to share his views and opinions in a very direct way. There was a pretty spicy debate going on.” 

“For both the international mission of the university and the International Relations program, it is a unique privilege to be exposed to real players in international affairs. Our students benefit a great deal by being able to engage in frank, open discussion on delicate, relevant issues affecting our world,” said Dr. Ilya Adler, a professor and the director of Alliant’s Division of International Studies.

Ambassador El-Hefny is the second ambassador to speak at Alliant Mexico in less than a month. On April 9, New Zealand’s ambassador to Mexico gave a talk on New Zealand and its foreign policy. 

On May 9, Alliant hosted the Serbian ambassador to Mexico, Ambassador Milisav Paic, who gave a talk on Serbia’s position on the Balkans, and its diplomatic goals in Mexico and the Americas. Also in attendance was a representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church to discuss the possible threat to Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo. The event was free and open to the public.