To raise awareness among the academic and industrial sector about the solutions the train offers as a means of transport in the region, the Cali-Baja Cargo Rail will hold a forum at the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) Tecate campus on June 9. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the industrial sector, scholars, and customs and logistics agencies as the target audience.

According to the event’s organizers, the Cali-Baja Cargo Rail Binational Forum is a space for reflection, analysis, and exchange of knowledge regarding the railway infrastructure in Baja California.

This space will be strengthened through the discussion generated by representatives of the academic and industrial sector of the region in order to highlight the opportunities, benefits, impacts and challenges of the existing context from relevant events and performance of the industry over the years.

UABC Chancellor Juan Manuel Ocegueda Hernández, Tecate Mayor Nereida Fuentes Gonzalez, and Baja California’s Governor Francisco Vega de Lamadrid were invited to participate in the binational forum.

As part of the program, three panels will be held featuring scholars like John Kirchner, Pablo Guadiana, and Paul Ganster.

A summary about the topics discussed in the different panels and an approach of the various lines of action in the current context, and the short, medium and long-term possibilities of the railway industry in the region will be presented at the end of the event with the participation of the Consul General of the Mexican Consulate in San Diego Marcela Celorio, and the Consul General of the United States Consulate in Tijuana William A. Ostick.

Both consul generals along with UABC Tecate Dean Edith Montiel held a press conference to talk about the details of the binational forum at the Club de Empresarios’ facilities in Tijuana, on Tuesday, May 23.

“The forum will address the logistical issues that are very important to the role of the railroad at the border, especially to allow the legitimate transit of goods between the two countries,” Celorio said. “Cali-Baja is a great region and it’s important that such forums are held so that we have specific data and topics that we know are going to help the region be as great as it is.”

The Cali-Baja region generates about $230 billion, which equals the economy of a country like Finland or Peru.

Private companies, public organisms and government institutions are also involved in the organization of this event with the common goal to strengthen the relationship between California and Baja California, and between the U.S. and Mexico.