December 16, 2020

Last year, Governors Gavin Newsom of California, Jaime Bonilla of Baja California, and Carlos Mendoza of Baja California Sur, signed an MOU reestablishing the Commission of the Californias. The initiative created a binational forum to share information on common interests and issues, as well as discussing strategies to approach a solution together. This month, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis informed that the Commission met with representatives from different state agencies from both sides of the border who explored collaboration opportunities across a variety of sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, trade, environment, energy, and public health. The resulting trilateral agreements included the following:

• Tabletop exercises to prepare for natural disasters;
• Enhanced cooperation on a wide range of environmental issues including transboundary pollution impacting the Tijuana River Valley in our region; and
• Plan to conduct an evaluation on the feasibility of a joint trilateral pavilion for trade shows and binational efforts to continue to boost our economic competitiveness once in-person activities are resumed.

The Commission builds on a history of collaboration and understanding between the three states and our binational community.