24 March 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to Mexico Catalino R. Dilem, Jr. toured various academic institutes during his three-day visit to the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León from March  08 to 10 to spur academic exchanges between the Philippines and Mexico.

Ambassador Dilem visited the campus of the Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM), one of the most prestigious private universities in Mexico. He met with Dr. Antonio J. Dieck Assad, University President; Thomas Buntru, Director of International Programs; Ms. Daniela Rodriguez, Director of Conventions and Communication and discussed potential academic/student exchanges with UDEM and Philippine universities.

The Ambassador then went to the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) university campus, considered one of the top-ranked institutions of higher learning in Latin America. He was given a tour of the facilities in the Research Center for Protein Development (CIDPRO / Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de Proteinas), an institute that specializes in designing and producing novel vegetable proteins that may be used to replace animal proteins used in various foods.

The CIDPRO researchers informed Ambassador Dilem of the nutritional benefits and resource-efficiency of their novel vegetable proteins, as these require far fewer resources to produce than meat proteins. CIDPRO then demonstrated to the Ambassador the various products they had developed, such as bread, cheeses, ice cream, and snacks. Ambassador Dilem noted the value of this research in combating nutritional deficiencies and hunger incidence.

Lastly, Ambassador Dilem visited Monterrey's Technology Research and Innovation Park (PIIT / Parque de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica), a business park dedicated solely to research and innovation of new technologies. Dr. Martha Leal, Director of Graduate Planning, Disclosure, and Cooperation, gave the Ambassador a tour of the nanotechnology incubator at the PIIT, and presented the practical applications of their research to the delegation. END