It is a good day for potential interns on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Sergio Alcocer, the Under Secretary for North American Affairs, and Evan Ryan, the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affair, have come together to sign “a Memorandum of Understanding” which will create an exciting opportunity for students and graduates called the U.S.-Mexico Intern Program.

The new program will strive to expand academic exchange and internship opportunities for U.S. and Mexican college students as well as for recent graduates.

The goal will be an increase in educational exchange opportunities between the U.S. and Mexico, which is seen, as stated in the media note offered by the U.S. Department of State, as “essential” in developing the regional workforce that the U.S. needs in order to position North America as “the most competitive and dynamic region in the world.”

This new initiative will support the objectives set by the Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research which, officially launched in May 2014, were announced by Presidents Barack Obama and Enrique Peña Nieto in May 2013 under the auspices of the U.S.–Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue.

The statement, regarding the new intern opportunities and elaborating on the mutual benefits that might occur in the course of collaboration, reads: “Through the Bilateral Forum, our governments have worked with educational institutions, the private sector, and other stakeholders to identify challenges and opportunities in developing a shared vision in the areas of higher education, innovation and research that promote economic development in both countries.”

Both the U.S. and Mexican governments plan to organize a series of events in order to promote the U.S.–Mexico Intern Program,

One of the events will be a study tour for U.S.-based educational institutions and private sector representatives to Mexico which will take place in May.