Here's What Obama Promised During His Trip to Mexico

May 3, 2013— -- President Obama had a lot of nice things to say during his recent visit to Mexico City, which ended on Friday afternoon. But what did he actually achieve during the one day trip? And what things did he say that give us some clues about how the U.S.-Mexico relationship is changing?

Here are some highlights.

1. Security

Since he came into office in December, Mexico's president has said that he would like to change his country's security strategy, focusing less on capturing drug cartel leaders and more on finding ways to reduce violence.

One way he's proposed for doing that is investing in social programs that dissuade young people from joining criminal groups.

Obama basically agreed to go along with this strategic shift during his visit to Mexico City, saying that it is "up to the Mexican people to determine their security structures."

He suggested that U.S. cooperation with Mexico on security matters would continue to be strong, despite new policies by the Mexican government that make it harder for U.S. law enforcement agencies to get sensitive intelligence info from their Mexican counterparts.

2. Economic Integration

Repeatedly during this visit, Obama and Peña Nieto said that the U.S.-Mexico relationship should go much further than just immigration and security, which were the main themes tackled by both countries under Mexico's previous president Felipe Calderón. Obama and Peña Nieto also announced a couple of new initiatives that should help to facilitate economic integration.

The initiatives:

--Top economic policy advisors from both countries plan to meet in the fall.

--The U.S. and Mexico will create a bi-national group that will provide support to companies that want to do business in both nations.

-- Obama suggested that both countries invest in infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border in order to expand trade.

-- Obama said that he want to finsih off an agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership this year. This is a free-trade deal between countries in North America, South America and Asia that would give the U.S. and Mexico greater access to emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

3. Education

In their joint press conference, Obama and Peña Nieto said that they would create a "bilateral forum on higher education, innovation and research." This group will be made up of education officials from the U.S. and Mexico, who would find research projects that both countries could collaborate on.

Obama also said on Friday that he wants to create programs that would allow 100,000 Latin American students to study in U.S. universities, and 100,000 American students to study in Latin American universities. He said these programs would focus on students studying science, engineering and math. Sorry, liberal arts majors.

4. Energy

Without going into details, Obama said that the U.S. and Mexico should develop "clean energy partnerships."

"Let's keep investing in green buildings and smart grid technologies so we're making our planet cleaner and safer for future generations," Obama said in a speech at the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City.

Obama also mentioned that the U.S. and Mexico should find ways to sell electricity to each other when the conditions are appropriate for such deals.

Peña Nieto is also trying to reform Mexico's energy laws, to allow foreign companies to invest more in oil and gas exploration. But it could be months or years before such reforms are passed by Mexico's Congress since this is a sensitive issue in Mexico.