The Lehendakari’s visit to the US will focus on technology, science and innovation

The main idea of this trip is to "highlight the main features of the Basque Country: Basque culture, technologies, companies, Basque language, innovation and the University"

As of July 24, the Lehendakari will visit Nevada, Idaho and California, where he will visit the Basque Studies Centre of the University of Nevada, in Reno, which was inaugurated a year ago. He will present the Lagun Onari award to the North American State of Nevada and the Lan Onari prize to the director of the Basque Museum in Boise (Idaho), Patty Miller. This institutional trip will end with a visit to the NABO convention where Lopez will attend the Jaialdi and have a meeting with the Basque communities of these North American states. The Secretary General for Foreign Action, Guillermo Echenique, explained that the aim of this trip is to highlight the "variety of activities and elements that make the Basque Country what it is today".

The first official visit of the Lehendakari, Patxi Lopez, to the United States will be of a markedly technological and cultural nature. From his arrival in Reno on July 24, the Lehendakari will visit the universities of Nevada, Berkeley and Stanford, site of the Proton Accelerator. The final part of the trip will include a visit to the Basque centres in North America. The Lehendakari will attend the NABO Assembly and take part in the Jaialdi, an event which is held every five years in Boise, Idaho. Its organising committee invited the Lehendakari in January. The Secretary General for Foreign Action, Guillermo Echenique, explained that the aim of this trip is to highlight the "variety of activities and elements that make the Basque Country what it is today".

The Secretary General for Foreign Action, Guillermo Echenique, provided details of the first official trip of the Lehendakari to the US at a press conference offered at the headquarters of the Basque Government in Bilbao. The Lehendakari will be accompanied on this trip by the Culture Minister, Blanca Urgell, the director of the Etxepare Institute, Aizpea Goenaga, the Vice Chancellor of the Basque University, Iñaki Goirizelaia, the Vice Chancellor of Mondragon Unibersitatea, Josu Zabala, and the director of the Orchestra of the University of Deusto.

The official trip will start on July 25 with a dinner offered in honour of the Lehendakari, Patxi Lopez, at the Basque Studies Centre in the city of Reno, where he will be accompanied by the Member of Congress, Jon Garamendi, William Douglas, founder of the Basque Studies Centre of the University of Reno, the President of the University of Nevada and Joseba Zulaika, director of Basque Studies. The following day, at the Basque Studies Centre, the Lehendakari will present the Lagun Onari award to the State of Nevada, to be collected by Governor Jim Gibbons.

On Tuesday, the Lehendakari will travel to San Francisco to visit the University of Berkeley where he will sign several collaboration agreements between the University laboratory and the Basque University, and another between the School of Information of the University of Berkeley and the Orchestra Institute of the University of Deusto. The Lehendakari will then attend a meeting between the board of directors of the Basque Centre of San Francisco Bay where Patxi Lopez will offer a reception to companies of Basque and American origin. The reception will be attended by a group of GAIA companies, the association of electronic industries, which will be doing business these days in the San Francisco area.

Wednesday 28 is the day with the highest technological content, as it will start with a visit to Google and Slac, the home of the Proton Accelerator of the University of Stanford and the Cars Automotive centre of the University, which is working on new formulas of intelligent vehicles.

In Boise, the Lehendakari will take part in the Jaialdi, which is held every five years, accompanied by the Culture Minister, Blanca Urgell. There, Lopez will offer a reception to Basque residents in Idaho, where he will present the Lan Onari award to Patty Miller, who has been director of the Basque Museum in Boise since 1993. This museum is the only one of its kind in the United States and is engaged in the promotion of Basque culture in North American schools and in the organisation of photographic exhibitions on the Basque Country.

Lopez will also visit the Basque Block and will attend several events programmed on the occasion of the Jaialdi, such as an exhibition of Basque Sports. He will also attend the inauguration of the exhibition "History of Basque Ball" organised by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.On Friday, July 30, the Lehendakari will inaugurate the Nabo Convention, the Basque centres association of United States and Canada, made up of 45 Basque centres. He will later attend a ceremony at the University of Boise, which will include the signing of the Basque studies programme of this university.On Saturday, July 31, the Lehendakari will attend events organised on the occasion of the Jaialdi, programmed by the organisers, thus ending the first official trip of the Lehendakari to the United States.