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 Business News | February 2007 
Mexico Business Leaders Pledge New Jobs
 Kelly Arthur Garrett - Herald Mexico
Buoyed by words of encouragement from President Calderón and an apparent renewed interest in Mexico by U.S. President George Bush´s administration, the American Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 90th anniversary Tuesday, vowing to play a role in the nation´s hoped-for economic growth in the next six years.
"Mr. President, you can count on the thousands of American Chamber businesses to create more sources of employment," newly installed American Chamber leader Simón Díaz said at the organization´s national convention in Mexico City. "And you can count on us to bring in more investment in the coming years."
The American Chamber, familiarly called AmCham, is in a position to do just that. Its members represent 85 percent of foreign investment in Mexico, contributing more than US$100 billion annually.
President Calderón acknowledged that fact as he addressed the Chamber Tuesday morning. "Since 1917, a very historic date for Mexico, your organization has played a highly relevant role in the economic development of this country," he told AmCham members. "I truly thank you on behalf of all Mexicans for making the decision to invest more and create more jobs for Mexicans."
REINVIGORATED INTEREST
Calderón and Díaz both spoke in an atmosphere of newly invigorated Mexican-U.S. relations. New Congresses have been installed on both sides of the border right around the time Calderón took office, and key cabinet secretaries have recently made high profile state visits. On March 12, Calderón and Bush will meet in Mérida, Yucatán.
"I´ve been noticing a growing confidence in Mexico among business, inside and outside the American Chamber," Calderón said.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza, who attended Monday evening´s opening ceremonies as well as the Tuesday sessions, was similarly upbeat.
"I have never been more optimistic about Mexico and our bilateral relationship than I am today," Garza said. "President Calderón and his administration are addressing major issues head on as we discuss our shared responsibilities and challenges."
Calderón dedicated much of his speech to those challenges, including the migration question. His statement against a border wall drew applause from the AmCham executives.
"To reduce migration, I think it would be much more useful to build a kilometer of highway in Zacatecas or Guanajuato or Michoacán or Jalisco than 10 kilometers of a wall in Arizona, Texas or anywhere else," the president said.
As he often has in the past, Calderón stressed that Mexico and the United States have a shared interest in reducing the flow of Mexican workers across the border.
"What´s best for Mexico is for Mexicans not to have to migrate," he said. "My objective is that one day our beloved country will be capable of providing work for every Mexican."
Calderón also pointed to a number of recent agreements between the United States and Mexico, including a breakthrough on cross-border trucking and an agreement on Mexican avocado exports.
STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE
Calderón said Mexico´s proximity to the United States is an advantage. "We are the only nation that has the privilege of being profoundly Latin American and North American at the same time," he said.
Underscoring the importance of the American Chamber in Mexico, several prominent politicians addressed the convention, including Senate leaders from all three major parties and the governors of Zacatecas, Sonora and Nuevo León.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico James Jones, speaking without the constraints of a current diplomatic post, tempered the enthusiasm just a bit.
"Mexico is still not uppermost in the minds of most people in Washington," he said, mentioning Iraq and the 2008 presidential election as examples of higher priorities. "But at least there´s beginning to be some awareness, which has not been the case in the last several years."
Jones said he doubted that much of the proposed border wall will be built, and predicted a single North American economic zone - uniting Mexico, Canada and the United States - by the year 2030.
"We ought to be aiming for a borderless economy," he said. "It´s not something that can be realistically proposed now for political reasons, but in 20-some years it will exist de facto." |
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