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U.S.-Mexico Partnership for Prosperity Launches New Initiatives
Guadalajara, Mexico, June 28, 2004 – Senior U.S. and Mexican officials
and corporate executives announced several new initiatives to promote
economic development in Mexico during a two-day entrepreneurial workshop.
More than 650 U.S. and Mexican entrepreneurs and government officials
met in the Mexican city of Guadalajara to discuss North American competitiveness
and to explore business opportunities in housing, finance, rural development,
information technology and infrastructure.
Major Accomplishments of the U.S. – Mexico Partnership for
Prosperity
- At the Award Ceremony
and Gala on June 28 the United States and Mexico announced the winners
of the inaugural Partnership for Prosperity Good Partner
Award (GPA). GPA recognizes the role of the private sector in advancing
social and economic development in Mexico. This year’s winners
were the Mexico division of General Motors, and paint maker Comercial
Mexicana
de Pinturas (Consorcio COMEX).
- USAID, working closely
with the Government of Mexico, USDA and its vast partner network of land
grant universities, requested proposals for up to
six new Mexico-U.S. educational partnerships through the next round
of the Training, Internships, Exchanges, and Scholarships (TIES) university
partnership
program. The new partnerships will focus on rural economic growth.
- Last year, an historic
agreement was concluded that would enable the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC) to offer additional programs to foster
investment in Mexico. The Mexican Senate approved the agreement last
April. Housing, water, education, and municipal infrastructure have been
identified
as priority areas.
- Through a cooperative
effort by Banobras, USAID, and U.S. financial advisory firm Evensen
Dodge, the states of Michoacán, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México,
Veracruz, Chihuahua, Morelos, the Federal District, and the cities
of Aguascalientes, Cancún, and Tlanepantla, have issued debt certificates
to finance key infrastructure
needs.
- The U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA) will continue the development of, and training
for, new Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) in Mexico.
SBA is also working with NAFIN in the development of a venture
capital program, and with Economía in the adaptation of SBA programs
to encourage
the development
and growth of Mexico’s small business enterprises.
- Over the past
year, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) provided
grant and project development funding for 12 priority activities in Mexico,
ranging in scope from airport modernization to venture capital industry development,
water/waste systems, intelligent transportation networks and housing finance.
Through P4P, USTDA continues promoting Mexico’s infrastructure,
transportation, and financial service sectors through feasibility studies
and technical assistance
grants.
- The Consejo Nacional
de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) concluded cooperation agreements with
U.S. academic institutions and research centers to grant scholarships
to Mexican students, promote faculty interchange, and collaborate in
joint research programs.
P4P Builds for the future:
- The U.S. and Mexican
governments and private sector will exchange ideas and review lessons
learned regarding how to effectively access purchasing
decision-makers in discussions with some of the largest U.S. and
Mexican manufacturers. Experts will highlight the importance to both economies
of a competitive North
American manufacturing base and outline best quality, technology,
cost, financing and marketing practices.
- To increase competition
in remittance services, private financial institutions have expanded
remittance services over the last year and U.S. financial agencies
continue their focus on promoting financial literacy to increase
access to and awareness of remittance services. For example, the Federal
Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC)’s Money Smart program has provided financial
training to over 35,000 Mexican immigrants in the United States.
- The Bank of Mexico
(Banxico) and the U.S. Federal Reserve System commenced one-way operations
last year of the TEFI/ Fed Automated Clearing House (ACH)
International Mexico Service. This system provides for low-cost government
and commercial cross-border payments through improving the financial
interconnection of both countries supporting Mexico’s financial
infrastructure. The program is expected to be fully operational in 2005,
allowing financial institutions
to carry out cross-border transactions in both directions.
- The P4P identified
communications and information technology as vital to North American competitiveness.
Discussion at the workshop will target mobile
technologies, portal services, enterprise application integration
to tie technologies together, and RFID (radio frequency identification)
implementation for use
in inventory control.
The unique public-private Partnership for Prosperity initiative was launched
by U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in September
2001 to target economic development in the areas of Mexico which generate
the most emigrants based on the premise that no Mexican should feel compelled
to leave his home for lack of economic opportunity.
More information is available at the Partnership website: www.p4pworks.org.
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