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Mexico Business Center Update
By James Clark, Mexico Business Center Director General

The Chamber’s Mexico Business Center completed a successful fourth annual policy and trade mission to meet with Mexico’s federal government and other officials from April 20-23.   Thirty-eight delegates representing various sectors of business and government from both San Diego and Tijuana discussed border crossing issues as well as security and tourism questions with key officials.

Led by Chamber Chairman Ben Haddad, President Ruben Barrales and Mexico Business Center Chairman James Clark, the group was also joined by additional persons based in Mexico City and in Ottawa, Canada.   Consul General of Mexico in San Diego Remedios Gomez Arnau accompanied the mission and made the arrangements for the governmental meetings through the foreign ministry. 

Meetings were held with the Secretariats of Communications & Transportation, Economy, Foreign Relations, Public Security, Treasury (Customs), and Tourism as well as the Bank of Mexico, the country’s equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.   

Canada’s Ambassador to Mexico Guillermo E. Rishchynski hosted the delegation for breakfast at his residence.  The ambassador discussed his country’s successful migrant workers program that could be a model for the United States agriculture, construction and hospitality industries.

Interim United States Ambassador Charge d’affaires Leslie Bassett discussed the recent visits to Mexico City by President Barak Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Erick Holder.   The outlook was for closer collaboration and cooperation between the two countries, which was evidenced the next week when the swine flu epidemic struck both countries.

The delegation met with the private sector at the Mexico City campus of Alliant International University and heard from the Chief Economist of HSBC Bank and the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico.   There was concern that the Mexican economy would not recover until that of the United States began to show positive signs of consumer optimism.  More that 80 percent of Mexico’s manufacturing output from autos to televisions are shipped to the United States.