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| Volume 3, Issue 5 |
President's Message
Last month, the Chamber's Mexico Business Center led a delegation to meet with Mexican business leaders and government officials in Mexico City. The trip occurred before the overwhelming media coverage of the recent swine flu outbreak.
Our delegation of San Diego and Baja California leaders included Chamber Board Chairman Ben Haddad, Mexico Business Center Chairman Steve Williams, Jessie Knight of Sempra Energy, Encinitas Council Member Mayor Jerome Stocks and many others, including Tijuana Mayor Jorge Ramos.
It was a successful trip with a focus on long-term economic stimulus through trade, and the use of technology to help improve security and reduce wait times at our border ports of entry.
We met with Mexican Senators, House delegates and leading officials within the Secretariats of Economy, Transportation, Customs, Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Public Safety.
In addition to the top U.S. diplomat in Mexico, we joined the Ambassador of Canada to Mexico for breakfast at his home. Our discussion focused on the important economic benefits of free trade (including agreements such as NAFTA) especially for border regions like San Diego.
Trade between the U.S. and Mexico accounts for over $1 billion in economic activity each day ($367 billion in 2008). The new Otay Mesa East port of entry is projected to help sustain thousands of jobs in construction and operations. It is important to recognize that Mexico is and will remain an important trading partner for California and San Diego.Despite the unfortunate news coverage regarding the recent flu outbreak, progress on long-term trade issues helps to create jobs inSan Diego and to improve our business climate as we work toward economic recovery for our region. As always, please contact me with comments or suggestions at president@sdchamber.org.
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