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Mexico Business Center Update

By James Clark, Mexico Business Center Director General

The need for new and improved border crossings between California and Baja California will be the main topic of San Diego/Baja California Mission to Mexico III.   This month’s mission, scheduled for April 7-10, is the third annual trip to Mexico City for the Chamber’s Mexico Business Center.   Meetings are scheduled with the Secretariats of Economy, Foreign Relations and Communications & Transportation as well as the Presidency, Bank of Mexico, Customs, United States Embassy and the private sector.

Project Smart Border is the major initiative of the Mexico Business Center and is working towards border crossings of no more than 15 minutes by the end of 2010.  Some of the key points we plan to make in Mexico City are:

• $4.5 billion is lost to the economies of San Diego and Baja California due to border delays.

• 140 manufacturing companies have facilities in both San Diego and Baja California and delays hurt their productivity.

• Products heading towards and from the Ports (San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach) as well as throughout California and theUnited States are severely affected by border delays making the state less competitive.

• Air quality suffers from the exhaust of both automobiles and trucks idling to cross the border.

• At the busiest border in the world it is possible to improve both security and efficiency with increased pre-clearance of frequent crossers and a focus on infrequent crossers.

• The border crossings between San Diego and Baja California should be a showcase for California technology:
  1. San Ysidro/El Chaparral;
  2. Cross Border Terminal/Tijuana International Airport;
  3. Otay Mesa I/Mesa de Otay;
  4. Otay Mesa II/Mesa de Otay Este;
  5. Tecate/Tecate; and
  6. Imperial County/Mexicali-Algodones.

• Technology exists today that can reduce most border waits to 10 minutes in off hours and no more than 20 minutes in peak commute times.

• Regional companies can:
  1. Design the border infrastructure;
  2. Develop the technology to speed both commercial and non-commercial crossing;
  3. Form a private/public partnership to fund the border projects; and
  4. Assist the government to complete the projects on time and on budget.

Forty-four delegates from the San Diego/Baja California Region will make their presentations to the Mexican government.  The Mexico Business Center is currently raising funds to assure that Project Smart Border 2010 has a strong voice in Washington as well as Mexico City.   A follow-up Mission to Washington is planned for later this year.