Mr. President-elect, on the 2nd of July, the world's eyes were focused on Mexico and its new president. The results of the elections were a historical moment for Mexico and the following peaceful transition period proved that democracy has finally been fully implemented in the Mexican society. What were your initial thoughts, when the PAN victory was announced?
We knew that the people in Mexico were eager for a change. As I Knew the results of the election I felt a great honor that is to lead the aspiration of the people for a better Mexico.
You have expressed - on several occasions - your willingness to support the small and medium-sized companies in terms of credit. How exactly do you intend to support this sector?
We know that this sector has been forgotten by commercial banks. My government will create a program named Social Bank which final purpose will be to support all the small and medium sized companies with credit. Also with the development banks, we are going to give access to credit with new financial products and we are going to create what we name "Fondos de Capital Accionario" to create the capital that this type of companies needs.
What can be done to include small and medium sized companies in the highly beneficial field of international trade and commerce?
There are a lot of actions that can be done, we think that the ones related with the enforcement of human capital , finance skills and association of small business will create more competitive companies for the field of international trade and commerce.
Although Mexico has an outstanding foreign trade resume, it depends strongly on the U.S. market, as almost 85% of Mexican exports are being sold in the U.S. Will the new administration support the private sector in order to diversify its export markets?
Being part of several Free Trade Agreements such as NAFTA and EUFTA has brought several benefits to our country, yet, we have to expand them to all sectors and regions of Mexico in order to see the real fructification of this global project.
The private sector will play an active role, not only in the location of new potential commercial markets, but also as a promoter of our country and all its regions to new foreign investors willing to find the better option for their capitals.
While the Government will provide the necessary support to all states and provinces to make not only their products, but their offered investment opportunities more competitive in order to maintain their participation in this process.
While you were the governor of the state of Guanajuato, you visited - together with other Mexican representatives - several Asian countries on a mission to evaluate the possibilities of increasing bilateral commerce and trade. What do you foresee for the future of Mexican - Asian relations?
Mexico as an active member of the APEC, sees in Asia an enormous number of possibilities, so as great business partner. Nevertheless, a market that hasn't being exploited as it could, and in an effort to diversify our markets we will have especial interest in expanding our products further more to that part of the world, so as showing ourselves as an attractive land of investment opportunities.
Today, Asian Investments in Mexico have been stimulated by the closeness to the biggest consumer market in the world, especially what concerns to electronic and the automobile industries. But we have to work harder to bring more diversified investments to different sectors and regions by letting them know of our comparative advantages, that to this day, have worked so well for the investors now established.
Safety, in terms of personal and legislative security, is a main concern of Asian investors. Is it also a major objective of the new administration?
Safety is ranked among the top concerns of the Mexican population. The incoming government is planning a series of reforms to improve the provision of public safety. Our main goal is to ensure an environment of personal and legislative security that promotes the free flow of private investment, both domestic and foreign | The new government is expected to maintain a restrictive fiscal policy, which, together with a prudent monetary policy, should guarantee a stable, continuous growth of the economy. What are the projected goals and expected results of the planned fiscal reform?
The Fiscal Reform that we are proposing includes modifications in the income, the expenditure and debt management side, that's what we named "Reforma Hacendaria". This Reform has six main objectives. First it has to increase the public resources to healthy finance the public expenditure of the Federal Government. Second, the reform has to create an efficient tax structure to increase savings and investment and promote the economic growth and the social welfare needed by the population. Third, it will establish the necessary conditions to create a healthy fiscal relation between federation, states and municipals. Fourth, it pretends to increase the pay of taxes with a new simple, transparent and effective tax payment system. Fifth, the reform will guarantee an equalize tax payment distribution and finally it will establish a high quality fiscal administration capable to reduce fiscal evasion and improve the service to the tax payer.
The Mexican banking sector has been going through troubled times in the past few years and was thus unable to provide the necessary support for the country's economic development. Although we have already witnessed a significant consolidation process within this sector, it has still not fully recovered. What can be done in order to guarantee, once again, the traditional role of banking sector?
The banking sector in Mexico requires more capital to contribute to the economic growth, we estimate that it will need between five and six billion dollars for capitalization. To reduce operation costs, we propose to lower the number of financial authorities (not the supervision), with this action we are going to make a more efficient supervision of the sector an reduce the banks quotas payments. Additional changes have to be made in the regulatory framework because the actual laws benefit the creditor and the "miscelanea de garantías" doesn't give the expected juridical protection. We also need a judicial reform particularly in the sense that private problems need to be solved in the best way.
You have pledged to maintain PEMEX and CFE as possessions of the state, while at the same time spurring private investment in the energy sector. Will it not be necessary to allow the privatization of PEMEX and CFE, in order to fulfill the increasing energy demand of the private sector over the next few years?
We don't need to privatize the companies, the proposed plan does not contemplate privatizing existing assets. Moreover, it will be carried out with due respect to workers' rights. The proposed has the main objective the guarantee an stable management during the restructuring process. The priority for the national electric industry and PEMEX fiscal reform will be to find a mechanism that simultaneously guarantees the efficient delivery of electricity to the country, while ensuring that the sector is competitive and capable of attracting investments.
What are the priorities of Mexico's incoming government going to be as of December 1st?
In the short term, my government will consolidate the macroeconomic stability, eliminate the inflation problem and considering the present economic situation, and the impact that foreign exogenous factors can have on the performance of the economy, we are presenting a conservative budget for 2001 that is also in keeping with the mid-term goals that we have for the economy. We also have to finish the structural reforms to change the potential growth of the economy from 5% to a minimum of 7% sustainable rate of growth in the next 6 years.
Mr. President-elect, Mexico is becoming an important platform for international trade, due to its geographical position and its successful efforts to establish a global network of free trade agreements. What is Mexico's future position going to be in terms of globalization?
It's been 14 years since the GATT treaty was signed, Mexico's first step towards the globalization. Since then, Mexico has fought to accomplish the goal of a bigger international market participation. Today, as you know, we have the biggest net of FTAs, and a respectable foreign investment captation, but this is only the beginning.
My administration will apply several programs in this matter that will fully promote the achievement of the international competitive standards that a nation such as Mexico should have. Not just for its geographical location, but for it's resources and capabilities, and we are certain that this will give our country a closer and more efficient position on what the globalization process is all about. |
