Mexico’s Mining Industry

12 Negocios ProMéxico Negocios ProMéxico 13
mexiCo and The BeT on
The inTeGRaTion of
Global Supply Chains
Ernesto de Lucas Hopkins has been the
CEO of ProMéxico since December 2012.
ProMéxico is the Mexican government
entity in charge of coordinating strategies
to strengthen Mexico’s participation in the international
economy. It supports the export process of
companies established in Mexico and coordinates
public and private actions aimed at attracting foreign
investment to the country.
In line with President Enrique Peña Nieto’s fivepronged
government strategy –a peaceful, inclusive,
educated, prosperous and globally responsible
country– ProMéxico aims to build a prosperous Mexico
by boosting investment, trade and internationalization
of Mexican companies.
During an interview with Negocios, the young
CEO shared his vision of Mexico, the challenges it
faces and the direction that ProMéxico will follow to
support the growth of the Mexican economy.
—What is your opinion of the Mexican
economy?
I am convinced that this is Mexico’s time. The
country is in the right place at the right time.
For more than 20 years, Mexico has worked to
strengthen its economy, and now we can see the
results: analysts, consultants, entrepreneurs and
specialized media around the world agree that we
have a stable and growing economy.
Regardless of the challenges facing the global
economy today, Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) recorded a 4% growth in 2012, and is expected
to grow 3.5% in 2013. Meanwhile, the country’s
inflation rate was 3.6% in 2012 and according to
several estimates it will remain the same in 2013. In
addition, in January 2013 the country’s international
reserves recorded a historic high of 165.5 trillion
dollars.
All these figures show why the eyes of the world
are focused in Mexico… Because our country has a
promissory horizon, full of growth and development.
And the present administration is working
hard in order to push ahead this momentum. The
government of President Enrique Peña Nieto has a
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very clear vision of where Mexico is heading and what
Mexico needs to accelerate its development. To do
this, he has set five major goals for his administration.
Specifically, ProMéxico is working hard to support the
fourth goal: achieve a more prosperous Mexico.
In this regard, the Government is promoting that
Mexico remains an open economy, a world trade
promoter and a supporter of foreign investment in our
country.
—What are the advantages for Mexico in its
current economic context?
The global financial crisis of 2008 has forced the
global economy to restructure. As part of this process,
large transnationals have had to make decisions
to relocate their operations in more cost-effective
destinations with strong infrastructure and skilled
human talent. Therefore, the face of the global
economy is changing and emerging economies are
playing an increasingly important role.
Within this context, Mexico has positioned itself as
one of the most attractive and profitable destinations
for business development. There are at least four
reasons behind this: the country’s strategic geographic
location; the existence of a legal and regulatory
framework that favors investment; the availability
of a highly-skilled and specialized workforce; and
competitive production costs.
—For over two decades Mexico has defined public
policies to bring its economy to where it is now.
The bet on free trade has been a crucial element
of these policies. Mexico is currently one of the
most open countries in terms of trade and has
an extensive number of free trade agreements in
the world. What’s next?
We must understand that free trade is not an end in
itself, but a tool for economic development to boost
business expansion and achieve a higher wellbeing for
the general population.
In that sense, free trade has been a key element of
Mexico’s growth. Even at times when the trend has
been to adopt protectionist measures to “bulletproof ”
national economies against the fluctuations of