ECLAC - Economic Commission for Latin America and : Mexico has a "very encouraging and promising" outlook: Enrique Peña Nieto

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(25 January 2013) During a meeting with Latin American and Caribbean business leaders, President Enrique Peña Nieto stated that Mexico offers investors "a very encouraging and promising" outlook that points to huge growth potential for the country.

At the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), President Peña Nieto referred to the growth predictions for Mexico over the next few years made by various international and financial agencies by saying "while they are positive (between 3.5% and 4%), the announced measures and actions to be taken by my Government are basically aimed at achieving higher growth in a sustained way".

He added, "Right now, Mexico is a safe and profitable investment option with potential for investors".

He highlighted the need for greater development in Latin America, which can be accelerated by generating greater confidence among business leaders, workers, academics and intellectuals.

He stated that governments must facilitate greater integration in the region, although he acknowledged, "this will be driven by the capacity that we must bring out in our business leaders, workers and our economic, social and political stakeholders".

Agreeing with ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, he stressed that Mexico is a country that must work on increasing its productivity "to enable faster growth by making the most of our strengths and capacities, and above all to democratize productivity".

Accompanied by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, and the Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, President Peña Nieto declared that "we must be a Government that boosts development in an equitable way". To achieve this objective, he added "we recently implemented a project to contain and tackle an unfortunate situation that affects not only of Mexico but all Latin America and many other countries: namely that of poverty and social inequality".

Speaking about the regional Summit he would be attending in Santiago, he affirmed "I will reiterate the political willingness for Mexico to increase its participation in cultural, trade, economic and social exchange with all of Latin America and the Caribbean in the next few years".

He emphasized the Mexico accepts its responsibilities, wishes to participate, wants to forge stronger cooperation with sister nations of the world and achieve greater integration.

He confirmed that the CELAC Summit is a great opportunity to strengthen relations, with a view to achieving greater integration and not only economic exchanges but also cultural and social exchange, as this "will boost the strength and wealth of the entire South American region".

He added "we will revitalize the Pacific Alliance, with our fellow regional members - Chile, Peru and Colombia".

According to ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, "thinking about Mexico's role in the regional and global economy forces us to consider the importance of returning to the path of integration with Latin America and the Caribbean, against a global backdrop characterized by intensive technological innovation, a prevalence of global value chains and the emergence of new competitors".

She went on "There is a need to move towards new ways of integrating, in order to compete more and better. We need new strategic partnerships among open or opening economies. This is about strengthening the quality of links between the region's countries, so as to roll out joint strategies to forge closer ties with dynamic regions such as Asia-Pacific".

Ms. Bárcena stated that ECLAC is convinced that Mexico can play a very active role in regional integration: "Mexico can and must play a more active role on the international stage, and the way to do so is through a rapprochement with Latin America and the Caribbean (and South America in particular)".

With reference to the Pacific Alliance, she emphasized that "the four current members of the Alliance are already linked by a network of bilateral free trade agreements, which places them in a good position to progress towards more ambitious integration objectives".

She pointed out that the countries of the Pacific Alliance form a market of 207 million inhabitants worth 1.9 billion dollars.

She continued by saying "What is new about the Alliance is that it does not only seek to strengthen integration among its members, but also to become a joint outreach platform for the global economic hub that is Asia-Pacific".

According to the Executive Secretary: "for the initiative to fulfil its potential, it must avoid looking like competition with MERCOSUR. The project of an integrated Latin American market cannot be achieved without half of the region's population and GDP. Similarly, our region is much more attractive to China and the rest of Asia if we are united, not divided".

President Peña Nieto will continue today's activities in Santiago by meeting with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), José Graziano da Silva.