Last week, the president of the republic, Claudia Sheinbaum, held a working meeting with businessmen from 17 countries, invited by the World Economic Forum to present the “Mexico Plan.”
This meeting represented an advance in what we have called the new economic diplomacy, an essential part of this government’s strategy in terms of investment promotion and which clearly signals a fundamental change in forms compared to the previous government.
In this sense, the president presented a comprehensive scheme in which the intention to combine public and private investment stands out to boost economic growth in optimistic ranges of 3 to 4 percent annually, according to the government’s own projections.
It is about expanding railways, highways, airports and ports for greater connectivity and integration with the United States and Canada, even despite recent threats from the Donald Trump government, which imply an unfortunate possibility of considerably modifying the current free trade agreement, through bilateral agreements.
Also the generation of 26 thousand mega watts via the CFE and 158 transmission projects with private investment, the creation of two hundred thousand places in upper secondary education and three hundred and thirty thousand in higher education, the simplification of half of the administrative procedures via digitalization, in addition to announcing the “Mexico Project”, a country of innovation with axes of scientific, technical and humanistic training.
The president pointed out that Mexico is a leading destination for global investments with 298 billion dollars in projects in the pipeline.
From a positive perspective, it would have to be said that this meeting is part of a correct strategy to position the country in the so-called era of intelligent collaboration, which assumes a pragmatic approach to public-private alliances.
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The government’s new economic diplomacy
However, the rhetoric of his movement regarding sovereignty, focused on the Federal Electricity Commission and the reduction of imports, contrasts with the urgent need for private investment. In addition to considering that optimism regarding growth faces enormous challenges such as inflation and labor informality.
Even so, it is a great first step, but one that will now have to translate the enthusiasm into tangible commitments to really be able to position Mexico in a commercially fragmented world.
If state sovereignty slows down private activity, opportunities are lost to accelerate relocation and innovation, because even recognizing the president’s positive diplomatic charisma and a new comprehensive vision, the success of the plan depends on its execution.
To break with ideological inertia inherited from a recent past, in which the priority was more focused on the care of the one-person legacy, supported by pharaonic whims and messianic attitudes, in contrast to the understanding of global events that require much more efficient behavior linked to the promotion of development.
The government’s new economic diplomacy, defined from an adequate analysis of the situation, requires much more than will, the route is well laid out, however, in the process there is much to modify, since the expectations of the international and naturally national private sector meet and coincide in the enormous opportunities that can be developed.
To this end, it is essential that the government, in addition to its diplomatic efforts, generate sufficient investor confidence in the legal aspects after the modification to the judiciary, and in that same sense, continue with greater efforts to offer public security that protects businesses from organized crime and a reorientation of public spending in favor of infrastructure for development.
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