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TRANSCRIPT
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09
offices abroad
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4 Negocios
the route to mexican wineAlthough its production is not in
large quantities, the Baja California region, made up of four valleys,
houses wine-producers that have placed the name of Mexican wines
in the world map.
37The Future on WheelsMexican Automotive Industry
31
Contents
From the CEO 6
Briefs 8
Special Feature tabasco business center 14
Business tips transparency & business in mexico 16
Cover Feature baja california: land of plenty 18
Report medical device industry 28
Product the market of the sea: abalone in baja 30
Figures 40
cruising altitude in the aerospace industry
22
with the Hispanic Marketof the United States of America and Canada
FIRST NATIONAL BUSINESS MEETING
2009
Business Meetings and Expo:October 27, 2009
Place: Tuzoforum Camino Real , Parque David Ben Gurión s/n, Zona Plateada, 42084, Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo, México.
THE PARTICIPANT SECTORS ARE:
BeveragesFood
Processed foodsTextile-clothing
handcraftsGifts
Participants: Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. and Canada who wish to know the Mexican Exportable Offer.
Database Stands for ExhibitionBusiness Meeting
At the expo you will know the quality of offered
products and further details. During negotiations
you will have personal contact with Mexican
Businessman and current exporting Companies.
Registration and information: L.C.E Maribel Hernández Solís Plaza Las Américas, Núcleo B, Local 34, Fracc. Valle de San Javier, C.P. 42086, Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo, México.Grupo Celsus, Tel. (52) (771) 7190462 e-mail: [email protected] at webpage: www.cce-hidalgo.org.mx
CAMARA DE COMERCIOSERVICIOS Y TURISMO
C I U D A D D E M E X I C O
Consejo parala promociónde negocioscon lascomunidadesmexicanas ehispanas
proméxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of their economic solvency. title certificate of lawfulness 14459. text certificate of lawfulness 12032. number of title reserve 04-2009-012714564800-102. postal registry pp09-0044. responsible editor: sebastián escalante. printing: cía. impresora el universal, s.a. de c.v. distribution: proméxico camino a sta teresa 1679, méxico d.f., 01900. phone: +52 (55) 5447 7000. negocios is an open space where diverse opinions can be expressed. the institution might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the responsibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when it states otherwise. although this magazine verifies all the information printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions, inaccuracies or mistakes. october, 2009.
6 Negocios
Interview
christiancota
Elegantly Careless
Destination
baja california surA journey through the Baja Peninsula, from golfing to whale watching. 54
58
The lifestyle Contents
59 The Lifestyle Featuretijuana, the vast border
62 Feedbackentrepreneurs foundationfor basic education
42 The Lifestyle Briefs
46 Interviewandreas heinecke,
“mexico’s husband”
directory
proméxico
bruno ferrariceo ricardo rojo image and communications director sebastián escalantemanaging [email protected]
miguel Ángel samayoa advertising and [email protected]
copy editinggabriela mejan ganem
taller méxico
alejandro serratos publisher [email protected]
felipe Zúñiga copy editing [email protected]
jorge silva design director [email protected] pilar jiménez molgadodesign [email protected] dalia urzua orozcodesign [email protected]
piso de ediciones
vanesa roblessenior writer [email protected]
karla juárez sandra roblaguilucila valtierramauricio Zabalgoitiastaff writers
proof reading and translationmely nelsonjuan manuel romero
contributorsmaría cristina rosas, alfredo azcárate varela, jesús estrada cortés, josé antonio aguilar contreras, graeme stewart, francisco vernis, eduardo aragón, alvin monarrez, cristina Ávila-Zesatti, oldemar.
cover illustration byricardo luévanos
this is an editorial project for proméxico by taller méxico & piso de ediciones.
Download the PDF version of Negocios from www.promexico.gob.mx
From U.S: 1(877)542-9793 From Mex: 01(800)025-5580 e-mail: sales@�orido.comwww.�orido.com
LaINDUSTRIAL PARK
EL FLORIDO
Encantada
The Place
The Vision
The Concept
The Creation
The RealityWe bring it to you
La Encantada emerges as an integral part of the master planned community of El Florido, in Tijuana, B.C. Mexico. With a carefully designed balance of housing, schools, commercial, recreational and industrial developments that make the area thrive. In challenging times, thestrategy you choose will be your competitive advantage.
We can help you achieve it.
We buildto suit your needs.
The highest standards on infrastructure, low cost labor and plenty of room to grow.
The highest standards on infrastructure, low cost labor and plenty of room to grow.
Bodegas de Santo Tomás shares the pride of its three varietal wines awarded in the San Francisco International Wine Competition 2009: Merlot 2006, Silver Medal and Best of Nation, Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera (both 2005 vintage), Bronze Medal.
When you think of wine, decide to Mexico.
Doing business in Mexico: a good business
During this year, companies from all over the world have opened new facilities in Mexico and many other have announced their interest in moving their production to our country. Encouraged by a series of advantages, Mexico offers to global businesses its strategic location and modern infrastructure, which allows
access to the most important international markets. It also has one of the largest networks of free trade agreements in the world and a talented and highly qualified labor force.
Mexico preserves its place as one of the best investment destinations in the world and regions like the Baja California Peninsula are a clear example of the wide array of opportunities settled up in the country for the successful development of international business projects.
For half a century, the Baja region has been home to leading companies in sectors such as aerospace, electronics, tourism, construction, automotive, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, among others. Nowadays, it keeps attracting investments offering a unique platform of development. Aside from sectors as electronics and automotive, in which Baja California has a long manufacturing tradition, new industries are rising and taking an important place in the global landscape.
This issue of Negocios is an overview of Baja California, including its main economic sectors and the reasons why this region has become a strategic player in the world of international businesses.
Welcome to Mexico
Bruno FerrariProMéxico CEO
From the CEO.
IT
New Home for a GiantMotorola has opened its first Engineer-ing Design Centre in Mexico, located in the Technological Research and Innovation Park in Monterrey, Nuevo León. Overall invest-ments in the project infrastructure reached 8 million usd. Motorola’s new R&D centre will focus on engineering activities related to the company’s Home & Networks Mobility business unit, aiming to boost technological research for new products and services, as well as provide constant training for Mexi-can developers to promote local talent.
www.motorola.com
One Business Fits AllSHOE INDUSTRY
The Spanish Company Inditex, which has boutiques around the world under brand names such as Zara, Pull & Bear, Mas-simo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius and Oysho, has negotiated with Mexican fac-tories to expand its footwear production in our country. Of the 40 million pairs of shoes that each year have the signature of
Inditex, 850,000 are produced in Mexico, a figure that is intended to expand in the coming years up to 1 million 600,000 pairs. Mexican companies such as Julio Musch, Modorf, Portugal, Carlos Rosetti and Botas Muro are already working with Inditex.
www.inditex.com
10 Negocios10 Negocios10 Negocios Photos courtesy of inditex / sony / motorola
onthe Big screenSony Corporation has formed a strategic al-liance with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision In-dustry for the production of LCD TVs for the Americas region. Based on this agreement, Hon Hai Group will buy 90% of the shares in Sony Baja California and certain production assets related to its Tijuana site. Such facility will remain a key manufacturing location of Sony LCD TVs.
www.sony.net / www.foxconn.com
ELECTRONICS
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Grupo Televisa and Genomma Lab Internacional have signed a strate-gic alliance agreement to sell and distribute personal care and over
the counter pharmaceuticals in the United States and Puerto Rico, through Televisa Con-sumer Products USA.
PHARMACEUTICAL
Expanding Care
This will enable Genomma Lab to expand its brands beyond Mexico and Latin America by accessing a Hispanic market of approxi-mately 50 million consumers with a purchas-ing power of over 870 billion usd annually.
www.genommalab.com
General Motors reaffirms its presence in Mexico with big investments. It has already invested over one million dollars in a new customer service center in Toluca, in the centrally-located Estado de México. In San Luis Potosí, where its Aveo and Pontiac G3 models are manufactured, it opened a six-speed transmission plant with an invest-ment of 300 million usd.
These new installations are in addition to the car manufacturer’s investments over the past year. These include a plant in Si-lao, Guanajuato that began operations in February 2008 and where the company ex-
Refreshing InvestmentsThe Coca-Cola Company and its Mexi-can bottlers plan to invest 5 billion usd over the next five years in Mexico, the soft-drink titan’s second largest market in the world, just after the United States. Coca-Cola has already invested 200 mil-lion usd in a new plant in Tepozotlán, Estado de México, for its Jugos del Valle unit. New investments will be primarily targeted at developing infrastructure, technology, social and environmen-tal programs, marketing, training and products.
www.thecoca-colacompany.com
BEVERAGESAUTOMOTIVE
pects to increase production from 40 to 47 SUVs per hour in the following months, as well as its expansion in Ramos Arizpe, Coa-huila, where it opened a six-speed trans-mission plant and increased the operations of its plant that manufactures six-cylinder engines.
In Ramos Arizpe, GM recently increased production of its Chevy model from 12 to 22 vehicles per hour, and also expanded its assembly-line production of its Chevrolet HHR, Chevrolet Captiva and Cadillac SRX models.
GM plans to focus on compact cars and autoparts at its San Luis Potosí plant, to sup-ply the local market and some South Ameri-can countries.
www.gm.com
Back on the Road
12 Negocios
PHARMACEUTICAL
A Healthy BetPresident and CEO in Mexico of the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, Thorsten Pöhl, assured Mexico enjoys suitable economic and social conditions to do business. “The Mexi-can market is attractive for the pharmaceutical industry because it has a privileged location and respects intellectual property,” he said.
Therefore, in the last 10 years the company has invested more than 100 million usd in Me-xico. During 2008, Boehringer Ingelheim invested close to 70 million usd in clinic research and had sales for 360 million usd. According to the Mexican journal El Economista, the company currently has a 4.07% share of an industry with annual sales of around 8 billion usd; its plant in Xochimilco, Mexico, produces 140 million units per year, of which 60% are exported to the United States and Canada.
www.boehringer-ingelheim.com.mx
In order to consolidate its North American operations and keep the business competitive in this region, Cummins Filtration, a division of Cummins Inc., will move its filter assembly operations in Lake Mills, Iowa, to its facility in San Luis Potosí in November 2009. Cummins has had a wholly owned manufacturing presence in San Luis Potosí since the early 1980s and employs about 2,000 people in the city. Inside this facility, the Cummins Filtration plant currently employs approximately 330 people and assembles the same type of products as those being moved from Iowa’s plant. www.cumminsfiltration.com
MANUFACTURING
Crystal AllianceVitro Cristalglass, Vitro’s affiliate in Europe, has signed an agreement with Dream Glass, a Spanish company specialized in high-tech-nology glass products, through which Vitro is granted the distribution of Dream Glass’ switchable privacy glass products, Intelligent Glass / Privacy Glass, in the Spanish market.
www.vitro.com
www.dreamglass.es
GLASS INDUSTRY
Photos courtesy of Boehringer / vitro
briefs.
TOURISM
Luxury for BusinessHoteles Lucerna, the hotel chain financed by Mexican capital, opened a new hotel in Hermosillo, Sonora, with a 17 million usd investment. The group, based in Mexicali, Baja California, anticipates a growing bu-siness tourism market in Sonora’s state capital. The new five-star hotel boasts 130 rooms.
www.hoteleslucerna.com
costco has a new homeCostco invested around 94 million usd in a dis-tribution center and optical laboratory in Tepeji
RETAILERS
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del Río, Hidalgo. The center, measuring 400,000 square meters, has received a Federal Inspection certificate from Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), a document issued for meat processing plants that comply with official Mexi-can hygiene and food handling standards.
www.costco.com
14 Negocios Photos archive
AUTOMOTIVE
Solid as GoldProduction of gold and silver at its flagship Dolores Mine, in Chihuahua, has placed Minefinders Corporation Ltd. in a position that may be the envy of many of today’s economically battered mining companies.
The Canadian company began mining ac-tivities at the Dolores Mine, located in north-ern Mexico in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains about 250 km west of Chihuahua, in 2007. Since then, metal production has continued to escalate as the mine progresses to steady-state production with over 9,000
ounces of gold and over 150,000 ounces of silver produced in June, 2009.
Gold production increased to approxi-mately 23,336 ounces in the second quarter of 2009, up 65% from 14,169 ounces in the first quarter of 2009. Silver production was approximately 419,946 ounces in the second quarter of 2009, up 49% from 282,429 ounc-es in the first quarter.
Production is expected to continue to in-crease through the third and fourth quarters of 2009 as the volume of ore and time under leach increases.
www.minefinders.com
Writing a New HistorySanford, owner of several pen brands, including Parker, will transfer its manu-facturing and distribution operations in Janesville, Wisconsin, to its plant in Mexi-cali, Baja California, by March 2010. The Mexicali Plant is one of the several facili-ties Stanford has in Mexico where Berol and Wearever brands are manufactured.
www.sanfordcorp.com
MANUFACTURING
TECHNOLOGY
NCR’s New Mexican PlantNCR, an American technology company specializing in services for the financial sector, opened a new plant in Nogales, So-nora, to produce rolls of recyclable paper for ATMs, mainly aimed at the US west coast market. The company estimates a 20 million usd investment over the next five years, generating an estimated revenue of 44 million usd. NCR is the world’s largest manufacturer of ATMs, with a 30.1% mar-ket share.
www.ncr.com
briefs.
hot deal for cool BusinessWhirlpool will close its plant in Evansville, Indiana, by the middle of 2010, and move its production of refrigerators to Mexico.
www.whirlpool.com
ELECTRONICS
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Nowadays, distance, time and service represent key logistic costs in a competitive trade environment. For this reason, the Port of Ensenada has improved its infrastructure capacity to receive up to 7,500 teu vassels and offer competitive solutions to world-class shippers.
We are a strategic gateway for international trade, as we offer a 10 day transit to and from Asia through three direct services per week, as well as feeder connections to major ports in North, South and Central America, Oceania and the Caribbean, through 7 top ocean carriers.
Port of Ensenada. Easier, faster, closer.
16 Negocios Photos daniel torres loza
Logistic ParadiseRegarded as the logistic center of southeastern Mexico, the state of Tabasco offers a suitable business environment constantly reinforced with new and modern infrastructure developments. Recently a new industrial park, Tabasco Business Center, was opened providing world-class facilities for the expansion of global businesses seeking for a strategic location to reach the Mexican market, as well as the Central American and the Caribbean ones.
When the name of Tabasco is mentioned, Mexicans usually remember the lyrics of a popular song: “Let’s go to Tabasco, because it’s Eden.” Nothing better expressed.
Due to its natural diversity, Tabasco has earned the right to be compared with a paradisiacal land. Located in the southeast of Mexico, the state is home for five differ-ent ecosystems –jungle, savanna, mangrove swamps, marshes and aquatic ecosystems–
and accounts for one of the largest and more diverse natural species-population in the country. Furthermore, Tabasco has the most important hydrological basin of Mexico, composed by the rivers Usumacinta, Gri-jalba, Tonalá, and Mezcalapa, and contains about 30% of the hydrological resources of the entire country. Over half of Tabasco’s ter-ritory –24,475 square kilometers– is covered with water and the state has the highest level of precipitation in the country.
Right in the middle of this natural para-dise, productive activities can rely on a complex and modern infrastructure that is fostering the development and growth of different sectors. Tabasco is located on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between the Gulf of Mexico on the north and the state of Chiapas to the south. It also shares a border with northern Guatemala, which makes the state a perfect gate to the Central American mar-kets, while proximity to the seaports of Dos
special feature tabasco business center
Bocas and Frontera provides businesses an excellent access platform to European and North American markets.
Regarding to business environment, the state is ranked 8th in the Doing Business in Mexico 2009 report –a study carried out by the Mexican Institute for Competitive-ness (Instituto Mexicano para la Competi-tividad, IMCO), with the Foreign Investment Advisory Service of the World Bank having an advisory role, which compares business regulations across the country in four key areas: starting a business, dealing with con-struction permits, registering property and enforcing contracts.
Growing industryIn the past, Tabasco’s industrial develop-ment was supported mainly by the crude oil and natural gas operations. The state is the country’s second producer of natural gas and the third of crude oil. One of the coun-try’s largest oil fields, Cinco Presidentes, was discovered there in 1960. Since then, several infrastructure programs have been undertaken generating optimal conditions in terms of road networks, railroad systems and maritime ports in the state.
Nowadays, Tabasco is considered the most important logistic center in southeast-ern Mexico. It is a main trade route in the region and has become the bridge between central and southern Mexico. Numerous companies like Liverpool, Elektra, Coppel, Big Cola, Walmart, Chedraui, Soriana, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Danone have chosen the state as home for their distribution centers in the southern region. Walmart and Chedraui, for example, invested almost 90 million usd in the construction of their regional distribu-tion centers; together this new buildings sum a total surface of 100,000 square meters. Chedraui’s distribution center is regarded as the most important of its kind in the country and it will handle 50% of the goods the com-pany commercializes in Mexico.
On the other hand, several industries whose initial development was bonded to the petrochemical operations, are now im-portant part of Tabasco’s economic scenario and have reached a new stage of develop-ment on their own. The IT industry, for ex-ample, is playing a key role in the state’s economic development, while a strong agro industrial sector is taking advantage of Tabasco’s natural richness and favorable cli-mate conditions. Precisely because of these
conditions, industries that require an inten-sive use of water have found the perfect loca-tion in the state.
The growth of these emerging industries is being reinforced and fostered with new infrastructure projects, developed with both public and private funds. Since 2007, more than 185 million usd have been invested in the construction of three industrial parks that will double fold the available industrial surface in the state. One of the newest and more important of these projects is the re-cently inaugurated Tabasco Business Center (TBC).
Located in the municipality of Cundu-acán, one of the most populated zones in the state, TBC aims to provide world-class facilities and services at very competitive costs to companies willing to take advantage of Tabasco’s wide array of opportunities. It is a 50-hectares industrial park specially designed for operations of companies in the petrochemical, agro industrial, IT and research and development sectors. It also of-fers space for distribution centers and indus-tries with intense use of water.
The total investment for the construction of TBC was 25.9 million usd. The park is dis-tinguished by its privileged location.
It offers fast access to the main markets in the region and is close to the four major cities in the state: Centro, Cárdenas, Comal-calco and Paraíso. n
tabasco business center
• 50 hectares of total surface.• Electrical substation with
capacity up to 20.00 MVA.• Water treatment plant.• Own water wells.• Optical Fiber.• Sewage and drain system.• Network of high and medium
voltage with redundancy.• Low environmental impact oil
and gas systems.
privileged location
• 1 hour from the International Airport of Tabasco at Villahermosa.
• 30 minutes from Sea Port of Dos Bocas and 1 hour 45 minutes from Sea Port of Frontera.
• 1 hour from railroad station of Chontalpa.
• 3 hours from the border with Guatemala.
• 19 hours from the border crossing point with the US at McAllen, Texas.
Right in the middle of this natural paradise, productive activities can rely on a complex and modern infrastructure that is fostering the development and growth of different sectors. Tabasco is considered the most important logistic center in southeastern Mexico.
when asked about their plans to operate in another country, investors will often cite transparency as a key factor. mexico has made progress in this area, even surpassing the standards for transparency set by the oecd, apec and the world bank and making it increasingly attractive for doing business and investments.
Photo archive
Transparency & business in Mexicoby maría cristina rosas*
18 Negocios18 Negocios
business tips
One of Mexico’s most visible economic re-forms over the past decade, in addition to signing numerous trade agreements and ac-tively participating in international organiza-tions and initiatives such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Coop-eration (APEC), has been an increasing trans-parency within the business environment.
Transparency is now seen as essential to public and private governance, and the cor-nerstone of successful business development.
There is no single definition of transpar-ency. Its meaning varies according to each group, organization or forum. For example, the OECD sees transparency as the result of a two-way communication on policies between the government and interested third parties. The OECD considers that each country’s culture, history and values will determine the success of this communication process.
When APEC adopted transparency stan-dards for its 21 member economies in 2003, it took the view that the removal of barriers to trade and investment is largely only mean-ingful to the extent that the general public know what laws, regulations, procedures and administrative rulings affect their interests, can participate in their development and in administrative procedures applying them and can request review of their proper application.
For the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the con-cept is closely linked to promoting and protect-ing investments.
Transparency is a scenario where those involved in the investment process can gather enough information about each other so that they can take well-informed decisions and honor the corresponding commitments and obligations. In short, it concerns the rights and obligations of all participants.
Transparency is therefore a key factor for investors. They consider it such an important incentive to invest that they are prepared to surmount other obstacles such as language or unfamiliarity with local markets when there is transparency.
Therefore, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the OECD, there is a direct link between transparency and high levels of investment.
So how transparent is Mexico for doing business? What has it achieved and what chal-lenges remain?
To answer, we should refer to the World Bank’s analysis in its now well-known pub-lication Doing Business, which looks at 183 countries in its 2010 edition.
Singapore is in first place as the easiest place for doing business, with the Central Af-rican Republic at the other end of the scale as the hardest place to do business.
The rankings are based on 10 indicators that include: ease for doing business (total score) based on the length of time to start a business; dealing with construction permits; employing workers; registering property; get-ting credit; protecting investors; paying taxes; trading across borders; enforcing contracts and closing a business (bankruptcy).
Clearly there are some methodological limits to the analysis, given that the evalua-tions do not consider issues like a country’s proximity to important markets (beyond trad-ing across borders); safeguarding property; transparency in government procurement; macroeconomic conditions or the robustness of institutions. However, it provides an objec-tive overview of the main obstacles to doing business in the 183 countries in question.
To give an example of the importance of this information: while in Singapore most of the indicators are dealt with in just a few days; in the Central African Republic the same pro-cesses can take hundreds of days.
A salient feature of these indicators is the large number of developing countries in high-ranking positions. This overturns the argu-ment that the best places for doing business are necessarily rich and prosperous coun-tries.
Georgia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Mauritius are all in the top twenty countries, alongside countries such as the United States, Canada, Sweden and Australia. They are even ahead of Switzerland (ranked 21), Bel-gium (22), Germany (25), Austria (28), Israel (29), The Netherlands (30) and France (31). In other words, doing business does not depend on high levels of development.
The examples given above shows that transparency plays a vital role in influencing a decision to, say, invest in Thailand instead of Germany.
Mexico ranks 51, ahead of Kuwait (61), Luxembourg (64), Italy (78), the People’s Re-public of China (89), Brazil (129) and India (133), to name just a few countries. The coun-try climbed four places to 51st, as compared
to 55th in the previous report. It made im-portant progress in the length of time for starting a business, with a period of just 13 days.
Taxation was another strong perform-ing area, particularly in terms of the num-ber of yearly payments.
In two categories, employing workers and closing a business, Mexico performed at the same level as 2009.
In terms of investor-protection, Mexico outperformed the Latin American and Ca-ribbean average as well as OECD countries. This result puts Mexico on a par with Chile and India and ahead of the People’s Repub-lic of China.
The Doing Business 2010 report also confirms that Mexico is reforming specific areas of its economy.
These reforms are perhaps less visible because they are usually compared to the profound changes that took place in the sec-ond half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, but they are important nonetheless.
There is consensus on the topic of trans-parency across the world. However, such a consensus is lacking on how to implement the reforms needed to achieve it.
Transparency does not happen over-night. It requires technological, financial and human resources, not to mention ad-ministrative costs.
Registers need to be created, web pages published, clearly understandable lan-guage used and other mechanisms devel-oped so that regulations and legal issues –and any change to them– are easily acces-sible to interested parties.
Transparency is not an end in itself. For example, an investor-protection treaty is different to an investment-liberalization agreement.
The former refers mainly to the host country, while the latter applies to all par-ties to an agreement.
Given the accumulated experience in different areas, Mexico has performed above the standards for transparency set by the OECD, APEC and the World Bank, thus is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for business and investment. n
* Professor and researcher, Faculty of Political and
Social Sciences, National Autonomous University of
Mexico (UNAM)
20 Negocios Photos courtesy of government of the state of Baja california
Baja California is one of the most important states in Mexico when it comes to competitive-ness, business opportunities and economic de-velopment.
Closely bonded to the North American and Asian markets, it surely is an attractive alterna-tive for international corporations and inves-tors looking for highly qualified work force along with solid infrastructure and utilities, as well as a wide industrial park platform con-nected to railway and road systems
Located on the northwestern corner of the country, on the border line with the United States, Baja California used to be a “Federal Ter-ritory” until 1952 when it became a state with a 44,735 square mile surface -3.57% of the coun-try’s total surface-. The state also benefits from a wide variety of terrain, from sandy beaches to high mountain forests, from one of the hottest deserts to the Sea of Cortés -the “world’s aquar-ium” according to marine biologist Jaqcues
land of plentyFinding the right place to start or to expand a business is not easy. There might be many choices but very few have what Baja California offers to investors: utilities, facilities and human resources are part of the appeal that has set the Mexican state as one of the best alternatives for companies seeking to get closer to the NAFTA and Asia-Pacific markets.
by alfredo aZcÁrate varela
Cousteau- and five counties: Rosarito, Ensena-da, Tecate, Tijuana and Mexicali.
The state shares a 233 kilometer (140 miles) border with California and a 32 kilometer (20 miles) border with Arizona. It holds a coastline close to one thousand miles (1,555 kilometers) on the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortés. Thus, Baja California is an excellent entrance gate for the NAFTA market, as well as the clos-est Mexican state to Asia, with direct flights from Tijuana to Japan and China, a solid port infrastructure in Ensenada and many other competitive advantages.
Outstanding talentBaja California has a series of “vocations” de-fined and reinforced since the early 1960s, when the first American textile and electron-ic maquilas settled on Baja’s soil yielding one of the best and highly qualified workforces in Mexico
According to the state Ministry of Economic Development, Baja California’s work force and industrial growth are ten years ahead than the rest of the country, because of bigger sophistica-tion and high technology industrial processes, as a result of decades of maquila operations, attracting companies with a higher degree of added value on their processes.
“Our workforce is highly qualified. Both na-tional and international investors have come here lured by the quality of the state’s human resources, from line operators to engineers. It is a proven fact that our engineers are better qualified,” states the Minister of Economic De-velopment of Baja California and former Dean of the Autonomous University of Baja Califor-nia (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, UABC), Alejandro Mungaray.
Undersecretary of promotion Eugenio La-garde coincides: “We stress the importance of our human resources as one of the best
cover feature baja california
workforce levels in Mexico. Due to its long his-tory of industrial operations, Baja California is an appealing choice for companies in need of trained and highly qualified employees, al-ready available for upcoming companies and investment projects.”
Therefore, the state government is work-ing hand on hand with industrial sectors and local universities and colleges, fostered with a private fund that promotes a school-industry liaison, to keep on placing Baja California as one of the most attractive states for investors from all over the world in Mexico, with both material and human resources.
There are excellent colleges in Baja, both pri-vate and public, such as the UABC, the Center for Technical and Superior Studies (Centro de Ense-ñanza Técnica y Superiores, CETYS) and several technologic institutes that have become excellent sources of capable and trained workforce.
Prepared for development Development of human resources in the state is strongly linked to its industrial and econom-ic progress. For more than forty years, Baja California has been the point of destination for many international companies, hosting a wide array of ever growing complex processes and developing infrastructure on which many of the most important companies of the world rely.
Since the early years of maquila operations, back in 1960, there has been a solid develop-ment of industrial infrastructure in the state. Today, there are 84 industrial parks and zones in Baja California, hosting individual produc-tion plants and entire clusters, equipped with services and utilities, some of them with rail-way facilities and located next to major high-ways that connect them directly to border crossing points. Industrial infrastructure has been favored with availability of water and energy supply and with a constantly growing logistic infrastructure.
Bilateral agreements between Mexico and the United States guarantee a constant yearly water supply of about 6 million cubic feet, which might grow to 7.2 million cubic feet, depending on the water flow of the Colorado River.
There are geothermal and thermoelectric generation plants of the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electric-idad, CFE), which guarantee a constant power supply. Besides, two private power plants from Sempra Energy and Intergen, also supply the local and foreign markets.
Railroad cargo service is provided by a Mexi-can American joint venture reaching destina-
tions within the NAFTA market, as well as six border crossing points, with special programs for faster crossing times.
Ensenada seaport is the closest Mexican port to Asia. Among its destinations are: South America, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Sin-gapore and Australia. Tijuana International Airport is the only Mexican air connection to Narita, Japan and Shanghai, China, being a three-hour drive from Long Beach Seaport and Los Angeles Airport.
Undergoing ProjectsWith an Economic Development Policy, jointly defined with the business and academic sec-tors, state and federal governments have taken the promotion well beyond the state’s estab-lished vocations, promoting new investment projects, such as:• Punta Colonet cargo seaport intended
to connect up to 64 destinations in 28 countries.
• 10,000 acre Silicon Border Science Park. • Multimodal Railroad Terminal, which
will connect Baja with the rest of the USA and Mexico border cities.
• Ensenada International Airport. • Las Palmas sustainable college com-
munity.
La Rumorosa is an aeolian energy park, which aims to supply electricity to the city of Mexi-cali. With five turbo power generators, each one producing 2 Megawatts in an initial stage, La Rumorosa is the beginning of a new venture
for Baja California: sustainable energy proj-ects, taking advantage of the strong winds of up to 50 miles an hour, in the mountain area of Tecate County.
It is expected that international investors will turn around and look at the region as an open field for sustainable energy production and for many other energetic projects to be-come this state’s “next big thing.”
Punta Colonet, about 60 miles south from Ensenada, aims to become an alternative to Long Beach. The project, which might deto-nate as a multimillion-dollar business, is still open to financial propositions from investors.
Situated in Mexicali, along the western bor-der of the US and Mexico, Silicon Border Sci-ence Park will improve upon the world’s lead-ing technology parks to meet the sophisticated operational requirements and workforce demands of semiconductor supply chain op-erations. With a cost structure favorably com-paring to Asia, Silicon Border is an advanced manufacturing complex designed to support technology clusters.
Even in times of crisis, as the one currently affecting the world, Baja California is a good choice for investors and corporations looking for infrastructure, communications, work-force, utilities and other advantages. With im-portant names such as Sony, LG, Panasonic, Honeywell, Sunrise Medical, Cardinal Health, Toyota, Kenworth, Shelby, Perry Scientific in-stalled, forming some of the strongest clusters in Mexico, the Northernmost Mexican state keeps growing. n
For more than forty years, Baja California has been the point of destination for many international companies, hosting a wide array of ever growing complex processes and developing infrastructure on which many of the most important companies of the world rely.
22 Negocios inFograPhic oldemar
Among the threemost competitiveMexican states(IMCO 2008).
An OverviewBAJA CALIFORNIA
2 internationalairports
Source: Government of the State of Baja California.
On-timeaccess toNAFTAmarket.
1,555 km of coastline.
California border
233 kmArizona border
32 km
P A C I F I C
O C E A N
S E A O FC O R T É SBAJA CALIFORNIA
SUR
Tijuana
Mexicali
Tecate
Rosarito
Ensenada
53
26
4
9
2
3,200,000inhabitants
6 strategic bordercrossing points(3 of them used forinbound/outboundcargo transport).
Port of Ensenada
closest Mexican seaport to
Asia.
3 hours drivefrom the Seaportof Ensenada toLong Beach in the US.
South Am
erica
Hong Kong
JapanMain destinations
Air cargo handling(5th place nationwide)
6,806 tons
Closeness to one of the major international airports in the US:Los Angeles (LAX).
Marine cargo handling(4th place nationwide)
2,939,512 tons
60%of total population isunder 34 years of age
1’388,129EconomicallyActive Population
Only Mexican statewith direct flights to: Narita, JapanShanghai, China
Singapore
Australia
South Korea
Staff training subsidies.
Employee training subsidies.
Payroll tax exemption21% to 100% first five yearsfor significant expansions.
Water connection feeexemption 20% to 50%.
Access to special funds for infrastructure for strategiccompanies.
Maquiladora partial income and business flat taxes exemption.
“Safe harbor” transfer pricing rules. 0% value-added tax for exporting operations.
Value-added tax exemption for housing investments (construction and/or sales).
Immediate deductionsof land for developers.
Tax deferrals and exemptions for real estate investment trusts.
Incentives for venturecapital investments.
Total industrialparks
94
Medical DeviceLeading medical device industry in Mexico.More than 60 companies with processes of design, assembly, manufacture and sterilization.Workforce of 35,000 specialized employees.Along with San Diego, Baja California integrates the most sophisticated and diverse binational medical device group in North America.
Aerospace40 years of experience.Largest concentration of aerospace companies in Mexico.More than 50 companies established in the region (25% nationwide).Workforce of more than 13,000, including opera-tors, technicians and engineers.Operating repair facilities in Baja California approved by FAA.
AutomotiveMore than 80 automotive companies established in the state.More than 30,000 employees.Huge automotive after market.Growing off-road business with more than 25 companies.
ElectronicsFirst industry established in Baja California.More than 200 companies manufacturing flat screen televisions, cell phones, computers and home appliances, among other electronic products.Workforce of more than 94,000 employees.
PuntaColonetLargest infrastructure project in Mexico.
Largest port in Latin America.
Connection with more than 64 ports and 28 countries.
Railroad cargo service will be connected with the NAFTA region.
EnsenadaInternational AirportFocused on cargo and logistic operations.
General aviation and refuel layover.
It will serve the Pacific Rim Region and the West Coast of the US market.
SiliconBorderA high-technology industrial complex of 10,000 acres.
Cost competitive for high-technology industries.
World-class utility services and industrial infrastruc-ture for suppliers of semiconductors, flat panels and solar cell products.
INCENTIVESFOR INVESTORS
STRATEGICPROJECTS
INDUSTRIAL SECTORS1
1
2
2
3
3
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
cover feature baja california
Among the threemost competitiveMexican states(IMCO 2008).
An OverviewBAJA CALIFORNIA
2 internationalairports
Source: Government of the State of Baja California.
On-timeaccess toNAFTAmarket.
1,555 km of coastline.
California border
233 kmArizona border
32 km
P A C I F I C
O C E A N
S E A O FC O R T É SBAJA CALIFORNIA
SUR
Tijuana
Mexicali
Tecate
Rosarito
Ensenada
53
26
4
9
2
3,200,000inhabitants
6 strategic bordercrossing points(3 of them used forinbound/outboundcargo transport).
Port of Ensenada
closest Mexican seaport to
Asia.
3 hours drivefrom the Seaportof Ensenada toLong Beach in the US.
South Am
erica
Hong Kong
JapanMain destinations
Air cargo handling(5th place nationwide)
6,806 tons
Closeness to one of the major international airports in the US:Los Angeles (LAX).
Marine cargo handling(4th place nationwide)
2,939,512 tons
60%of total population isunder 34 years of age
1’388,129EconomicallyActive Population
Only Mexican statewith direct flights to: Narita, JapanShanghai, China
Singapore
Australia
South Korea
Staff training subsidies.
Employee training subsidies.
Payroll tax exemption21% to 100% first five yearsfor significant expansions.
Water connection feeexemption 20% to 50%.
Access to special funds for infrastructure for strategiccompanies.
Maquiladora partial income and business flat taxes exemption.
“Safe harbor” transfer pricing rules. 0% value-added tax for exporting operations.
Value-added tax exemption for housing investments (construction and/or sales).
Immediate deductionsof land for developers.
Tax deferrals and exemptions for real estate investment trusts.
Incentives for venturecapital investments.
Total industrialparks
94
Medical DeviceLeading medical device industry in Mexico.More than 60 companies with processes of design, assembly, manufacture and sterilization.Workforce of 35,000 specialized employees.Along with San Diego, Baja California integrates the most sophisticated and diverse binational medical device group in North America.
Aerospace40 years of experience.Largest concentration of aerospace companies in Mexico.More than 50 companies established in the region (25% nationwide).Workforce of more than 13,000, including opera-tors, technicians and engineers.Operating repair facilities in Baja California approved by FAA.
AutomotiveMore than 80 automotive companies established in the state.More than 30,000 employees.Huge automotive after market.Growing off-road business with more than 25 companies.
ElectronicsFirst industry established in Baja California.More than 200 companies manufacturing flat screen televisions, cell phones, computers and home appliances, among other electronic products.Workforce of more than 94,000 employees.
PuntaColonetLargest infrastructure project in Mexico.
Largest port in Latin America.
Connection with more than 64 ports and 28 countries.
Railroad cargo service will be connected with the NAFTA region.
EnsenadaInternational AirportFocused on cargo and logistic operations.
General aviation and refuel layover.
It will serve the Pacific Rim Region and the West Coast of the US market.
SiliconBorderA high-technology industrial complex of 10,000 acres.
Cost competitive for high-technology industries.
World-class utility services and industrial infrastruc-ture for suppliers of semiconductors, flat panels and solar cell products.
INCENTIVESFOR INVESTORS
STRATEGICPROJECTS
INDUSTRIAL SECTORS1
1
2
2
3
3
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
24 Negocios photos courtesy of honeywell / goodrich
Mexico is not a stranger for the global aero-space industry. The country’s participation in this sector took off almost 40 years ago, but it was in 2004 when it reached super-sonic speed, with two-digit export growth figures and a three-fold increase in the num-ber of established aerospace companies. An interesting fact is that the thrust not only comes from traditional manufacturing ac-tivities, but from a growing diversification towards areas such as maintenance, engi-neering and design.
The main engine of Mexico’s aerospace industry has been foreign investment. More than 190 enterprises compose the sector, the majority with foreign capital. Nevertheless, a growing number of national companies take part not only in manufacturing but also in complex tasks such as part and software design for aircrafts.
Between 2005 and 2006 the number of enterprises that compose the Mexican aero-space sector leaped from 61 to 193, and at the same time, employment also took off, increasing from 10,000 to 27,000 workers, according to information provided by Pro-México and the Mexican Federation of the Aerospace Industry.
During that same period, exports in-creased almost 86%, from 1.68 billion usd in 2005 to 3.13 billion usd in 2008, accord-
Cruising Altitude in the Aerospace Industry
The development of Mexico’s aerospace industry took off over three decades ago and is now booming. Stimulated by diverse activities such as manufacturing, engineering, design and MRO, the industry is flying towards a new stage: the complete assembly of aircrafts.
by jesús estrada cortés
report aerospace industry
ing to information provided by ProMéxico. Almost all of the Mexican aerospace sector exports are directed to the US market (81%); followed by France and Germany, each with 2.8%, and Canada and the UK come in third place with a participation rate of 2.6% each.
The evolution of exports and the increas-ing number of companies in the industry have progressed hand-in-hand with an in-tense diversification process. In an initial stage, Mexico manufactured simple parts, autoparts and simple assemblies. Today, the country is in a second stage, which in-cludes manufacturing of turbines, fuselage, harnesses and landing gears, among other products.
Presently, 79.7% of the aerospace compa-nies established in Mexico carry out manu-facturing and assembly activities; 10.4%
offer engineering and design services, and 9.9% perform maintenance, repair and op-erations (MRO).
According to ProMéxico, the country envi-sions entering a third stage in which complete planes will be designed and assembled, and Mexico will be consolidated as a first class in-novation center for the global industry.
A powerful engineThe aerospace industry in Baja California, not only shares the evolution that the indus-try has experienced all over the country in terms of growth and activity diversification, but also in its vision towards the future.
Juan Manuel Durazo, aerospace invest-ment promoter for the Ministry of Economic Development in Baja California, recalls that Rockwell Collins was the first aerospace company to establish in the state in 1966. Ten years later, between 1977 and 1979, the plant directed its total production to that sector. Since then, other large multination-als began opening facilities in the state, such as Chromalloy (1977), Honeywell (1982) and Gulfstream (1986).
During that period, the first 100% Mex-ican-owned enterprises also appeared, such as Empresas LM, founded in 1989.
Currently, 49 of the 193 aerospace indus-try companies established in Mexico, i.e., 25% of the total, are located in Baja Cali-fornia. These firms employ 12,500 people, therefore concentrating 46% of the indus-try’s work force in the country.
“In the past, only assembly was made”, but the sector’s activities have evolved in terms of complexity. At the present time “most of the companies manufacture struc-tural components for commercial aircrafts, as well as some very specific parts for the military sector. Additionally, we have compa-nies focused on design and technology devel-opment, such as Volare Engineering, a 100% Mexican company that designs aircraft inte-riors, as well as the case of Honeywell, which established its only lab in the world in Baja California, where simulations for planes that
will be in the market in 10 or 15 years are performed”, Durazo explained.
Honeywell opened its Research and Tech-nology Center in 2007, with a 35 million usd investment. Nearly 260 high level engineers work there, “and that gives the industry an added value”, Durazo asserted. He considers that the highly qualified human resources in Baja California are one of the main factors that have fostered investments, as well as aerospace industry growth and diversification.
With over 40 years participating in the industry, “the people in the state are used to the industry’s technical terminology. Fur-thermore, the Autonomous University of Baja California began offering a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in 2009. Postgraduate programs are also available at Cetys University; they have a master’s de-gree in mechanical engineering with a major in aerospace, and another in aerospace en-gineering focused on structures and materi-als”, Durazo noted.
Alfredo Cárdenas, Manager of Honeywell’s Research and Technology Center in Mexicali, shares this opinion. “Mexico’s effort towards research and development based on incentives from programs developed by the National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT,
The aerospace industry in Baja California, not only shares the evolution that the industry has experienced all over the country in terms of growth and activity diversification, but also in its vision towards the future.
26 Negocios photos courtesy of honeywell / goodrich
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología), and by the state’s Ministry of Economic Develop-ment, together with the high academic levels in universities are key factors in attracting invest-ment to Mexico”, he stated.
Cárdenas also mentions that Baja Califor-nia’s potential in the aerospace industry “is quite significant and proves that this sector has experienced tremendous growth in the last ten years. The proximity of Baja California to the United States and its highly qualified labor force, make it the ideal location for the aero-space sector to continue to grow.”
A giant landsThe multinational firm Goodrich opened its plant in Mexicali in October 2008, with an
investment of 92.5 million usd. The company began formal production in May 2009, with nearly 200 employees, almost 50 of which work in engineering and support.
“We’ve put together a great team (…) ini-tially, we tried to hire a staff of 30 people for engineering and management. We held two job fairs and a great number of highly quali-fied people came, although not necessarily in aerospace, but with academic qualifications that have proved to be very effective for us”, remarked Juan J. Pérez, Vice President and General Manager of the Goodrich plant.
“Mexicali has the required infrastructure, qualified labor and resources in order to pro-vide local training, in addition to the fact that it is close to our head office (in Chula Vista, Cali-
fornia, only two hours away from the Mexican plant), which makes it convenient and simple to bring resources here”, Pérez commented.
Baja California competed against locations in China, India, the Czech Republic and Poland to attract the Goodrich project. During the trips made by the company’s staff to identify potential sites for the plant “we realized that Baja California has a very large and effective educational structure, which is greatly focus-ing towards the aerospace business; large en-terprises such as Gulfstream and Honeywell are here, and these companies had created a need for the state to concentrate on this sector. These are the main reasons why we decided to invest specifically in Mexicali”, added Pérez.
Hot and cold metal parts for the plane’s nacelles are produced at this plant –the na-celle is a housing that secures the engine on the wing of the aircraft. These parts are fin-ished at other Goodrich plants around the world, and later mounted on planes such as Boeing 787 and 737, Airbus A320, A350 and A380, and the CF 34 made by Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer.
“We foresee that by the end of 2009 we will have 230 to 240 employees, and in 2010 our plant will employ approximately 300 people, depending on how things develop.,” explained Pérez, who also noted that since the manufacturing facility was established recently, most of the raw materials are pro-vided by the US supply chain, although the company expects to include Mexican suppli-ers in the future, “our plans are to eventually switch to domestic supply.”
Domestic designIn 2002, a group of engineers that had been working for a multinational bonded assembly plant that closed, decided to become indepen-dent and establish their own company. Volare Engineering is a 100% Mexican-owned aero-space firm.
With a staff of eleven engineers, Volare is a “small enterprise with big projects” that of-fers design, counseling and engineering ser-vices for almost all the equipment used in-side the passenger cabin of commercial and private planes, such as kitchenettes, closets, cabinets and furniture, explained Sergio Se-gura, owner of the firm and also in charge of business and projects.
The company’s designs help reduce up to 30% of deadweight on aircrafts. For example, “last year we developed a service cart made from composites which reduced the weight from 100
“The proximity of Baja California to the United States and its highly qualified labor force, make it the ideal location for the aerospace sector to continue to grow.”
— Alfredo Cárdenas, Manager of Honeywell’s Research
and Technology Center in Mexicali
report aerospace industry
to 29 pounds, using innovative materials and technology”, Segura stated.
Their main client is Driessen Aircraft (Zodiac Group), and “there is no airline that has flown without our designs”, for instance, Aviacsa, Mexi-cana de Aviación, Aeroméxico, Iberia and Virgin Atlantic. The company’s products are used in planes such as Boeing 717, 737, 747 and 777; Mc-Donnell Douglas Md80; Airbus A320, A340 and A330, among others.
As a specialist in the evolution of the aero-space industry in Mexico, Segura commented that “the production costs in the country are very competitive compared to the United States, Eu-rope or Canada, and although they are similar to the costs in China or India, Mexico has two ma-jor advantages in relation to these countries: the geographical proximity to the United States, spe-cially to one of the largest aerospace clusters in the world, based in California, and the high rate of bilingual and bicultural population.”
In fact, Mexico offers the most competitive operational costs in the world for the aerospace sector, according to KPMG’s Competitive Alter-natives 2008 Report, which mentions that Mex-ico offers up to 30% in savings compared to the current industry leaders.
For Segura, one of the principal areas of op-portunity for the industry in Mexico lies in con-solidating the supply chain with providers of cer-tified materials. In order for this to happen, and at the same time, to promote expansion of the whole sector, Segura stresses on the importance that the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) be finalized between Mexico and the United States, which will allow the certification of Mexican aerospace components and designs that comply with FAA standards and requirements, eliminating US government re-certification fees.
Segura believes that although it is foreseeable that aircraft sales to airlines around the world will decrease in 2010 and 2011, “Mexico has an excellent opportunity niche in the aftermarket sector”, for major maintenance projects to the airlines’ current fleets.
In addition to qualified human resources, competitive production costs, the growing supply chain in the country, the geographical proximity to the United States, and the vast airport, seaport and highway network infrastructure, there are other factors that make Mexico a unique plat-form for the aerospace sector. According to Juan Manuel Durazo, Baja California has other com-petitive advantages, such as the state’s incentives to investors, including 100% payroll tax exemp-tion, 20% to 50% discounts on water service con-nections, and up to 30% discount on water utility fees, depending on the type of water treatment and recycling systems that the companies use.
Juan J. Pérez envisions a long flight for the aerospace industry in Mexico. “It is likely that in 10 or 15 years a complete plane will be built in Mexico, which would represent a significant step forward for the country and the industry. If I had a crystal ball, that’s what I would see in the aero-space industry future”, he remarked. n
Mexico offers the most competitive operational
costs in the world for the aerospace sector, according
to KPMG’s Competitive Alternatives 2008 Report.
The country offers up to 30% in savings compared to the
current industry leaders.
27,0002008
Source: ProMéxico / Mexican Federation of Aerospace Industries/Ministry of Economic Development, Government of the State of Baja California.
AerospaceIndustry in Baja25% of aerospace companies in Mexico are operating in Baja California.
35% of aerospacecompanies in Baja California hold the AS9100 certification and 14% are certified by the National Aerospace and Defense ContractorsAccreditation Program (Nadcap).
Produced in Baja: sheet metal components, insulation blankets, cables and harnesses, motor rings, composite overhead storage components, precision tools, heat exchang-ers, hydraulic and electrical components, composite seats, rubber seals and hoses, high precision machining, among other products.
Assembled in Baja: switches (both, military andcommercial), hydraulic valves, electrical motors for auxiliary systems, electronic compo-nents, turbine connectors, entertainment systems, avionics.
Design and engineering: composite cargo containers, aircraft interiors, heat exchangers and full integration of electrical systems.
MRO in Baja: motor rings, turbine components,upholstery, avionics,insulation blankets.
Some of the aerospace compa-nies established in Baja are: Goodrich, Gulfstream, Honey-well, Jonathan, Rockwell Collins, VolareEngineering, GKN Aerospace, Eaton, Esterline, Metalco, Chromalloy, ELM, Dzus, Nex-Tech Aerospace, Cobham, LMI Aerospace, TycoElectronics, Hutchinson, Orcon, MTI, The Mexmil Company, Technysand Lockheed Martin.
Mexican Aerospace ExportsMillions of USD
Aerospace CompaniesEstablished in Mexico
Employment in theMexican Aerospace Industry
1,2672002
1,3432003
1,3062004
2,0422006
2,7282007
3.1332008
1,6842005
10,0002005
10,0002006
20,0002007
612005
672006
1202007
1932008
28 Negocios inFograPhic oldemar
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[email protected]+ 52 (55) 5447 70 70
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30 Negocios illustration oldemar / photo courtesy of medtronic
Perhaps we take modern day medical equip-ment too much for granted. For example, have you ever wondered where your family doctor gets his pump for taking your blood pressure? Where his always breathtakingly cold stetho-scope that he places on your chest comes from? Or the needle that he calmly enters into a vein? What about a catheter, synthetic heart valve or even a pacemaker? Not to mention all the other equipment a surgeon needs to per-form any minor or major invasive operation?
What to say about all the equipment need-ed by your dentist?
Even a small filling needs a syringe and needle —given that you prefer an anesthetic—, and a saliva extractor.
No, they don’t all originate from the family doctor’s –or dentist’s– little black bag. Rather they are the end products of serious study, de-sign and, eventually, manufacturing.
It is a proud Mexican boast that Baja Cali-fornia leads the way in the development, de-sign and manufacturing of medical devices, not only in Mexico but, it is safe to say, in the world.
In fact, the Baja region hosts the largest cluster of medical devices manufacturing busi-nesses in the enormous Latin America mar-ket, not to mention the second largest in North America, and the benefits have been outstand-ing for both investors and the local economies.
The medical device industry centered in Baja California is considered to be one of the most advanced and profitable enterprises in the world.
Technicians, designers of medical equip-ment and medics flock to Baja California to learn from the ever-advancing high technol-ogy that leads the way in the development and production of the life enhancing medical equipment.
In Baja California, this business cluster, which helps to save lives and improve the qual-ity of life of the chronically un-healthy, is thriv-ing and in these economically deprived times that success cannot be underestimated.
The Mexican government puts the annual figure of profit from the companies involved at around 25 billion usd a year.
While 91% of inward investment in the industry in Baja is from the United States, this is a figure that pleases both the Mexican Treasury and company shareholders and creates employment on the work floor at the happily low price to the foreign investor of 1.75 usd an hour.
by graeme stewart
needles and pins, it’s all in a day’s workMedical devices are a necessary yet unheralded part of the healthcare sector. Mexico plays its part in designing and producing these important tools of the health trade. Baja California has the largest cluster of this industry in Latin America.
report medical device industry
But what exactly are medical devices? For those unfamiliar with the industry, they are known in every household and used every day by your family doctor, from thermom-eters to stethoscopes, hygienic latex gloves to band aids. They are also used extensively in surgery, from scalpels to thread. So, it is an industry without which the healthcare sec-tor could not exist. Its importance cannot be exaggerated, either to our health or to the businesses that make these vital parts.
As a spokesman for Medtronic, one of the many US companies that has chosen Baja California as a center for production said: “We have facilities in Tijuana and in Em-palme, Sonora, and, all in all, we have a total of three buildings with nearly 2,000 employ-ees. At these locations, our company builds angioplasty catheters, endovascular stent grafts and open heart surgery systems used by physicians worldwide.”
Medtronic’s operation first started in Ti-juana in 1998 and has grown each year dur-ing the past decade. The operation in Em-palme was part of an acquisition Medtronic made in 2004.
“We see a bright future in Mexico as it plays an important role in the medical device in-dustry. This region is cost competitive and the workforce is highly skilled. Mexico also has a sound and reputable philosophy about protect-ing intellectual property, which is a key element for medical device technology companies that develop and manufacture medical devices.”
Apart from Medtronic, other main medi-cal devices companies located in Baja Califor-nia include Smiths, Tyco Healthcare, Cardinal Health, Medimexico, ICU Medical, Hudson ACI, Sunrise Medical, North Safety Products, Tristate, Lancer Orthodontics and I Flow.
They design and manufacture such medi-cal devices as catheters, pipettes, valves, latex gloves, steel dental pieces, needleless sutures and ophthalmic lenses.
According to Invest in Baja California, part of the state government’s inward invest-ment wing: “There are currently over 60 companies in Baja California’s medical de-vices industry cluster, devoted to the assem-bly and manufacturing of plastic parts and orthopedic products as well as orthodontic metal parts and surgical instruments.”
Baja California, along with nearby San Diego in California, integrates the most so-phisticated and diverse medical binational
Medtronic’s operation first started in Tijuana in 1998 and has grown each year during the past decade.
The Medical Device Industry in
Baja California
What baja Has to Offer
• LargestconcentrationofmedicaldevicecompaniesinLatinAmerica.
• Labor experience with more than 34,000 people working in the industry.
• Specialized suppliers in prototypes, plastics, methalmecanics, packaging, electronic components, logistics and others.
• Local suppliers in Baja California arecertifiedinISO13485,ISO9000, FDA and CE.
• More than 900 clean rooms operating.
investment Origin
• 91% of the medical device companies operating in Baja California are from the US.
• 5% are Mexican companies.• 2% are from the UK and Sweden.• 2% are from Australia.
Where in baja?
• 64 medical device companies are operating in Baja California.
• 38ofthemareinstalledinTijuana, 14 in Mexicali, 9 in Tecate and 3 in Ensenada.
Value Added ProductsThevaluechainprocessesinBajaCaliforniaarelocatedinthemanufacturingof:
• Disposable medical products.• Orthopedic and orthodontics
products.• Medical and surgery
instruments. source: investinbaja
industry group in North America. Most of these medical services plants are located in Tijuana and Mexicali, although Ensanada, Tecate and Rosario have great potential for the development and manufacture of these complicated and important devices.
Around 620,000 workers are employed in Baja California. Of that, 34,000 belong to the medical devices industry. These work-force is highly diversified from the work floor to the highly specialized professional.
“Another interesting aspect is that Baja California has the best education system in all of Mexico, we believe. The State Univer-sity has started a degree course in the study of medical devices, from which will come our future designers,” asserts Invest in Baja California.
Referring to its own analysis of the medi-cal devices industry in Baja California, which is backed by all the companies in the cluster, the state government cites the close proxim-ity of the US and Canada as a prime factor in its success as well as its highly developed infrastructure, its prime communications network and its young, educated and service oriented population.
The medical devices industry is well represented and served in Baja California, making life enhancing, quality products and supporting doctors, surgeons, dentists and opticians throughout North America, Latin America and the world. n
32 Negocios photo courtesy of cedmex / monte xanic
The Market of the Sea: Abalone in Baja
Mexican abalone industry has grown fast in the last decade and is planning to do it more in the upcoming years. Mexican abalone is highly appreciated worldwide, specially in Asia, where its use in the gastronomic world is widely spread. Improvements in the abalone industry in Baja California, where the abalone is mainly harvested and packaged in Mexico, have taken the sector to a leading position in the seafood industry.
In some regions, abalone is considered one of the most expensive gifts. A can of this product, may reach up to 60 usd in the market, and in countries like China and Japan, for example, it is given as a present for weddings or special dates, like the Chinese New Year. Furthermore, it is considered a very special gift in the diplomatic world, even compared with the finest wines.
There are about 100 recognized species of abalone in the world, including those like yel-low, blacklip, blue, greenlip from Australia; paua from Indonesia, and the red abalone from Mexico. Abalone found in Mexico, in the coasts of the Baja California Peninsula, is highly appre-ciated for its many special characteristics. It is said that abalone from Baja California has a dif-ferent taste and texture –which are considered of the highest quality–, due to the characteristics of the water and the ocean currents in the Baja Peninsula. In fact people in Asia consider the Baja seas as the most pure seas in the world.
Along with Australia, Japan Taiwan and South Africa, Mexico is one of the world’s major producers of abalone. Its main markets are Chi-na, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea, but the country also exports to Europe, where Mexican abalone competes with the Australian one, with a long tradition within European markets.
The price of a 450-gram can containing one to three pieces of Mexican abalone in the in-ternational markets goes from 13 usd to 60 usd. Canned Mexican abalone is one of the most sold presentations worldwide –it represents 85% of the country’s annual production–, but it is also available fresh and frozen. It is mainly produced in the western side of the Baja California Penin-sula, from the Coronado Islands on the North, to the South of Margarita Island.
The industry is integrated of several coop-erativas (cooperative societies) entitled by Mexi-can law to harvest, process and commercialize the mollusk. Each cooperativa is granted with a
20-year license to harvest abalone in the Baja’s seas. The abalone harvest is officially regulated according to geographical zones and follows the assignation of a global quota per season. The har-vest period goes from the December 1st to July 30th.
There are two marketable types of abalone: the wild (raw abalone) and the farmed one. The wild abalone is more expensive than the farmed one, and it is the main business of the industry in Mexico, representing almost 90% of the total production of abalone in Baja California, which reaches 366 tons per year.
The two most popular brands produced by the Mexican cooperativas are CALMEX –the most renowned Mexican brand in Asia– and CEDMEX. Both are produced under the seal Hecho en México (Made in Mexico), a program sponsored by the Mexican Ministry of Economy to certify the quality of national products.
Innovation Under Process The production of abalone in Mexico has experi-enced many innovations during the last decades. In the past, over-fishing reduced wild populations of abalone to such an extent (more than 200 tons per year) that the government had to plan a new harvesting strategy. This new strategy was imple-mented 20 years ago and it consisted in treating the abalone harvesting areas as any harvesting land, thus rotating the exploitation to different ar-eas each season, so a certain area can rest for five years (“Five Year Closed”). This strategy has car-ried an increase in the production, as well as an improvement in the quality of Mexican abalone, avoiding the threat for extinction.
Companies within the industry have also fostered innovating processes aiming to conquer new markets. This is the specific case of the coop-erativa Pescadores Nacionales de Abulón, owner of the CEDMEX brand, that has made significant improvements in its processing and packaging plants to accomplish the highest quality stan-dards, for both Asian and European markets.
This year, the Mexican abalone was accepted in the Halal Market for Malaysia and its Islamic community. However, there’s still a long way to go for the Mexican abalone industry. One of the in-novations being undertaken is the development of new presentations such as the dry abalone, which is even more appreciated than the canned one and is becoming very popular in the Asian market. Companies in Mexico are also testing new packaging designs as a translucent package that will allow customers to see the content and calculate the size and thickness of the fillets they will use in their dishes. n
by josé antonio aguilar contreras
Although its production is not in large quantities, the Baja California region, made up of four valleys,
houses wine-producers that have placed the name of Mexican wines in the world map.
by francisco vernis
Special reportWines
Mexico produces wine since Co-lonial times, but it was just a bit over a decade ago that its national broths began to be
recognized due to their quality, and to gain an important place on the wine lists of the best restaurants in the world.
The national wine industry lives the height of a recognition process in which almost 300 prizes, won in the past ten years in several in-ternational competitions, are the best letter of introduction for Mexican wine-producers, established mainly in the border state of Baja California.
“The boom that we have seen in the last few years, where new companies are producing small volumes and letting their brand name be known, has contributed to Mexican wine gain-ing ground in the national and international markets”, says Fernando Favela, general direc-tor of Château Camou, established since 1994 in the Valle de Guadalupe, one of the four val-leys in the Baja California region.
Right after the Spanish conquest, the his-tory began to be written with the grape culti-
vation, encouraged by the missionaries. After the Spanish crown prohibited wine produc-tion in New Spain to avoid competition with the old continent, the tradition fell and it was only in the missions that they kept producing their broths.
It was until 1920 that wine production was turned on again and companies emerged by 1948 were already organized in a National Association of Wine-Growers (Asociación Nacional de Vitivinicultores, ANV). Mexico’s entrance to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in 1986, marked the begin-ning of a new stage. Before that date, practically all the wine that was consumed in Mexico was national, but of poor quality, because in spite of the kindness of the Bajacalifornian soil, graced with a Mediterranean climate, the adequate technique for the cultivation of the grape and wine production were not used.
With the entrance of international wines, the Mexican market got to know better quality and set aside national wine, which caused the closing of many wine-producing companies. Out of an existing 100, nearly 90 closed down,
tells Hans Backhoff, founder of Monte Xanic, the wine-producer that marked the change of an era for Mexican wine, and president of the Winemakers Association of Baja Califor-nia (Asociación de Vinos de Baja California, AVBC).
Monte Xanic arrived in Valle de Guada-lupe at the same time that the Mexican border was opened for wines from other countries. Instead of loosing faith because of the competi-tion, its founders held on to the idea of produc-ing quality wine.
“We started to do things in a different way, to produce less wine but of good quality; we introduced French barrels, started to have very controlled crops, used new techniques, like harvesting at night, and top of the line ma-chinery like membrane presses and other very modern systems. At the beginning nobody be-lieved it, but all of a sudden they noticed that Monte Xanic was producing quality wine and selling its production”, remembers Backhoff.
The winery’s philosophy not only attracted new companies, but also the older ones, the traditional winegrowers that produced in great
The RouTe To Mexican
Wine
34 Negocios Photos courtesy of casa adoBe
quantities but with lesser quality, ventured as well in the production of premiere wines. San-to Tomás, the veteran of the area, established in 1888, introduced imported grape varietals, like Tempranillo, incorporated new technol-ogy and hired professional enologists for the creation of wines that nowadays win prizes all over the world. L.A. Cetto, established in 1928, did the same with a wine list that ranges from the inexpensive to the most sophisticated.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the history of Baja California’s wine started to rewrite itself. During that time, 23 out of 40 winegrowers that are currently registered in the Association of Wines of Baja California were established.
“Suddenly we were at another stage of maturation. For starters, the local government recognized the potential of the Valle de Guada-lupe when they noticed that the production of wine attracted tourism. Soon, a group of small winegrowers started to develop. That’s more
or less were we are now, in the enthusiastic phase, in the recognition phase, in the phase of the discovery that the wines produced here are capable of competing with outside wines”, points out Backhoff.
Even though the national production only covers about 40% of the country’s wine de-mand –mainly due to the fact that the wine-growers have preferred not to sacrifice quality for quantity–, the presence of Mexican brands has spread not only in Mexico, but in the rest of the American continent, Europe and Asia. According to information of the National Asso-ciation of Wine-Growers, Mexican wines are sent to Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, France, Netherlands, England, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Czech Repub-lic, Russia, Switzerland, Canada, Cuba, United States, India and Japan.
The valleys of Baja California: Guadalupe, Santo Tomás, San Vicente and San Antonio de
las Minas, make up what is today known as the Wine Route, where visits to the vineyards are offered, as well as educational tours, along with the possibility of eating in quality restaurants, buying natural regional products, and even staying the night at some of the vineyards’ fa-cilities.
Fiestas de la Vendimia (Wine Harvest Feasts), which take place every year during the month of August, attract more visitors every time and the artistic and cultural events that are organized in the various wineries, sell out in advance.
Wine “is an industry that naturally attracts tourism; but a different kind of tourism, one that has a certain curiosity for getting to know not only the place that they are visiting in the wine region, but also the way of life of those who live there. It is a tourist with a certain degree of education and who wants to know everything that has to do with wine”, asserts Favela.
Wine is an industry that naturally attracts tourism; but a different kind of tourism, one that has a certain curiosity for getting to know not only the place that they are visiting in the wine region, but also the way of life of
those who live there.
Backing up the valleysNot only local businessmen, but also foreigners who give the region its cosmopolitan character are backing up the possibilities of Mexican wine.
That’s the story of Adobe Guadalupe, estab-lished in 1997, whose hacienda, designed by the architect Nassir Haghighat, stands out not only because of its beauty, but also for the quality of their bed & breakfast service and for having wines made by the most recognized enologist of the region: Hugo D’Acosta who, after 12 years of working with Santo Tomás, established his own wine house, Casa de Piedra, located in the Valle de San Antonio de las Minas.
The fact that D’Acosta accepted to collaborate with Adobe, is one of the many happy coinci-dences that made Donald and Tru Miller settle in the Valle de Guadalupe, after the loss of their 20-year-old son in a car accident.
“He was studying in Washington, DC, and loved Mexico; he had Mexican things in his house, even an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe; he learned to speak Spanish when he was on vacation. When we heard that there was wine in the Valle de Guadalupe in Mexico, we knew we had to go”, remembers Tru.
Donald and Tru intended to open a wine house in Napa, California, but the death of their
son made them change their plans: they arrived in Baja, where they were offered a plot of land that seemed perfect for establishing their own wine-producing house. Tru recounts that her mother sent her savings from Holland and, when she exchanged the guilders for dollars, it came up to be the exact amount needed to buy the land. “During two years, things like that would happen time and again; it was always a step ahead of me”, she recalls excitedly.
The couple later opened the hacienda as a bed & breakfast, and is now also raising horses. Their wines, christened with the names of the archangels –Gabriel, Serafiel or Miguel, for ex-ample–, in honor of their son, have received several international prizes, but for their founder that is not what is important. Even though the wines of Adobe Guadalupe are in several cities in the country and in the United States, the house produces only 6,000 cases a year and is not inter-ested in increasing its production in the pursuit of a larger distribution.
“There have to be more vineyards every day, but boutique vineyards, because that way quality is improved a lot. We don’t have to think in terms of large vineyards, because there is not enough water to maintain them”, assures Tru, for whom the Mexican wine industry is at its peak.
Almost all the wine-producers of the region share the idea of producing discrete quantities but with an impeccable quality. As a group, the small wine houses established in Baja California, produce more than half a million cases a year. Monte Xanic, for example, produces 45,000 cases a year and Château Camou 15,000. But that decision is not contrary to its plans of spreading the reaches of Mexican wine to other latitudes. “The way to get into the international market is as a group; it’s going to be difficult to get in individu-ally, the effort is diluted. If we manage to have an important group, we can easily get in”, considers Backhoff.
Growing businessThe Aldo Palafox vineyards brought out their first wine in 2006, although the company’s his-tory began in 1999, with the purchase of 35 hect-ares in Valle de Santo Tomás, where they planted their first vines in 2003. Their brand, Marijá, is gaining recognition and has everything ready to go international.
By the time that this incipient wine producer lives its peak, the Baja California wine region could have a local airport and a larger touristic in-frastructure. Currently the Mexican government is investing close to 23 million usd in the building of a four-lane highway across the so-called Wine Route, and the building of an airport terminal in the area is being considered in the National Infrastructure Program (Programa Nacional de Infraestructura).
“Our region must gain better reputation so that the market grows. We have to produce with better quality to be recognized as a wine region. We also have to equal that quality with the pro-motion of the product: let ourselves be known, get into competitions. That is already happening. I have friends who are investing and doing qual-ity oenology”, asserts Jaime Palafox, founder of the Aldo Palafox vineyards.
The reputation that this winegrower speaks about is won. Currently, Mexican wine is not only in the most important and more prestigious restaurants in the country, it is also gaining terri-tory in markets such as California and New York, where it demands its place among the best wines of the world. n
Special reportWines
36 Negocios
awarded mexican winesVinalies Internationales 14th Edition Paris, France
don luis viognier 2007, L.A. Cetto - Gold Medal
Chardonnay du Monde15th Edition Bourgogne, France
Vinitaly 16th Edition Verona, Italy
Thessaloniki International Wine Competition8th EditionThessaloniki, Greece
Wine house: Monte XanicWine: Chardonnay 2006Grape: ChardonnayAgeing: 8 monthsCharacteristics: Hay yellow color with bright tones. Strong aroma with hints of citrus fruits, grapefruit and fresh cut hay. The creamy aroma of butter persists in the end. Wine pairing: Fish with creamy sauces, veal, chicken, and pork steak. Prizes: Silver medal at the Challenge International du Vin 2009
don luis cetto terra 2004, L.A. Cetto - Silver Medal l.a.cetto boutique sangiovese 2004, L.A. Cetto - Silver Medall.a. cetto nebbiolo reserva privada 2003, L.A. Cetto - Silver Medal
Bacchus 8th Edition Madrid, Spain
casa madero chardonnay 2007, Casa Madero -Gold Medal
l.a. cetto nebbiolo reserva privada 2003, L.A. Cetto - Bronze Medall.a. cetto boutique san giovese 2004, L.A. Cetto - Honorable Mention
casa madero shiraz 2006, Casa Madero - Silver Medalcasa madero semillón 2007, Casa Madero - Silver Medal
International Wine Challenge39th EditionLondon, UK
casa madero chardonnay 2007, Casa Madero – Bronze Medalcasa madero semillón 2007, Casa Madero – Honorable Mention
Wine house: Château CamouWine: Gran Vino Tinto 2004Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and MerlotAgeing: 18 monthsCharacteristics: Intense ruby red colored wine with floral aromas and ripe red fruits, cassis, coffee and spices, with a stately balance and elegant velvet tannins. Wine pairing: Red meat, game, aged cheeses, and heavy seasoned sauces.Prizes: Silver medal at the 2008 Brussels World Wine Contest
Wine house: L.A. CettoWine: Nebbiolo Reserva Privada 2003Grape: NebbioloAgeing: 14 months in barrel / 24 months in the bottleCharacteristics: Intense ruby red; ripe red and black fruit aromas with a spicy touch of nutmeg, clove and cinnamon; fruity and spicy, with hints of tobacco, leather and walnut.Wine pairing: Italian food, pastas with tomato sauces, grilled meat and mild cheese.Prizes: Silver Medal at the Pacific Rim Wine Competition 2008
chic, white & redcompetition wines
In 2008, Mexican wines had a remarkable participation in several most prestigious international wine competitions:
w
Challenge International du Vin32nd EditionBordeaux, France
monte xanic chardonnay 2005, Monte Xanic – Bronze Medalmonte xanic chenin-colombard 2006, Monte Xanic – Bronze Medalmonte xanic sauvignon blanc 2006, Monte Xanic – Bronze Medal
Concours Mondial Bruxelles 15th EditionBrussels, Belgium
casa madero semillón 2007, Casa Madero – Gold Medall.a. cetto petite syrah 2006, L.A. Cetto – Gold Medalcasa madero chenin blanc 2007, Casa Madero – Silver Medalchateau camou gran vino tinto 2004, Chateau Camou – Silver Medalchateau camou gran vino tinto merlot 2004, Chateau Camou – Silver Medalchateau domecq cosecha seleccionada 2005, Domecq – Silver Medalmonte xanic cabernet sauvignon-merlot 2005, Monte Xanic – Silver Medalmonte xanic chardonnay 2005, Monte Xanic – Silver Medalsanto tomás Único cabernet-merlot gran reserva 2004 – Silver Medal
Pacific Rim Wine Competition23rd EditionSan Bernardino, US
l.a. cetto nebbiolo reserva privada 2003, L.A. Cetto – Silver Medalmonte xanic chardonnay 2005, Monte Xanic – Bronze Medal
Los Angeles International Wine Competition69th EditionLos Angeles, US
viña de liceaga merlot gran reserva, Viña de Liceaga – Silver Medalviña kristel sauvignon blanc 2006, Monte Xanic – Bronze Medalmonte xanic chardonnay 2005, Monte Xanic – Bronze Medalmonte xanic merlot 2004, Monte Xanic – Silver Medal
Selections Mondiales des Vins15th EditionQuebec, Canada
casa madero chenin blanc 2007, Casa Madero – Silver Medalcasa madero semillón 2007, Casa Madero – Gold Medalojos negros syrah 2006, San Rafael – Silver Medal
Wine house: santo TomásWine: Sirocco 2004Grape: SyrahAgeing: 15 monthsCharacteristics: Deep violet red. Intense fruity aroma with hints of leather, cinnamon and caramel. Intense flavor with a full charge in the mouth, with a complete and mature tannic structure for a bitter, long and meaty finish.Wine pairing: Black mole, meat cuts, cold cuts, green pepper steak. Prizes: Gold medal at the 2009 Brussels World Contest
Wine house: Viña de LiceagaWine: Merlot Gran Reserva 2006Grape: Merlot 90 % Cabernet Sauvignon 10%Ageing: 18 months in barrel / 24 months in bottleCharacteristics: Ruby red with fine floral hints of carnation and spiced touches of clove, fine roasted wood, coffee and vanilla. Wine pairing: Fillet Mignon, Sirloin, Rib eye, as well as fermented cheeses. Prizes: Silver medal at the 2008 Los Angeles International Wine Competition
Special reportWines
38 Negocios
Grape by grape
w3,350 hectares cultivate grape in Mexico. Of which 2,500 hectares are located in Baja California.
148 grape producers in Mexicali, Tecate, Tijuana and Ensenada.
91% of the planted surface area is based in Ensenada.
80.3% of the production is directed to wine.
18.3% of the production is aimed at table grapes and raisins.
41 grape varietals for wine are cultivated in the region.
9.9 million liters of wine a year are produced in the country.
2.1 million wine boxes a year are consumed in Mexico.
39.6 million bottles of wine a year are consumed in Mexico.
250 milliliters a year is the median intake of wine per person in the country.
65 is Mexico’s place in the world according to its annual wine consumption.
40% of the wine that is consumed in Mexico corresponds to national product.
17% of the annual production is exported.
254 medals –of which 105 are gold– and 36 honorable mentions have been obtained in the last ten years by Mexican wines, mainly from houses such as L.A. Cetto, Monte Xanic, Casa Madero, Château Camou and Santo Tomás.
Sources: Sistema Producto Vid, Asociación Nacional de Vitivinicultores and Vinomex
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Special reportWines
report automotive industry
by eduardo aragón
the future on wheels
The Mexican automotive industry is going through a test period that calls for innovative solutions, but most of all, a great deal of thrust. The automotive clusters established in the country are working intensively to reactivate this dynamic economic sector. Baja California is a good example.
Difficult times breed opportunities for those who are able to see beyond. The current situa-tion in the global automotive industry is proof of this, because despite the fact that figures reflect a dim future, the heads of the large assembly plants see a light in the distance. For Mexico, this could be a green light for one of the coun-try’s main sources of foreign investment.
The assembly plants are optimistic. Despite the unfavorable market conditions, the manag-ers of these facilities consider that the decline
in domestic sales and exports to the US —which is the main destination for vehicles produced in Mexico—, is merely a necessary adjustment, but the market will rally and they want to be prepared when this happens.
Ford Motor Company de México foresees rise in sales. Therefore, in 2008 the firm announced an investment of 221 million usd to reactivate pro-duction at its plant in Cuautitlán Izcalli, Estado de México, where the Fiesta compact model will be manufactured for the North American market.
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On the other hand, General Motors invest-ed 650 million usd in its plants located in Ra-mos Arizpe, Coahuila, and San Luis Potosí for the production of hybrid vehicles. Volkswagen also announced an investment of 1 billion usd, for a new model which will be directed to the international market and manufactured at its Puebla facility.
Government authorities are also taking measures to support automotive companies. An example of this is the government funding for a vehicle “de-junking” program, which will distribute 500 million usd between the seven automobile manufacturers established in the country, in order to help the owners of 33,000 vehicles that are over 10 years old to purchase new automobiles. This first step is quite signifi-cant and will undoubtedly boost domestic sales.
Look outwardWith the United States mainly in sight, produc-tion programs had to be adjusted due to the fi-nancial downturn that put the brake on new automobile sales in that country since 2008.
Despite the fact that the production fig-ures of August 2009 reflected a decrease of
40 Negocios Photos toyota motor manufacturing
approximately 40% compared to the same period in 2008, production of new models for international markets has been assigned to Mexican plants. This reflects confidence and a new stance for the companies that are look-ing towards other expanding markets, such as Brazil and China, as future destinations for the Mexican vehicles that are already circulating in Europe.
The proximity to the largest automotive market, which reached sales of 17 million an-nual units in times of prosperity, has been the main attraction for the companies that began opening production plants in Mexico more than 50 years ago.
The main production clusters are located in strategic areas chosen for their communi-cation routes with sea and land ports on both Mexican coasts. Brands such as Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Nissan, Honda and Toyota have set up production centers with a capacity that reached 3.5 million units in central, western and northern Mexico.
Growing development polesThe automotive industry triggers development due to its specific characteristics. The growing production chain that is required in order to produce vehicles, involves the establishment of suppliers of mechanical and electronic com-ponents, and autoparts in general, in order to maintain a constant production flow.
Baja California is an example of the work being done to stimulate development of this industry.
The state offers excellent incentives to en-terprises with permanent community involve-ment projects, with the objective of improving training for students that graduate from more than 100 technical schools and 32 universities in the state. Broader incentives are granted to companies that are environmentally respon-sible and to those that invest in technology. Undoubtedly, these programs attract partici-pation in the most dynamic industry in Mex-ico, to one of the fastest growing development poles in the country.
At the northern Mexican border, specifical-ly at the area where Baja California ends and the United States begins, there are 80 compa-nies with products or services for the automo-tive sector, according to the state’s Ministry of Economic Development. Metal stampers; brake manufacturers; electronic and electric system suppliers; plastic molders; automotive glass, and textiles for auto interiors, are only a few of the areas that employ over 30,000 work-ers.
The proximity to the ports of Long Beach in California and Ensenada —which is the closest Mexican port to the Pacific Rim nations—, the highways that link the main urban areas and connect with major routes to central and west-ern regions of the country, and trouble-free transportation of manufactured products to California, are some of the highlights that have caught the eye of major global automotive in-dustry representatives.
Propelled by the philosophy of producing where their products are required, in 2002 the Japanese firm Toyota set up a manufacturing facility in Tijuana to produce approximately 50,000 Tacoma pickups, as well as 180,000 pickup beds for the same vehicle, that is being assembled at the California NUMMI plant.
With a labor force of 800 employees, Toyo-ta Motor Manufacturing de Baja California has
Metal stampers; brake manufacturers; electronic and electric system suppliers; plastic molders; automotive glass, and
textiles for auto interiors, are only a few of the areas that employ over 30,000 workers.
report automotive industry
Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California has received an accumulated investment of almost 2 billion usd. Thanks to Mexican labor, the plant, commonly known as Toyota de Tijuana, has been awarded as one of Toyota’s top facilities on the globe.
received an accumulated investment of almost 2 billion usd. Thanks to Mexican labor, the plant, commonly known as Toyota de Tijuana, has been awarded as one of Toyota’s top facili-ties on the globe.
That same level of quality is followed by the specialized, low volume vehicle manufactur-ers, who take advantage of the country’s expe-rience, strong presence in the field of automo-tive assembly, and its excellent communication routes. Mexicali and Tijuana have two crossing points to the United States and a third is being considered for the near future. Because of this, the vehicles are assembled only a few minutes away from their final destination points.
One of these manufacturers is HST Shelby, a manufacturing to order facility of 108,000 square feet in Tijuana, where 100 workers pro-duce between 250 and 1,500 units every year.
With a head office and R&D Center based in San Diego, California, the company has also become involved in the aerospace market, profiting from HST’s know-how in relation to the production of carbon fiber compound materials. In addition to the company’s ve-hicles with internal combustion engines, HST is now manufacturing high performance sport vehicles with environmentally friendly electric engines, such as the Shelby Cobra EVX and the Tjaarda Mustang EVX. State-of-the-art Mexi-can technology is produced in Baja California for the rest of the world.
Another company that represents the Baja California automotive sector is Kenworth Mexicana. With a presence of over 45 years in Mexicali, in 2008 over 9,000 semi-trailer trucks were manufactured at the plant, mainly for the US market. The company is a subsid-iary of Paccar Inc., and has invested 300 mil-lion usd over the course of the last five years, helping the firm to overcome the domestic semi-trailer truck sales fall of over 60%, by introducing technology for the production of hybrid units —a combination on internal com-bustion and electric engines— which already began to circulate on Mexican and US roads.
Besides encouraging the state’s industry, the government promotes the optimal use of natural resources and also works on sustain-able development projects, such as the electric power plant with eolic generators in the Ru-morosa area. Other energy sources in the state are the Cerro Prieto geothermal plant —the second largest in the world— and the Presi-dente Juárez thermoelectric plant.
Baja California also attracts motorsport enthusiasts, especially in the off-road category,
who take advantage of the peninsula’s topo-graphic and weather conditions when they participate in races such as the famous Baja 1000, among others. Therefore, it is not sur-prising that one of the fastest growing niche markets for the 25 companies established in the Ensenada and Rosarito areas, are modified vehicles designed for extreme driving, as well as complete crossroad driving experiences.
The image of the vehicles producing a cloud of dust in the Baja California desert may perhaps be attractive for the adventur-ous; nevertheless, the state industry has an assured water supply, thanks to an interna-tional treaty that allows the state to use the Colorado River and other reservoirs in the state as sources of water.
The most complex border of the worldThis title was won by the Baja California bor-der area, a border with one of the most intense migration flows in the world.
Complex situations that have required equally innovative responses, such as the mea-sures being taken by the national automotive industry to overcome one of the most compli-cated periods of its history, will strengthen the industry provided that all the resources of a country, with the potential and grandeur that Mexico offers, are put to good use. n
17’540,525.39
Source: Banco de México
MEXICO’S PARTNERSExports from Mexico by country of destinationJanuary – June 2009, values in millions of USD
USA
Canada
Colombia
Brazil
Venezuela
Germany
Spain
China
Japan
India
Netherlands
Total 436,115.06
Total 734,798.69
Total 1’071,496.70
Total 744,282.62
Total 920,511.26
Total 1’519,075.16
Total 670,656.29
Total 955,102.82
Total 1’166,004.94
Total 3’583,445.53
Total 84’566,203.36
June128,904.58
May25,213.08
April32,638.58
March111,786.28
February27,996.54
January109,576.00
June15’475,392.03
May14’133,905.35
April14’085,588.95
March15’382,578.17
February13’132,187.59
January12’356,551.27
119,643.47123,278.31119,646.02122,144.53129,582.19120,504.18
208,590.73165,486.55195,038.54174,714.01211,031.16116,635.70
140,414.05120,509.19119,707.98112,880.44107,420.57143,350.38
168,621.71179,624.66180,377.53114560.64143,550.21133,776.51
3016,99.45284,511.64198,142.77255,554.70319,523.51159,643.09
107,490.55107,901.49122,630.24127,547.3690,258.31114,828.34
198,907.10139,862.79181,262.78186,719.81130,558.54117,791.80
225,179.99197,126.66164,967.70200,212.49175,257.80203,260.30
779,214.84706,587.02630,106.21601,208.66495,661.32370,667.48
Total America94’882,098.44
J F M A M J
Total Europe5’441,788.94
Total Asia3’393,224.14
J F M A M J
1’027,738.05
Total European Union5’110,709.24
J F M A M J
J F M A M J
981.038.04
Total countries otherthan European Union
331,079.70
J F M A M J
46,700.01
678.810.10
42 Negociosin
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44 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of mexicana / archive
Mexico was chosen to become headquar-ters of the first major energy saving project within the framework of the United Nations Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mech-anism (CDM).
The Cuidemos México (Caring for Mexico) project involves replacing 30 mil-
Mexicana is OneworldMexicana de Aviación, a leading airline com-pany in the Mexican and Central American markets, will join the Oneworld alliance on November 10. The Oneworld alliance unites American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Roy-al Jordanian, American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Perú. Mexicana and its subsidiaries Mexi-canaClick and MexicanaLink will add 26 new destinations to Oneworld routes: 24 in Mexico and Edmonton in Canada and Oak-land in the United States.
www.mexicana.com
TOURISM
ECOLOGY
Energy Saving Mega-Project Headquarters
lion incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent energy-saving lamps. Cool nrg, an international company based in Australia that campaigns on issues to combat climate change, estimates that this initiative will lead to annual savings of 165 million usd in Mexican homes, in addition to
200 million usd in subsidies.CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol, as a means for indus-trialized countries to meet their own
carbon emission reduction targets by investing in developing coun-tries that have the same aim. The
arrangement is supervised by the United Nations Framework Con-vention on Climate Change, and
has the advantage of protecting the environment at a lower cost than emission reduction mea-sures in industrialized countries.
These exchanges are paid for with carbon credits.
cdm.unfccc.int
UNAM’s Human Genome Research
The Massive DNA Sequencing Unit of the National Autonomous Univer-sity of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) has begun its analysis of the AH1N1 flu virus.The Unit, located in the Institute of Biotechnology in Cuernavaca, Mo-relos, has Mexico’s most modern genetic material sequencer, a device capable to analyze four human ge-nomes in a single operation.This new equipment can quickly and accurately analyze the DNA of viruses, bacteria, plants and animals, placing UNAM at the forefront of molecular analysis and bioinformat-ics technology.
www.unam.mx
SCIENCE
GASTRONOMY
give to caesar what is caesar’s
Caesar Salad is probably one of the best-known salads worldwide. But, have you ever thought of its origin?
If you always thought it was named af-ter the great Caesars of Rome, and you had imagined Julius Caesar, Caligula or Nero tucking into this famous dish, then you may be disappointed to know it was invented many centuries later by a chef called Cesare Cardini (1896-1956). Although there are several stories about how exactly this salad was invented, there is one undisputable fact, namely that Cardini most certainly created it in Tijuana, Mexico, in the 1920s.
One of the versions states that due to the Prohibition laws in the United States, many film stars would take the short trip over the border to relax and party. In 1924, on the fourth of July weekend, Cardini’s restaurant in Tijuana was crowded; he was running low on food and put together a salad for his guests from what was left over in the kitch-en. The original salad was prepared at table-side. When the salad dressing was ready, the
romaine leaves were coated with the dressing and placed stem side out, in a circle, and served on a flat dinner plate, so that it could be eaten with the fingers.
Over the years, driving to Tijuana for a Caesar Salad became the rage. Californians, including Hollywood celebrities such as
Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and W.C. Fields dined at Caesar’s.
Julia Child, famous recipe book author, wrote about Caesar Salad in her cookbook From Julia Child’s Kitchen:
“One of my early remembrances of res-taurant life was going to Tijuana in 1925 or 1926 with my parents, who were wildly excit-ed that they should finally lunch at Caesar’s restaurant. Tijuana, just south of the Mexi-can border from San Diego, was flourishing then, in the Prohibition era.”
In Europe, Caesar’s Salad was also ap-pearing in restaurants. In the book In Search of Caesar, The Ultimate Caesar Salad Book by Terry D. Greenfield, it is stated:
“The legend attributes the salad’s debut across the ocean to Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson (mistress and ultimately wife of Prince Edward VIII of Wales, former King of England). Mrs. Simpson often visited and partied in the San Diego and Tijuana areas in the 1920s. It is said that Mrs. Simpson met the Prince of Wales there, at the Hotel Del Coronado. During this time, Mrs. Simpson visited Hotel Caesar’s Place and became fond of Caesar’s Salad and was sometimes an overbearing guest demanding that Caesar himself toss his salad at her table-side, creat-ing quite a fuss. It is also said that as a result of Mrs. Simpson’s extensive world travels, Caesar Salad was introduced to many of the great European restaurants by her instruct-ing international chefs as they struggled to recreate the dressing to satisfy the soon-to-be-Duchess of Windsor’s discerning palate.”
original recipeWith so many variations being made and served today, the original recipe for Caesar Salad has escaped many chefs. The original recipe consisted of romaine lettuce leaves, garlic croutons and shavings of parmesan cheese all tossed in a creamy dressing made of egg, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Contrary topopularbelief,thefirstrecipedidnotcontainpiecesofanchovy;theslightanchovyflavorcamefromtheWorcestershire sauce.
TheCardinifamilytrademarkedtheoriginalrecipein1948and it is still packaged and sold as “Cardini’s Original Caesar Dressing Mix,” distributed by Caesar Cardini Foods -along with more than a dozen varieties, some of which include one or more of mustard, avocado, tomato, bacon bits or garlic cloves.
The Lifestyle briefs
LITERATURE
Literature on the NetThe Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE), one of Mexico’s most important pub-lishing houses, is celebrating its 75th an-niversary with its first free e-book. By 2010, it plans to offer 300 titles online.The pioneering publication is a book called La suma de minucias del lenguaje (The to-tal minutiae of language), by the linguist José Moreno de Alva.The FCE, with 35 subsidiaries in 9 coun-tries across Latin and North America, has ventured into the online market after Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest book-store, made 700 thousand publications available for downloading.
www.fondodeculturaeconomica.com
Photo courtesy of visit los caBos.org / david Becerra / archive46 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Over 150 cruise ships have confirmed they will be docking at Los Cabos international port before the end of the year, marking the start of peak season at the international port of Los Cabos. By the end of 2009, it is esti-
Cruise Ships Ahoy!mated that some 340 cruise ships, carry-ing over 700 thousand tourists, will have visited this tourist destination.
www.visitloscabos.org
ECOLOGY
TOURISM Green Cooperation Germany has contributed 148 million usd to develop environmental projects in Mexico. These resources will be used to implement projects focused on combating climate change, waste management, recovering pol-luted sites and creating an environmental infrastructure.
www.semarnat.gob.mx
Nowadays you can find several fast-food restaurants around Mexico and even in the United States serving a very original
dish; fish tacos. Some of these eateries re-veal the dish’s origin and describe it as an “Ensenada-style fish taco”.
And that’s right. The fish taco is undoubt-edly a 100% Ensenada tradition. Those who created it, many still alive and well, never imagined that the original and nutritious fish taco would become a stellar addition to international gastronomy.
Its story goes back to the early 1960s. The recipe was the result of a fortunate ac-cident. Its first creator and promoter was called Mario, nicknamed “El Bachiualato” after the name of his hometown in Sinaloa.
GASTRONOMY
gastronomic creativity
“El Bachiualato” began by selling grilled meat tacos from a place called “Mercado Negro” or black market, alongside seafood joints serving up abalone sea snails, lobster and shrimp.
Some people who sold fresh fish in the same market began asking “El Bachiualato” to cook some fish for them. It smelled so good that people coming to buy fresh fish from the market asked “El Bachiualato” to sell them a taco or two. Some customers asked him to fry the fish instead of grilling it.
It became so popular that before long, tourists from the United States and Tijuana travelled to Ensenada just to try these unique tacos. Soon other people began experiment-ing with the new dish. The batter mix used for the fillet of fish was perfected over time,
incorporating suggestions from his in-creasing number of customers, until the final recipe was crystallized for the per-fect fish taco: a fillet of angelito fish, mixed in a gooey mix of corn flour, a couple of egg yokes, a teaspoon of baking powder, a little mustard and all mixed together with water or milk. The taco must be served with chopped cabbage or lettuce, tomato, onion and finely chopped serrano chili.
The Lifestyle briefs
48 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo archive
interview andreas heinecke
Andreas Heinecke, social entrepreneur and creator of the exhibitions Dialogue in the Dark and Dialogue in Silence, refers to himself as “Mexico’s husband”. He visited the country for the first time seven years ago and chose it as a platform to expand his business in Latin America.
“mexico’s husband”
by vanesa robles and karla juÁreZ
Andreas Heinecke is overcoming the barriers between “us” and “them” by creating exchange platforms that im-merse people in worlds very different from their own in order to break down prejudices, communication and under-standing barriers that exist across dif-ferent cultures, and to empower mar-ginalized people. Through his company, Consens Ausstellungs GmbH (Dialogue social enterprise), he has proven that the struggle against segregation can be-come a sustainable activity.
Heinecke’s most widespread plat-forms are the exhibitions Dialogue in the Dark —where participants experience darkness and blind people teach them how to “see”— and Dialogue in Silence —where deaf and mute people teach visi-tors a great deal about communication. Participants in these exhibitions do not see and do not speak in order to fully experience what it is like to be blind and mute, and the negative consequences of discrimination.
seven years ago Heinecke visited Mexico for the first time to present
Dialogue in the Dark in Monterrey and Mexico City. “i didn’t know anything about the country, with the exception of the clichés. After closing the first ex-hibition in bellas Artes [in Mexico City] i decided: ‘this is my country’. i rented an apartment, hired Mexican personnel, started my company here and traveled to the country every six weeks because i was convinced that Mexico was my country and Mexico City was my city,” he remembers.
between 2006 and 2007, Dialogue in the Dark was shown in Monterrey and Mexico City, where approximately 600,000 visitors were registered, a record figure for an exhibition of this genre. According to the reforma jour-nal, the Papalote Children’s Museum in Mexico City paid 150,000 usd for the rights of Dialogue in the Dark for an 8-month period. Presently, the exhi-bition is being shown at the Trompo Mágico interactive Museum in Gua-dalajara, and in a few months it will be transferred to other cities in Mexico and Latin America.
50 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of andreas heinecke
in 1988, Andreas Heinecke began work-ing for the foundation for the blind (stiftung blindenanstalt) in frankfurt, determined to bring blind and sighted to-gether. by the end of that year, Dialogue in the Dark had its premiere.
in 1996, Andreas started his own busi-ness to spread the idea of Dialogue in the Dark (www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com) in-ternationally. After years of temporary exhibitions in museums and festivals, the first permanent exhibition opened in 2000 and has been followed by many more. Together with his wife, Orna Co-hen, Andreas also developed Dialogue in Silence (www.dialogue-in-silence.com) in which deaf people provide access to non-verbal communication.
since the first Dialogue in the Dark, there have been exhibitions in more than 160 sites in Asia, europe, the Middle east,
a social entrepeneur
breaking down
prejudices
and the Americas. Over 6 million visi-tors worldwide have experienced what it means to hear, smell, taste and touch things without being able to see them. The exhibition does not inspire pity but instead enables interaction, builds re-spect, understanding and even wonder –by re-defining “disability” as “ability” and “otherness” as “likeness”.
Dialogue in the Dark has empowered more than 4,000 blind people in 19 coun-tries and more than 130 cities from disad-vantaged backgrounds by giving them for the first time in their life the opportunity to showcase their talents and skills. The vast majority of the platform employees had never held a formal job before, and 40% of them successfully gain a job place-ment with a “normal” company in the pri-vate or public sector between a week and a year and a half with Dialogue.
—Why did you decide to establish Con-sensAusstellungsGmbH in Mexico City?I was very moved by the optimism of the people. I did not understand how a city of these dimensions could offer so much friendli-ness and hospitality. It’s absolutely wonderful.
—Do you still have the same impression?After almost seven years, my love is a bit more differentiated. I am aware that not everything has the beauty of a nice sunset, but this hap-pens anywhere. It resembles marriage: falling in love is one thing, but staying in love is an-other issue. I am like Mexico’s husband.
—The usual question: How did you con-ceive Dialogue in the Dark?The story began in 1929, when my parents were born. My mother was Polish, from a Jewish family, and my father was German, with a definite Nazi ideology. They met after Second World War, they had physical con-
“I didn’t know anything about the country, with the exception of the clichés. After closing the first
exhibition in Bellas Artes [...] I was convinced that Mexico was my country and Mexico City
was my city.”
• 1998 “stevie Wonder Vision Award”• 2004 “best Practice in Universal
Design”• 2005 Named first “Ashoka fellow” in
Western europe• 2006 “Deutscher Unternehmer Pre-
is” by the Harvard business school’s entrepreneurship Club
• 2007 “Outstanding Global social source: www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com
interview andreas heinecke
tact, and I was born: biology lesson number one. When I was 13 years old, I learned about bizarre social events and began to try to under-stand what leads society to discriminate to the point of extermination.
Then I worked in a radio station. One day I was asked to train Matthias, a boy who had lost his sight in an accident, as a presenter. I had never met a blind person, and had no idea of what I had to tell him. When I left his home after the first session, I felt embarrassed; I was surprised by his intelligence and self-sufficien-cy. I thought: if I was so quick to judge, what about other people? I recalled how the Nazis tested their gas chambers with disabled people. The thought of this made me very angry.
I decided to take action against discrimina-tion. One day I received inspiration: we had to invite people with and without sight disabilities to a dark space. It worked, in the darkness people that can see become blind and the blind can see.
—Approximately seven million people have visited DialogueintheDarkworld-wide. Why do you think it has been so successful in such different societies? People cannot imagine that there is something beyond sight; our world is made of images. At the same time, we want to explore things and we feel curious about understanding the limits.
in 2005, Andreas Heinecke’s commitment was recognized by the American foun-dation, Ashoka, who named him the first social entrepreneur in Western europe. An-dreas aims to create a social science Center that will allow people to explore the social side of the human experience; where they learn about the world from other people’s perspectives. for example, his blind and disabled employees from all over the world form a global network—they train each other, exchange experience and knowledge, and recognize that many of their needs are global in nature. further plans include creating the experience of old age, migration, exile, and crime and punishment.
Andreas Heinecke has won numerous special international awards for his work, including:
entrepreneur” by the schwab foun-dation
• 2008 Nominated as member of the World economic forum’s Global Agenda Council on social entrepre-neurship
• 2009 “Global Award Winner for the best innovative and out-of-comfort-zone event” by the YPO
—Is sight a source of discrimination? Sight disconnects people; we are quick to scan and judge others. We are all the same in the darkness. Furthermore, education and the media manipulate us.
All societies have people to discriminate; many studies have documented this topic. I think that we have to acquire common sense through the difference.
—Generally, people go to an exhibi-tion to see. What are the challenges of museography in an exhibition where the objective is the opposite: to not see? Aesthetics do not necessarily lie in images. The challenge is to create very rich scenes, with references that people are able to under-stand and use to create their own images.
Nevertheless, I am not an artist or a cura-tor. I am an incubator of sensations.
—Can DialogueintheDark be adapted to other types of discrimination? I am not committed exclusively to blindness; fate introduced me to a blind person, but the exhibition is a metaphor due to the fact that spectators meet people with whom they do not normally have the opportunity of experi-encing an open interaction.
Dialogue in the Dark is the metaphor of isolated groups.
—Do you know what happens when the visitors reopen their eyes? We have a research department that phones some randomly selected visitors, five years later: “Hello, you were at an exhibition where you were unable to see. Do you remember its name?,” they are asked. Five years later everyone responds: “Dialogue in the Dark,” and 16% recalls the name of his or her guide. We are aware that the experience induces a slight change in people.
—By the way, what happened withMatthias?He is still handsome and mature; he meditates, smokes quite a bit and is a vegetarian. When he became blind his girlfriend told him: ‘Don’t worry because I will see for you.’
They were married and after some time, she left him because he fell in love with another woman. He has four children and plays guitar in a rock band.
Matthias is a young 50-year-old. We get together once a year and talk over the phone three or four times per year. Once I asked him what was the last image he had. He told me that he was driving his car when a truck made a U-turn and he realized that there was no way out. I inquired: “What went through your mind?” “Sh..! I didn’t change my underwear this morning,’ he answered.” n
52 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo courtesy of palmilla
by graeme stewart
baja sur to the “fore!”There are at least three places where your average golfer would most want to play. Baja California Sur is one of them.
destination baja california sur
Nobody would argue that most golfers, pro-fessional or otherwise, would harbor dreams of playing a round at St. Andrews, in Scotland (the home of golf), or Augusta, Georgia, in the United States.
But there is a newcomer to that short list of golfing paradises, a place where golfers in rain soaked Scotland or landlocked Augusta day-dream of playing under a hot sun with clear blue skies, magnificent sea views and perfectly manicured fairways and greens.
That destination is Baja Caifornia Sur and especially at Los Cabos, a secluded cape at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula that has grown into a modern day golfing Mecca.
For anyone who has played there, the rea-sons are obvious. With little rainfall, the cli-matic conditions and spectacular views make Los Cabos a little bit of golfing heaven.
Respected golf writer, author and poet Mat-thew B. Dexter, who writes on iGolf, the online source for golf course news and reviews, has the great fortune to live in the area but even if he didn’t, he would be no stranger to the fair-ways of Los Cabos.
He said: “One can only endeavor to imag-ine a more miraculous and spectacular set-ting than Baja California. A contemporary Los Cabos has emerged at the forefront of global tourism by displaying the aquatic splendor amid a tropical desert that has at-tracted sport fishermen for decades. Now World-class golf courses are raising the bar and attracting tourists on par with any other vacation destination on Earth.”
Matthew just can’t hide his love of the golf courses at Los Cabos, nor does he even attempt to try: “The temperature is always warm and temperate and with basically no rain, so golfers can enjoy 350 days of perfect weather. Try and discover a better location to play golf than Los
Cabos and you might be searching for a while.”He continued: “In 1996, whales put on an
amazing display during the PGA Senior Slam Tournament. One needs only to examine the beautiful golf courses situated along the tourist corridor between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas to truly understand that sometimes when humankind aspires toward developing a Majestic region, results can exceed all hopeful expectations.”
“Certain ambitions can surpass all reason-ing and reflect unprecedented perfection. Los Cabos is a majestic oceanfront playground for those fortunate enough to play, or discover, the courses that support the unparalleled oasis that awaits you in the breathtaking environ-
ment beyond the cultivated arroyos and land-scaped sand traps of Land’s End,” he said.
Mathew is not alone in his unbounded ad-miration of golfing in Baja California Sur. Edu-ardo Guillén, boss of Caddies Are Us, a com-pany that organizes tournaments throughout Mexico for golf caddies, said: “Golf in Cabos is quite an experience. The area has been known as a golf paradise for the last decade. An old fisherman’s town, it now represents luxury, great golf courses and superior accommoda-tions, without forgetting the importance of the sea life as well.”
There are golf courses for every taste, desire and challenge. Some of them face the sea, others the mountains. The golfer can pick one, two or three and experience the best round of their lives.
There are golf courses for every taste, desire and challenge. Some of them face the sea, others the mountains. The golfer can pick one, two or three and experience the best round of their lives.
Some of the courses in Los Cabos are con-sidered among the best in the world, according to major magazines and international newspa-pers. The most recognizable designers have left their mark on this exciting site. Names go from Tom Fazio to Jack Nicklaus, from Robert Trent Jones to Tom Weiskopf. Each one of these courses bears a unique style, even though the environment is almost the same for them all.
The best golf courses are located between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, in a highway that stretches 33 miles. “Visiting Los Cabos is a must, if you want to play in some of the best golf courses, like El Dorado, one of the most magnificent Nicklaus’ designs in the world,” said Guillén.
There are other three Nicklaus designs in Los Cabos —Palmilla, Raven, Cabo del Sol, Ocean Course, San Lucas Country Club and one at the Cabo Real complex. “But El Dorado is something spectacular. Although you might need your best golf, the views of the mountains, the bunkers and the sea, along the well-shaped fairways and impeccable greens will make your visit worth-while,” asserted Guillén, who also recommends: “After playing El Dorado, try something different, like La Querencia, a very unique design by Tom Fazio. As a matter of fact, this was the first golf course Fazio designed outside of the US. Queren-cia’s clubhouse will impress you, with its ocean views of the Sea of Cortés.”
Guillén concluded: “Any golfer that visits Mexico must play there. Trust me, you will never forget your rounds in Los Cabos.” n
54 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Looking at the Pacific Ocean from the scenic highway that goes from Tijuana to Ensenada makes one think of the relative importance of BIG DEALS. From the immensity of the oceans to the majesty of the mountains around, Baja California offers an enormous variety of op-tions for visiting and sightseeing –gray whales included!
The trip begins as soon as one discovers the line of the sea when the road starts in the subur-ban neighborhood of Playas de Tijuana and goes all the way to Los Cabos, having different scenar-ios on the way, from high forests in the San Pedro Mártir National Park, where a very important Star Observatory is located, to lush vegetation ar-eas in Mulege or Spanish Missions in the middle of the desert in very old towns built first by Fran-ciscans and Jesuits back in the XVI century.
The entire peninsula of Baja California shel-ters ages of history and a great deal of ecosys-tems over land and, very importantly, in the sea. Marine biodiversity represents one of the state’s much richness. As a territory of significant pro-portions, the coastline plays an important role in the touristic realm on both states (the peninsula shelters the states of Baja California and Baja Cal-ifornia Sur). Plenty activities are offered along the coastal sites, from fishing to diving, or to sightsee-ing, visiting marine preserves and admiring the nature working by the second.
One of the most interesting natural acts in the world is the Gray Whale migration from Alaska to the Sea of Cortés. The mammal visits the entire coast of the peninsula on its way to the lagoons in the deepest area of the Gulf of Califor-nia. Gray whales inhabit shallow coastal waters of the eastern North Pacific. The gray whale makes one of the longest of all mammalian mi-grations, averaging 16,000-22,500 km (10,000-14,000 miles) round trip.
In October, the whales leave their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and head south for their mating and calving la-goons in Baja California. The southward jour-ney takes 2-3 months. The whales remain in these lagoons for a few months, allowing the calves to build up a thick layer of blubber to sustain them during the northward migration and keep them warm in the colder waters. The return trip north takes another 2-3 months. Mothers and calves travel very near shore on
Photo archive
Whale Ho!by alvin monarreZ
the northbound migration. There are some in-dividual gray whales that are found year round in the Straits of Juan de Fuca between the State of Washington and Vancouver Island, Canada, and some that are seen during the summer months off the northern California coast.
There is currently a great deal of options where to choose from to join a jaunt depart-ing from any of the most important touristic
gray whale facts
• Adult males measure 45-46 feet (13.7-14 m) and adult females measure slightly more. Both sexes weigh 30-40 tons (27,200-36,300 kg).
• Gray whales reach sexual maturity at 5-11 years of age, or when they reach 36-39 feet (11-12 m) in length. Gestation is 12-13 months. The calf weighs 1,100-1,500pounds(500-680kg)andisabout15feet(4.5m)atbirth.Calvesnurse7-8monthsonmilkthatis53%fat(humanmilkis2%fat).Femalesbearasingle calf, at intervals of 2 or more years.
• Courtship and mating behavior are complex, and frequently involve 3 or more whales of mixed sexes. Mating and calving both occur primarily in the lagoons of Baja California although both have been observed during the migration.
• The gray whale makes one of the longest of all mammalian migrations, averaging 10,000-14,000 miles (16,000-22,530 km) round trip. In October, the whales begin to leave their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and head south for their mating
spots in the peninsula, such as Loreto, La Paz or Ensenada. It is also possible to get the journey of a lifetime in some of the remote wilderness whale watching camps on the shores of the San Ignacio lagoon in the northern area of the Sea of Cortés.
Whatever may be any person’s scene, Baja California makes an offer to the world to share its natural wonders with only one requirement: the complete will to enjoy and feel like home. n
destination baja california sur
Los Cabos has excellent beaches lining the final 80-kilometer (50 miles) stretch of the peninsula.These quiet and unique sites are wonderful locations for water sports:
Palmilla Located at 27.5 Km on Route 1 in San José del Cabo, this white-sand beach is very popular and recommendable for family outings, as it offers recreation facilities. Here you can practice some scuba diving, snorkeling, and the waters are excellent for fishing.
El ChilenoThis popular beach is located at Km 14.5 on the Corredor Turístico between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. This destination is known for its crystalline, calm waters, ideal for swimming and snorkeling activities.
El ArcoLocated on the southernmost tip of the Baja California Peninsula, is a place where the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortés meet. At this location, there is an arch-shaped rock formation that has become the icon of Los Cabos. It only takes a 20 minute boat trip to get there and it is fairly common to spot seals, sea lions, pelicans and other birds in this amazing location. An ideal place for fishing, diving and snorkeling. It also has a famous Old Lighthouse, which is more than 100 years old.
AcapulquitoLocated at Km 28 on the main highway of San José del Cabo, this beach has fine sand and crystalline waters. It is an ideal surfing location.
El MedanoRight in the middle of this Cabo San Lucas Bay near Marina Sol, it is one of the most popular beaches in Los Cabos. Here you can kick back and listen to music while enjoying some delicious food or sipping on a refreshing drink. Later, you can go swimming, boating, fishing, water-skiing, snorkeling, kayaking or surfing.
Playa del AmorThis beach is hidden behind El Arco. To arrive there you’ll need to take a water taxi that departs from the Marina or El Medano Beach. This romantic spot, which can only be seen every four years when the tide recedes, offers a unique view of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortés. This place has become a popular romantic getaway. The waters are ideal for sailing, snorkeling, kayaking and other water sports.
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Cascadas de ArenaLocated near El Arco, here you can witness an amazing natural phenomenon, cascades that were created by tectonic plate movement. You can observe this natural wonder 30 meters (100 feet) under water.
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Mexico “Gold Coast”, lapped by both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortés, is a world-level tourist destination where championship golf courses, luxurious resort hotels and gorgeous beaches are combined with a majestic landscape of mountains and desert. The contrast-filled region of Los Cabos unites the waters of the
Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortés (also called the Gulf of Califor-nia). UNESCO declared 244 islands and protected areas of the Sea of Cortés as a World Heritage Site.A 33-kilometer highway, called the Corredor Turístico, stretches from San José del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas.
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56 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo courtesy of christian cota
The bottom line is to sell your products; if you keep
this in mind, bad reviews should not make you
frustrated, they should bea reason to improve.
What really matters is to spend your time doing what
you want to do, what you truly enjoy.
interview christian cota
the young designer is making his way into new york’s fashion world with “imperfect” and
“organic” creations that enhance the female figure’s natural beauty.
by francisco vernis
Christian Cota is conquering the New York runways with trendy designs, in which his Mexican heritage manifests in a subtle yet distinctive way.
The Mexican designer arrived in the Unit-ed States in 2005. Before living in New York, he studied painting in Paris; however, his child-hood years in Mexico City were a very deter-mining factor for his life and work. From his mother and grandmother he learned that ele-gance does not only depend on what you wear, but on the way that you wear it. This triggered his passion for fashion.
Despite the fact that his label has been in the fashion market for only two years, his col-lections are already at the New York Fashion Week; his designs are worn by women such as the orchestra director Alondra de la Parra, and actresses such as Hayden Panettiere, Blake Lively and Rose Byrne, among other celebri-ties, and are sold in Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s. Nevertheless, he considers that he has not yet reached the summit.
Although he is only 26 years old, Christian is convinced that his success is due to his work, more than to his search for being renowned.
By managing his own business, he has faced exciting moments and discovered his own new line of attack to remain trendy. His indisput-ably up to date collections cannot conceal the influence of his country.
—InwhichdegreehasMexicoinfluencedyour creativity?Many things are subconscious. They are most-ly memories and images that I have absorbed, such as colors. My collections have very organic colors, like terracotta, floral colors, fuchsia, aqua, sand, and all the hues of nature that I perceived in Mexico.
Another source of inspiration is the dra-matic and theatrical personality of female characters in Mexican soap operas. They are generally women that overact; they want ev-eryone to notice them. My clothing is designed for women who want to be seen without having to scream in order to attract attention. My designs, especially all my night gowns, are very “dramatic”.
In Mexico I also developed a passion for history. Mexico is a country with a rich past. When I lived there, I used to visit museums and archaeological sites. Nowadays, every time I work on a collection, I like to do histori-cal research in order to select what I want to use for my creations.
—How did you decide to switch to the fashion world, after studying painting?I was attracted to fashion ever since I was a child, due in part to the influence of my grandmother and my mother, who always kept an eye out for the latest fashion trends. When I was in 11th grade, I entered a Levi’s contest, in which I had to transform a pair of jeans and a jacket. I decorated them with drawings and won the first prize. This ex-perience increased my interest in fashion. Afterwards, I lived in Paris, a city where almost everything has something to do with
ChrIstIan COtaElEgantly CarElEss
many people depend on this business, besides me. It’s much easier if you think this way. Therefore, when someone gives a bad review on one of your collections, or there are simply no reviews –which happens frequently when you are a beginner– it just doesn’t affect you so much. The bottom line is to sell your products; if you keep this in mind, bad reviews should not make you frustrated, they should be a reason to improve. What really matters is to spend your time doing what you want to do, what you truly enjoy.
In New York, it has been difficult and easy at the same time. Competition is very strong. Not only do you compete against the best in your country, but against the best in the world. But, at the same time, this competition and being exposed to so many different ideas, actually makes things easier and keeps you motivated.
—What are the main obstacles you have confronted?Recently, the financial situation. It was al-ready difficult to have your collections in-cluded in stores, and now you have to prove to customers that your product is not only beautiful or original, or made from good quality material. Many people can do that. What’s really hard is to prove that you can run a business; that you’re going to deliver on time, that adjustments and finishes are going to be fine, and that the prices are reasonable.
—What is the easiest part?The creative part. That is what helps me to confront everything else, no matter how dif-ficult it is. Sometimes I’m still in the showroom
58 Negocios i The Lifestyle
fashion, and I discovered a world that began to attract me more and more.
When I began to envision my future, I had to be very realistic and I thought: “I love to paint, but there is a part of me that likes doing business.” I realized that fashion gave me the opportunity to do business and continue to paint at the same time.
—What do you recall the most about your childhood?The trips with my family. These trips pro-duced a great influence in me, not only be-cause those journeys gave me the opportunity to interact more intensively with my family members, but because they shaped my cur-rent concept of aesthetics.
For instance, if we traveled to Africa, at our return I had a whole new source of inspi-ration. Today, when I design, suddenly I use colors I had never used before; when I analyze them, I remember: “Oh, it’s the color of the painting I bought during that trip.” I am great-ly inspired by my memories, not only visual memories, but emotive ones as well.
—You have mentioned that your mother and your grandmother were your muses. How did they inspire you?My grandmother was very conservative. Her attire was always impeccable; she would not leave the house without combing her hair ac-cording to her favorite hairstyle, and wearing her favorite jewelry and dresses. She would never repeat the same look. If she had already worn something, she would find a way to alter it in order to make it look different. She showed me the potential that clothes can
have. Thanks to her, I realized that clothes are a means of expression and a means of com-munication.
On the other hand, my mother is much more creative and free, she has a more casual style. She has that “careless” touch which strangely makes her look elegant. That is the way I like to design. For me, fashion and style are natural, something that every person car-ries inside, something “organic.”
When a woman asks me what is the worst mistake she can make when she dresses, I al-ways respond that the worst thing that you can do is try too hard. If you are already wearing an
Photos courtesy of christian cota
interesting skirt and you try to combine it with a more interesting blouse and an even more interesting pair of shoes, the results can be disappointing. The results are competing pieces of clothing, and others notice that you tried too hard in your effort to combine them.
—Howdoyoudefineyourstyle?I would say that it’s elegant and classic, but with a touch of contemporary fashion, which makes it look “careless.” You can wear a very classic piece, but match it in a way to make it look casual. For example, if I’m designing a dress and it already has a lot of stones, I crumple it, crush it, do anything to “destroy” it a bit in order to give it that organic, imperfect and asymmetric touch.
—How hard has it been to be renowned in New York?My objective was not to be renowned, although it’s true that being well-known makes things much easier. I’m here because I love what I do. When I take decisions, I keep in mind that
interview christian cota
60 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of christian cota
at 5 a.m. Even when I have to keep working for at least two more hours, since I like what I do so much, I don’t know where I get the energy, but I come up with 25,000 new ideas, despite the fatigue.
—What do you consider the key to your success?Work. There is a great deal of creativity in this world and many people can create beautiful pieces. The things that have helped me to be successful are work, perseverance, and the fact that I never give up; if things don’t work one way, I always look for another solution.
—What is a day like in the life of Chris-tian Cota?I love to have breakfast at home. I normally have quesadillas for breakfast, I really love them, and always try to have Mexican cheese available. Every day, I set a goal to design a certain number of pieces, so work doesn’t pile up on me. I like taking the time to walk and visit places where I’ve never been before.
When I’m designing my collections, I concentrate on work; but even then I try to
walk through the park for at least 15 min-utes, I love to admire the trees and be able to relax a little. When I’m not designing a collection, I practice horseback riding and enjoy dinner outings with my friends.
—What are your plans for the future?To continue expanding my business; im-proving accounts, and finding more stores to include my collections; thus giving my name a stronger global presence.
I want to develop my brand name and add new elements; although I wouldn’t like to take a huge step without being prepared for it. n
Christian Cota’s collections are already at the New York Fashion Week; his designs are worn by women such as the orchestra director Alondra de la Parra, and actresses such as Hayden Panettiere, Blake Lively and Rose Byrne, among other celebrities, and are sold in Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s. Nevertheless, he considers that he has not yet reached the summit.
the lifestyle feature tijuana
purity is the wrong approach for art and culture along the border. what mat-ters here are the mixed races; the inner and outer search; the extremes and the never-ending possibilities. here, a voice explodes seeking to spread individually shaped personalities in the process of meeting life goals.
by ricardo ibarra
Tijuana is the ultimate crossing point. Its streets and surrounding areas are filled with hundreds of new visitors from different parts of the world that come and go. It is the last Spanish-speaking point, before switching to Spanglish. It is home to hundreds of nomads. It is the borderline of Latin America, like a small nation where global nature is the result of cul-tural diversity, particularly emphasized in art and culture.
In the last couple of years, the city and its surroundings have become an abode with a constant and wide-spreading dynamic. Many of its visitors are artists, not only from Mexico and the United States, but also from many other countries. Tijuana is a magnet that attracts and exudes local talent towards the rest of the world.
Various organizations created by local artists have given birth to a multicultural ex-
perience in a land without traditions, since it is a relatively new city, product of 20th cen-tury progress and innovation.
Civil organizations participate in the local art scene, such as the National Foundation of Independent Artists (NFIA), Entijuanarte, Ensenadarte, Lemon Art, InSite, La Casa del Tunal Art Center, or even actors such as Nortec Collective, who cover the musical spectrum.
FusionsLuis Ituarte, born in Tijuana and raised in dif-ferent hybrid surroundings –Baja California, Mexico City, Central America, Canada and Cali-fornia–, has a unique way of understanding and explaining the border phenomenon.
“The multiculturalism in Tijuana, added to the multiculturalism in southern California –where cultures from around the globe meet– has created a cultural evolution that is essential for the future. It is very similar to what happened in the Middle Age, when after the fall of the Ro-man Empire, the Moors invaded Europe, giv-ing birth to the foundations of modern western culture. Something similar is happening in this
area which I call the Tijuana-Los Angeles mega metropolis,” he remarked.
For Ituarte, the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, marked the beginning of a new borderless era, which began a process of personal and global lib-eration, “mainly due to international trade needs and the development of communications, such as the internet, which is forcing us, through a cul-tural standpoint, to review our attitude towards others, as part of the global village concept,” he explained.
He added: “For the first time in the history of western civilization, we are aware that we pass from one age to another. We have the opportu-nity to design the new era and, in order to do so, we need to take part in it. We all should have the opportunity to take part in designing the great plan.”
According to the muralist, what is currently happening in Tijuana could be compared with the European Baroque period: “a subliminal and underground manifestation of dissent for the ‘other’ cultures –Arabs and some local cultures– that converged in Europe during the Roman Empire and after its fall. The cultures that the Romans conquered survived and gave birth to a hybrid that found forms of expression.”
Some of the images taken behind the scenes of Luis Ituarte’s colorful works may bet-ter explain what he expresses in words. Some photographs show a multiracial work team
that helps the Tijuana artist with his murals: some with painted black faces; Asians with narrow eyes; others with blond hair and blue eyes, and of course, those whose skin reminds you of sandy clay.
Along the borderNortec Collective, a group of computer and tam-bora drum musicians, emerged from this border zone –between the Mexican Baja California and the American California– is probably the crown of this cultural blend that prevails in the area.
Nortec is the result of the fusion between technology and tradition; a combination of mod-ern knowledge with Mexican heritage, so full of symbols, stories, and a special, magic way of thinking.
The lyrics of Nortec’s song “Tijuana makes me happy,” which is a mixture of samplers, loops, strummed guitars, and norteño style accordion notes, say: “Some people call it the happiest place on earth / Others say it’s a dangerous place / It’s been the city of sin / But you know, I don’t care / Tijuana makes me happy / Tijuana makes me happy – then a chorus of female voices - / Bang, bang – and the final drum roll.
Fussible, Bostich, Hiperboreal, Clorofila, and Panóptica are the DJ’s that compose this Mexi-can collective music group, that has offered the country and the world a series of productions and concerts that reflect the contemporary style of the people of Tijuana.
Feeling tired of following foreign music trends, the group created a mixture of elec-tronic music, norteño rhythms and Sinaloa band sounds. Nortec has recorded almost 10 albums, and has dabbled in the movie and videogame market, producing the soundtrack for Babel and FIFA Street 2.
The NFIA has been operating before the time when desert sand was turned into concrete free-ways and skyscrapers, which spread from Tijua-na all the way to Los Angeles. This bi-national or-ganization promotes emerging art from the area, produced by Mexican nationals or US citizens with Mexican heritage. Encouraging the work of over 30 members is the main objective of this organization, although it also raises funds to help get youths off the streets and exit social exclusion.
José Leonardo Vivanco was born in Zamora, Michoacán, and currently lives in Tijuana. Vivan-co is a specialist in working with paper; his art is based on this material. His creations are inspired by every corner of his border imagination. Viv-anco uses a surgical scalpel to cut the paper, and
62 Negocios i The Lifestyle illustrations ricardo luÉvanos
Tijuana resembles nowhere land. It is not in central Mexico, nor is it part
of the United States; nevertheless, the city has the ability to look upon itself as
“the belly button of the world.”
the lifestyle feature tijuana
then produces a chiaroscuro effect with a white pencil. His work has been exhibited in various Mexican museums. “Tijuana is a one-of-a-kind cultural center in Mexico.”
“We want young people to take a brush and begin to paint, instead of using drugs,” the general coordinator for the NFIA, José Vivanco, noted.
In June 2009, the NFIA began holding trav-eling exhibitions in various cities of the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit, such as Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Mascota, and Tepic. A portion of the sale revenues from the art pieces goes to the creators, and another is directed to support art communities in Baja California, and for youth rescue, José Vivanco explained.
Around the worldEnrique Chiu, Gallery Coordinator for the Mu-nicipal Art and Culture Institute of Tijuana (IMAC) considers that the area’s artistic and cultural panorama changed in 2009. Before this year –marked by the global economic down-turn–, artists from Mexico and the United States, and even from other countries, would seek the cultural venues of this side of the planet.
Today, the flow of artists to this area has de-creased; nevertheless, Tijuana sustains intense artistic and cultural activities
Daniel Rua Nova, a Mexican-American living in Tijuana, recently opened an exhibition in a city located to the west of his home, Beijing. His work has been showcased in China since the Olympic Games in 2008. “Being from Tijuana, I was born to export, to cross borders,” he proudly stated. In Tijuana, we are more open to global exchange; although it may be present elsewhere, here it is ever-present.”
Tijuana resembles nowhere land. It is not in central Mexico, nor is it part of the United States; nevertheless, the city has the ability to look upon itself as “the belly button of the world.”
Luis Ituarte describes the city: “The fact that a mother culture is inexistent here, the horizons for creativity and the creation of a new Mexico are broadened […] Tijuana is a cultural mess. The convergence of different cultures produces the need for validation, for cultural acknowledge-ment, for having history. The artists have a social need to be regionally or locally recognized. That is why the cultural movement is so important in Tijuana.”
And, to finish off, he noted: “Globalization has a much greater impact here at the border […] We are better prepared for change, to have a hybrid character.” n
64 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo archive
by cristina Ávila-Zesatti
Public Education + Involvement = ExcellenceThe Entrepreneurs Foundation for Basic Education was established in 2006 with the goal of improving the quality of education in Mexico. The President of the foundation and major promoter, Enrique Carlos Madero, has set himself the task of involving the private sector in order to improve the conditions of Mexican public schools. Today, the project that began with 10 schools of excellence has already spread to 100 facilities, with an investment of 1.85 million usd. It is an innovative social involvement program in which all sectors pursue the same objective: to eliminate illiteracy –real and functional–, and increase productivity in Mexico.
feedback tijuana
The United Nations (UN) celebrates the Interna-tional Literacy Day on September 8. Every year, the countries that have failed a course seem to be putting this exam on hold over and over again, while the “good students”, those who have passed the course, are always the same nations.
According to official figures, there are still 35 million youths and adults that cannot read or write, in addition to 88 million persons that failed to complete elementary school. Despite the fact that Mexico is not classified in the group with the lowest grades in the region, there is still a chal-lenge for the future of the country.
More efforts, best resultsAccording to the rules, the State is responsible for public education. Nevertheless, year after year, the results in different countries of the globe confirm the need for a new program. This was precisely what marked the beginning of the Entrepreneurs Foundation for Basic Ed-ucation (Empresarios por la Educación Básica, ExEB), an idea conceived by Enrique Carlos Madero Bracho.
In 2003, when Madero was head of the Busi-ness Council of Latin America (Consejo Empre-sarial de América Latina, CEAL), during one of the group meetings, together with some other colleagues, he pinpointed one of the key prob-lems of productive levels in the region: poor edu-cation, low quality, unbalanced opportunities, inadequate resources, and insufficient financing for education systems.
This analysis led them to action. Various Latin American businessmen tried to find a “good practice” model that could revert, to whatever extent possible, the conditions that currently affect children, and that could affect a complete society in the future, given that a good percentage of the working-age adults could be lacking the tools and basic knowledge to achieve optimal work performance.
This is how CEAL, in coordination with the Latin American Institute for Educational Com-munication (Instituto Latinoamericano de la Comunicación Educativa, ILCE), identified 54 cases of good educational practices, in 18 coun-tries of Latin America.
Thefirstreading,thefirstlessonsExEB rose precisely from this joint project, and in 2006 began with a Quality Schools with Eq-uity pilot program.
“In broad terms, this project pursues the objective of raising the quality of education in every area: from the facility infrastructure to the part related to human capital, in other
words, the principal, the teachers, the parents, and the academic content that is taught to the children. They all receive support from the foundation to attain the necessary leadership,” remarked Alicia Bruckman, Development Di-rector of the foundation.
One of the first steps was to partner with the Ministry of Public Education (Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP), since it would be difficult to reach the desired coverage that this non-profit organization is targeting, without the support from the state office in charge of national education.
SEP selected the schools to launch the pro-gram, and is working on measurable quality standards for students and to evaluate the fac-ulty curricula.
When ExEB began, the pilot program was launched in 10 schools; nevertheless, after three years, success speaks for itself. Today, the Quality Schools with Equity program has reached 100 rural and urban schools in four states: Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Estado de México, and Tamaulipas, where the average number of students per school is 500.
Learning to add, to then learn to multiplyTo apply the Quality Schools program and obtain tangible results requires monitoring at least four academic periods, before the school can be self-managing and self-sustainable.
Madero Bracho, President of the Executive Committee, has involved approximately 30 re-nowned Mexican businessmen in the project, who are well aware of the relevance that their participation in the program represents, since fostering a higher level of education for today’s children, will help build the generations of the country’s workers of the future.
Nevertheless, a great deal of work still lies ahead. Presently, Mexico has 220,000 pub-lic schools spread out in the country, and the Entrepreneurs for Education model has only reached 100 of them. Although this is not a minor accomplishment, the challenge for the future is huge. The equation is simple: if more
resources are available, the greater the ability to take actions will be.
Approximately 1.85 million usd have been invested up to this stage, with a yearly budget of 18,500 usd for each of the schools that apply the Quality Schools with Equity program.
Currently, a large portion of these resources come from SEP. Because of this situation, ExEB will soon start an intense campaign to encourage other members of the private sector to become involved in this effort, which aims to become an educational crusade for high standards, because the goal is not simply to educate, but to prepare the students that will become the nation’s work-ing force in the future.
Involvement countsIn addition to the program, ExEB is preparing a “social studies plan” that has proved to be ef-ficient, but requires more people to take action.
Because of this, besides the private sector campaign, this non-profit organization has being audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, in order to call out and invite society to become involved in this effort for quality education with equity.
Consequently, anyone can make donations according to their possibilities, which are tax deductible, due to the fact that the foundation is registered as an official recipient of dona-tions before the Ministry of Finance and Pub-lic Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP).
“The idea is to involve all the members of society –Alicia Bruckman, spokeswoman for ExEB noted– we are not only seeking dona-tions from prominent entrepreneurs, we want companies to participate actively, we want society to become engaged in the foundations goals, we want people to be able to make dona-tions (…) that’s why we are devising new cam-paigns and new forms of cooperation.”
During the 2009-2010 academic year, 25 million children will be enrolled in Mexican elementary schools, which represents a bit less than one fourth of the current population of the country. The international experience has proved a simple formula: lack of education is one of the causes for social underdevelopment. Further to the lessons of a course called “pro-ductivity”, it is fully proved that raising levels of education will increase a nation’s gross domes-tic product (GDP).
This is precisely the final goal for ExEB: “To transform education is an act of social justice and responsibility that requires the participa-tion of entrepreneurs and other sectors of our society,” noted Madero Bracho. n
According to ExEB’s vision: “to transform education is an act of social justice
and responsibility that requires the participation
of entrepreneurs and other sectors of our society.”
Donationsfrom 30different
enterprises
National EducationWorkers Union
(Sindicato Nacional deTrabajadores de la Educación)
The program is operating in four states:
500students
in each school
100schools
supported bythe program
1.85million
USD invested
18,500 USDis the average sum
per school per year
ObjectivesIntroduce the Quality Schoolswith Equity program to Mexican schools
Attain entrepreneurialparticipation in Mexico’spublic education
Increase educationquality standards
Achieve participation ofparents, governments, privateenterprises, and the societyto improve basic educationin Mexico
ActionsSchool infrastructure improvement
Faculty and parental training
Increase schooladministration leadership
Evaluation of requirementsand optimal use of schoolresources
Implementation of evaluationsand standards to measure thequality and quantity of education
PARTAKERS
Tamaulipas
Estado de México
Guanajuato
Nuevo León
Basic EducationUnder Secretariatof the Ministry ofPublic Education
Entrepreneurs Foundation for Basic Education
www.exeb.org.mx
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