Within the framework of the North American Leaders Summit, Dr. Octavio de la Torre de Stéffano assured that Mexico can become one of the most competitive countries in the world to integrate into global value chains.
The treasurer of the Confederation of Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco-Servytur) pointed out that recent international events have transformed globalization, so that today it is not possible to compete as single countries, but rather as a region.
“There are many challenges for the world and for our countries in the macroeconomic landscape. Inflation, high-interest rates to combat it, and low growth are just a few points that delay the possibility of economic recovery and revitalization of global value chains,” he said.
However, the leader assured that every challenge comes with an opportunity, which is why today North America is at one of the best junctures in history to become the largest and most competitive value chain platform in the world.
In this sense, he considered that the Leaders’ Summit was the ideal forum to consolidate effective collaboration between the three governments and the private sectors to strengthen regional competitiveness, and capitalize on comparative advantages to be the most resilient, inclusive, and competitive region in the global economic sphere.
“The numbers are on our side: we trade 3 million dollars per minute, we are almost a third of the global economy, and we are a market of more than 500 million people, so joint work between businessmen is key to taking advantage of this opportunity and governments,” he said.
As a private sector, he added, it works through various trilateral and bilateral cooperation mechanisms between the three business communities where recommendations for public policies and specific projects are issued to governments to streamline and strengthen key chains, such as agri-food, automotive, electronics, medical equipment, energy, among others.
“We want to develop our region as an investment hub to guarantee the well-being of our societies, promote responsible and inclusive economic growth, and be a reliable source of supply for the rest of the world,” he noted.
In this regard, the leader explained that in North America, there is proven experience in some chains such as the automotive industry, where there is the greatest integration, and with the reconversion trend there is the possibility of consolidating as leaders in the production of electric vehicles.
Likewise, there is a great opportunity to strengthen food security in the region, which is a matter of national security, with harmonized public policies based on scientific evidence and thus make North America a world food supplier.
“But to materialize all these opportunities, it is essential that governments guarantee full compliance with the Treaty, the rule of law, legal certainty, as well as energy security to prop up North America as the most attractive region for investors since we compete with the whole world,” sentenced De la Torre.
Thus, regulatory cooperation and harmonization in industrial and agricultural matters are key to strengthening the attraction of investments related to the relocation of chains.
“North America’s time is now, and our best weapon is TMEC. We cannot lose time to exploit its potential; we must take forceful actions now to take advantage of these opportunities and ensure a better future for our societies”, he concluded.
By: Cuatro Comunicación
