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BUSH, FOX ADMINISTRATIONS WORK TO ENCOURAGE COOPERATION AND TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
Partnership For Prosperity Entrepreneurial Workshop Highlights Commitment To Create Jobs For Workers And Demand For Products On Both Sides Of The Border

Guadalajara, Mexico - Commmerce Secretary Donald L. Evans today met with Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez and Mexican Secretary of Economy Fernando Canales, during the first day of the second Partnership for Prosperity Workshop. In the bilateral meetings, Evans emphasized the Bush administration’s commitment to ensure compliance with NAFTA and to identify and resolve obstacles encountered by U.S. businesses trying to access Mexican markets.

Evans discussed ways to improve protection of intellectual property rights, regulatory transparency and the elimination of non-tariff trade barriers. In his meetings, Evans also emphasized the need to address these problems now in order to strengthen the trade relationship. Evans pointed out that delay only offered temporary benefits that would prevent workers and businesses in both countries from realizing the full benefits of an open and transparent trading relationship.

Evans also highlighted how the United States and Mexico have benefitted under NAFTA citing that NAFTA helped place Mexico on sounder economic footing. Prior to NAFTA, on average, Mexico’s annual economic growth was 1.9 percent in the 1980’s. With the implementation of NAFTA, Mexico’s economy grew an average of 3.4 percent per year in the 1990’s. The U.S. economy also benefitted and grew by 3.8 percent per year as a result of NAFTA. Under NAFTA, U.S. GDP rose by 22 percent and Mexico’s GDP grew by 12 percent, raising the standard of living and increasing productivity in both countries.

“Mexico and the United States share more than a border. Each day, thousands of our citizens cross the border and share trade, culture and close family ties,” Evans said. “It is because of this link that both the United States and Mexico have grown in recent years. This relationship represents a strategic alliance that is critical to strengthening the economic position of both countries in the global marketplace. By continuing to work together, we can achieve greater prosperity and greater opportunity.”

Evans also emphasized the Commerce Department’s commitment to help unlock the economic potential of every citizen in order to narrow the economic gaps in both countries and help every citizen find a job who wants a job.

Evans and Canales also participated in a corporate stewardship event highlighting the role of corporate citizenship and the responsibilities corporations have in the communities they serve. Evans and Canales recognized Impulsa Jalisco (modeled after Junior Achievement) and their corporate sponsors for their work to help young entrepreneurs learn the principles of operating and running a business by giving them practical hands-on experience.

Dolf Horn, a successful businessman in Guadalajara, brought Impulsa to Guadalajara more than 30 years ago because he knew the value of providing students with the skills to take on the jobs of the 21st Century.

As a result of Impulsa’s positive impact in Mexico, USAID worked to expand the program in many regions of Mexico and has been a major sponsor of the expansion of Impulsa in Mexico during the last 10 years.

In the evening, Evans will meet with Mexican President Vicente Fox to discuss the positive strides that have been made in the trade relationship between the United States and Mexico, and how Partnership for Prosperity is helping to unlock new economic opportunities.

Other U.S. government officials participating in the Partnership For Prosperity Entrepreneurial Workshops include Sam Bodman, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Department; Grant Aldonas, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade; Alan P. Larson, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs; Small Business Administrator Hector Barreto; Overseas Private Investment Corporation President Peter Watson; April Foley, Vice Chairman, EXIM Bank; Thelma Askey, Director, U.S. Trade Development Agency; Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner, Social Security Administration; and Fred Schieck, Deputy Administrator, USAID.

The Partnership for Prosperity Workshop furthers the commitments made by U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox to create jobs and promote cooperation, economic partnership and prosperity in the Western Hemisphere. The partnership seeks to create jobs where they are needed most and to foster an environment in which no Mexcian feels compelled to leave his home for lack of jobs or opportunities.

More information is available at the Partnership for Prosperity website: www.p4pworks.org.