MARKET TRENDS IN MEXICO NOWADAYS

Mexico has made and is currently making impressive strides in promoting economic growth. Mexico's strong and more diversified manufacturing base makes the Mexican economy more stable than it has previously been. Furthermore, the government is not faced with a large federal deficit as it was in the past. Its debt situation is better controlled and Mexican industry is generally exporting more value-added products than ever. The administration of President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon (1994-2001) put in place an Economic Emergency Plan in the first quarter of 1995. It is a strong economic program in which the government is making steady progress in reasserting Mexico's sound economic fundamentals, restoring stability to financial markets, and establishing a strong foundation for sustainable growth. This program has dramatically improved Mexico's account balance and debt structure, and has also lead to a significant number of new investment opportunities and privatization in a number of key economic sectors, including secondary petrochemicals, basic infrastructure, telecommunications and natural gas. Mexico is moving forward with strong initiatives to restructure and deregulate the economy, to stimulate creation and transfer of new technology, to strengthen industrial competitiveness and to increase domestic savings, all of which are geared towards improving Mexico's investment climate and business confidence. NAFTA has locked in fundamental economic reforms in Mexico and, these reforms are being widened and deepened. With the increase in commerce between United States, Canada and Mexico, the economic outlook has been dramatically improved.