NEWS
Fox Praises Business Incubator that Connects Mexican Entrepreneurs with High Tech Markets
- Mexico and the valley team up
- By Edwin Garcia
- Mercury News Sacramento Bureau
- Contact Edwin Garcia at egarcia@mercurynews.com or (916) 441-4651.
- http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/14682134.htm
SACRAMENTO – May 27, 2006 - Mexican President Vicente Fox on Friday hailed a Silicon Valley business incubator sponsored by his government as a global model for economic growth that is helping his country transition toward a high-tech future.
Fox, on the final leg of his four-day visit to the Western United States, spoke glowingly about Mexico's improving economy at a conference organized by TechBA, the Mexico-Silicon Valley Technology Business Accelerator, which has connected dozens of Mexican entrepreneurs with high-tech markets they wouldn't otherwise have had direct access to.
The venture, based in San Jose, is funded with a yearly grant of $6 million from Mexico's Economy Ministry and operated by the United States-Mexico Foundation for Science.
``I urge you that we keep working on this transition,'' he told Latino business leaders after hearing about their multimillion-dollar achievements attributed to the binational venture. ``And I just want to congratulate every single presentation that was done here, congratulate all the companies and entrepreneurs that are associated with this venture that is resulting in a success story.''
Before taking the podium at a Sheraton Grand Hotel meeting room with more than 100 business leaders in attendance, Fox listened to a series of entrepreneurs who told rags-to-riches stories.
Many of them came to TechBA from Mexico and then tapped venture capitalists for funding, created manufacturing jobs in Mexico, and now sell their finished products in the United States.
```This is a huge market for us,'' said Eugenio Gallegos who runs Novutek, a software development firm based in the northern state of Sonora. ``We can prove that in Mexico, also, we have good brains, we have good effort, we have very good people, and we can exploit other markets like this one.''
Mexico's consul general of San Jose, Bruno Figueroa, said Fox's praise for TechBA will provide a stimulus for generating new business.
``For the first time there exists a viable presence of Mexican migrants in Silicon Valley that goes beyond simple unskilled labor,'' Figueroa said. ``We're talking about a new Mexican migration that is qualified, and with companies that are already generating wealth in Mexico and in Silicon Valley.''
Not only will TechBA create opportunities for tech-savvy Mexican immigrants in the United States, others suggested it also will reduce the influx of unskilled immigrants by creating more higher-paying jobs in Mexico.
``It means fewer people coming to the United States,'' said Deputy Economy Minister Alejandro Gonzalez, who directs Mexico's equivalent of a small business administration.
Fox, a former Coca Cola executive who takes credit for Mexico's economic expansion during his 5 1/2 years in office, pledged to continue assisting entrepreneurs who want to enter the global market.
``Our obligation is not necessarily to be on this vanguard of talent that Mexico is generating,'' Fox said, ``but to make sure -- and this is our real obligation -- that we remove all obstacles for you to progress, for you to advance and build up all the programs of support so that we facilitate the development of your talent and your capacities.''
Just as he did at a breakfast meeting earlier with the California Chamber of Commerce, Fox encouraged those in attendance at TechBA to invest in Mexico, which he said is enjoying low inflation rates, a favorable stock market and the lowest unemployment rate in Latin America.
``We need the call centers; we need the back offices; we need the technological companies; we need the software companies,'' Fox said. ``We're moving to the new economy.''
Fox also announced that by September, every school in Mexico will be connected to the Internet, and that when students reach high school they will be fluent in English, to be able to work high-tech jobs in Mexico and compete in the global workforce.
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