La Jornada
April 17, 2001
By Juan Manuel Venegas and Roberto Garduño

The Plan Puebla Panama document, issued by the government team of the President Vicente Fox Quesada, will be taken to a consultation process and analysis in the communities of the Mexican south east highlighting that the region between Mexico and Central America can turn into a " world class hub of development in Latin America".

The document establishes that, in the case of Mexico, the Plan will promote the acceleration and co-ordinate implementation of public policies, programs and projects of governmental and private investment, focusing on the educational development of the people; expansion and integral development of the basic sectors' infrastructure; the promotion of productive activities and the modernisation and reinforcement of local institutions.

The four big themes of the document which will be soon be put for public analysis in the south east region are the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats in the region occupied by Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama.

Strengths

Common cultural and technological traditions; multiculturalism and richness in uses, traditional costumes of the ethnic groups enrich the regional creativity; plentiful manual labour at competitive costs on a world level and potential quality; geographical position, located between the three big commercial blocks (North America, Europe and Asia); the process of democratisation in the area's nations are getting stronger; a corridor in construction between Chiapas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, with extension to Guatemala; central american electric inter-connection underway; natural resources in abundance, with extraordinary bio-diversity.

Opportunities

The population of the region will reach around 92 million inhabitants by the year 2025, growing participation of women in all ambits, particularly in the job market; consolidation of the process of social participation in taking public decisions; the possibility to increase the exterior commerce supported by the Free Trade Agreements and a better transport infrastructure; the countries or regions of intensive industrial 2nd generation manual production, are becoming uncompetitive because of the increments on production costs, and in consequence affecting standards of living.

Debilities

Strong inequalities between the poor, with high levels of exclusion; population highly dispersed; immigration of the people to the developed poles beyond the region. Low participation in the definition of public policies; customs, financial and fiscal barriers in the countries of the region, critical mass of small and medium businesses that are not enough to drive growth. Inadequate transport infrastructure, an insufficient regional rail network; poorly maintained motorways; low intensity communications network, non-existent environmental culture; territorial realignment programs incomplete.

Threats

Inequality grows between the poor and rich people in the region, in consequence an increase in social tensions. A growing breach between the south-south east of Mexico and the rest of the country, and between the Central America countries. Growing competence between the undeveloped countries to capture foreign investment; the multi-nationals are reopening industrial plants in countries with competitive costs of manual labour (3rd generation: technicians and professionals), like the new Asian tigers economies of China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.