FOX: Well, they’re not misperceptions. What we basically want is for investors and businesses to know the changes that have occurred in Mexico that are making Mexico more attractive. Mexico is the best investment opportunity in the world because we have this unique situation of having trade agreements not just with the United States and Canada, but also with the European Union. Through investing in Mexico, you can come to both of those markets with no duty costs. That’s a competitive advantage that is really worth looking at. Furthermore, we have labor costs that are some of the lowest in the world, given the productivity and the quality of Mexican labor.
I am very clear on the demands that businesses and investors make when they go into any country. And this rule-of-law issue is key to us. We’re going to have results in the short term. We have a strong program in this direction. We’re investing a lot of money in security, justice and the rule of law in Mexico. We created a new ministry of security and police. We are reinventing the attorney general’s office. We are recontracting the investigating police who work with the attorney general–with much higher salaries and much higher education levels. Through these means, we will be producing results in the short term. Corruption is the evil of all evils, and to us it is the enemy. We must give it the highest priority because if you have corruption in government and in the police corps, you will never be able to [combat] crime. So we will work to make sure we become a government that is transparent, that is honest, that is accountable.
This is a big asset that we have, all this positive energy. We must keep this running. It’s also a big, big responsibility, and I am very aware of that. I certainly have to make everybody clear on what can be done in the short term and what cannot. But one thing I am committed to is that every day I have constant improvement and results, and that every month and every year, I deliver results. I know that the language of the citizen is facts, results. I’ll keep it that way.
There might be–and this is not proven yet–a slowdown in the rate of growth, but there is an increase in the warmth of our relations and in the commitment toward further trade and solving the problems and obstacles between the U.S. and Mexico, like drug trafficking and migration. [President Bush and I] have this meeting on Feb. 16 where we will improve that relationship. We [Mexicans] also have our recent [trade] agreement with Europe. That’s why we are here. Maybe it will take a little bit of time to penetrate the European market with our products, just as it did in the U.S. But what we can do quickly is bring in investment from Europe to Mexico.
Not in my six-year term. I don’t see at any time in the future a replacement for our currency. What we could get 20 or 25 years from now is a single currency for both Mexico and the U.S.–perhaps it will be called the Azteca. (Laughter). No, we are going to have a floating currency for the next six years. It’s proven to be the right system for us. It brings us protection when there is turbulence and it gives a competitiveness to our economy in good times.
