Business Mexico

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Fixating on security: Fox comes home from Waco empty-handed.(immigration reform)(Column)
This Easter Week past, the three North American leaders met in Waco, Texas. We, the people who paid for their trips, got nothing. Fox is a lame duck who upset the U.S. administration over Iraq and . . .

Mingling with Pharaohs.(National Institute of Anthropology and History)(exhibition)
Mexico boasts an impressive share of the world's greatest civilizations. Now, thanks to the "reciprocity policy" that the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has fashioned with Ger . . .

Restaurant guide.(Mexico city)
BUSINESS MEXICO brings you an ongoing list of some of Mexico City's top restaurants, rated by cost, service, decor and cuisine. A new restaurant is rotated onto the list every month, and we welcome . . .

Los Girasoles.(Advertisement)
You'd be hard pressed to find a more majestic location for a restaurant. Nestled on the eastern side of the Plaza Tolsa next to the Senate building and in the shadow of the Carlos V "caballito" monu . . .

Getting top billing: Altavista Films and the parting of the waters for Mexican cinema.
On January 28 of this year, "Voces Inocentes" opened in Mexico with more than 300 copies made available to cinemas. The dramatic film traveled on to almost every nation in Latin America, as well as . . .

The Path to the Top: how times have changed for CEOs.(Reprint)
When Edward D. Breen was named chairman and CEO of scandal-plagued Tyco International in July 2002, one national magazine reasoned that he had taken on a job that would make "lesser CEOs quake in th . . .

Guadalajara Division collects, donates toys: Committee sponsors drive to benefit children.(Brief Article)
The Guadalajara Division of AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO recently established a Corporate Responsibility Committee, whose goal is to motivate AMCHAM companies to broaden their civic involvement and activ . . .

Touting trade in Texas: summit proves useful for Mexican business leaders.
A group of influential business leaders from Mexico met last month with former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and current U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to discuss promoting trade between . . .

Defending trademark rights: Chamber fights to defeat adverse legislation.(AMCHAM AT WORK)(General Motors Mexico)
In April, General Motors Mexico brought to the attention of AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO a potentially detrimental congressional initiative. The bill would directly impact the franchise industry--or any . . .

Promoting competitiveness: Committee presents policy recommendations to Fox.(AMCHAM AT WORK)
Continuing to push forward its agenda for improving Mexico's global competitiveness, AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO recently presented a series of policy recommendations to Dr. Eduardo Sojo, the head of Pr . . .

Lending is key: banking sector must increase competition, lower commissions.(ECONOMICS & POLITICS)
The Mexican banking system has come a long way since the body blow it was dealt by the devastating Tequila Crisis that erupted in December 1994. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Those banks that were not . . .

Bureaucratic battles: four foreigners and a Mexican open a bar in Mexico City.(DOING BUSINESS)
It all started with a common interest in music. Umair Khan (a Briton), Jussi Walker (a Scot-Finn), and a third friend who has since emigrated to Australia, had been commiserating over what they felt . . .

Creating capable business leaders: getting the most out of postgraduate education.
When you send one of your top employees to an executive education program at any of the many fine postgraduate business schools in Mexico, what do you expect in return? If you're typical, you expe . . .

Blue agave recovery: Cuervo, Diageo lead tequila's global resurgence.(DOING BUSINESS)
Five years ago, the tequila industry was in dire straits, but it was a good news-bad news scenario. The bad news: a rare frost in 1998, coupled with a bacteria and fungus that invaded the Jalisco . . .

Mexico offers logistics alternative: becoming integral part of U.S. supply chain.(DOING BUSINESS)
The logistics business in Mexico has been caught up in a whirlwind of change ever since the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) went into effect. A decade ago, the industry was known as tr . . .

Investing in IT: information technology is key to Mexican productivity.(Cover Story)
It's almost axiomatic--information technology (IT) equals higher productivity. And it's true, if the proper qualifiers are added. You can't become more productive just by throwing more money into . . .

Reforming justice: USAID assists Mexican judicial reform campaign.
Mexico has embarked on a series of judicial reforms that could transform its justice system. Although lagging behind most large Latin American countries in this reform process, this may be to Mexi . . .

Talking it over: the case of oral argument vs. printed document.(ECONOMICS & POLITICS)
The spoken word will finally become mightier than its printed equivalent in the Mexican legal system, if the momentum created by a groundbreaking trial can cut a swath through the red tape of decade . . .

The good, the bad and the ugly: corporate profits, Pemex and politics.(MARKET MOVES)
As we have noted in this column during the past months, "the bad" would eventually catch up with "the good" within the various spheres of Mexican capital markets. The bane of the markets has been th . . .

Mexico-China deal.(LEGAL EASE)(memorandum of understanding)(Brief Article)
Mexican and Chinese labor officials executed a Memorandum of Understanding that will promote cooperation in the area of job creation, social security, job site inspections and labor dialogue. The . . .

Standards for golf courses.(LEGAL EASE)(Mexico. Secretariat of the Environment's environmental policy)(Brief Article)
The Secretariat of the Environment (Semarnat) published the draft standard for the environmental requirements applicable to golf courses and their real estate developments on March 10. It proposes . . .

Energy Efficiency Partnership.(LEGAL EASE)(Mexico. Secretariat of State for Energy, Mines and Federal Industry joins Renewable E
On March 15 in London, Mexico's Secretariat of Energy and United Kingdom authorities signed off on Mexico's formal entry to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). The inco . . .

Mexico-Japan pact.(LEGAL EASE)(free trade agreements)(Brief Article)
A new era for trade and investment between Mexico and Japan began on April 1. The new free trade agreement contains specific legal provisions that will govern commercial activities between the cou . . .

Democracy compromised: impeachment of mayor threatens political evolution.(POLITICAL SOAPBOX)(cases against Andres Manuel Lopez
April 7, 2005, was a black day for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Political analysts saw it as an historical moment, a date that will serve as a watershed in the long political proces . . .

Hat Trick Beverage, Inc.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Hat Trick Beverage, Inc. announced that it has completed its first month of production of Dos Lagos Agua Fresca at its Mexicali bottling facility. Distribution for this traditional Hispanic beverage . . .

Grupo TMM, S.A.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Grupo TMM, S.A. has announced the closed sale of its interest in Grupo TFM to Kansas City Southern. The sale is worth about US$600 million to TMM and also includes US$200 million in cash, US$47 mill . . .

SilverCrest Mines Inc.(COMPANY NEWS)(exploration)(Brief Article)
SilverCrest Mines Inc. announced it has expanded its concession holdings at the Silver Angel Project, located in the northern Sierra Madre Range in Sonora and has begun a Phase I work program on thi . . .

Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI).(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI) announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Amistad Global Developers, one the foremost developers and managers of industrial properties in M . . .

Direct Response Financial Services Inc.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Direct Response Financial Services Inc.--a leading provider in stored value and debit card products and services to Hispanics--has announced that in conjunction with its technology partner Optimum P . . .

Conde Nast International.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Conde Nast International will stop publishing Vogue en espanol and Glamour en espanol, replacing them in the United States and Latin America with the magazines' Mexican editions. The Miami office th . . .

Boulder Information Technologies, S.A. de C.V.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Boulder Information Technologies, S.A. de C.V., announced the confirmation of exclusive representation of the Alabama-based Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC) in Mexico. EEC has produced world . . .

Cemex, S.A. de C.V.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Cemex, S.A. de C.V., has announced that it has completed the sale of certain assets in the Great Lakes region of the United States to Votorantim Participacoes, S.A. Cemex has been evaluating alterna . . .

Grupo Imsa, S.A. de C.V.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief Article)
Grupo Imsa, S.A. de C.V., announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the delisting of the company's American Depositary Shares (ADSs) represented by American Depositar . . .

Temequila denied.(NEW BUSINESS)(Skyrocket Distillers's patent licensing)(Brief Article)
Skyrocket Distillers, the California company profiled on these pages in March, has been denied the use of the name "Temequila" for its new agave-based drink set to hit the market in April. The U.S . . .

Pemex reform?(NEW BUSINESS)(Brief Article)
Politicians made headlines recently as they suggested they may rethink how the state-run oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), operates. Government officials are examining ways to work with in . . .

Inquiry launched.(NEW BUSINESS)(Brief Article)
Baja California state legislators opened an official inquiry into a US$800 million liquefied natural gas terminal project, while Sempra Energy insisted it had complied with all federal, state and lo . . .

Retail expansion.(NEW BUSINESS)(Brief Article)
Wal-Mart de Mexico is considering opening stores in 200 cities and towns across Mexico, the company's new chief executive told Reuters. Eduardo Solorzano, who took the reins of Walmex in February, . . .

New Colima Governor.(BRIEFS)(Silverio Cavazos elected)(Brief Article)
Silverio Cavazos of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was declared the winner of the April 10 gubernatorial elections in Colima. The special election was called after Governor Gustavo Va . . .

Alien clues.(BRIEFS)(National Aeronautics and Space Administration explores Chihuahuan Desert)(Brief Article)
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent top researchers to the Chihuahuan Desert to look for clues in their search for extraterrestrial life, the San Diego Union-Tribu . . .

Environmental news.(BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
The first two months of the year were not kind to the state-run oil monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Pemex was hit with 17 fines totaling US$170,000 and was ordered to close three facilities . . .

'Spy' arraigned, released.(BRIEFS)(cases against Nahum Acosta)(Brief Article)
Former Los Pinos Travel Secretary Nahum Acosta was formally arraigned and jailed in a maximum-security prison on organized crime charges. Six days later he was released when a federal judge determin . . .

Making history.(BRIEFS)(Vicente Fox attends papal funeral)(Brief Article)
President Vicente Fox made history in April when he became the first Mexican leader to attend a papal funeral. Pope John Paul II died on April 3 and was buried in Rome on April 8. The pope visited . . .

Intelligence sharing.(BRIEFS)(Alberto Gonzales visits Mexico)(Brief Article)
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales traveled to Mexico City in late March to meet with President Fox, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel and Attorney General Rafael Macedo. The visit--Gonzales' . . .

Nafta summit.(BRIEFS)(North American Free Trade Agreement)(Brief Article)
Mexico, the United States and Canada on March 23 announced a Security and Prosperity Partnership focusing on increased economic cooperation. The agreement aims at increasing harmonization of busin . . .

Tension hits markets.(BRIEFS)(Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's impeachment affects financial markets)(Brief Article)
Political tension is impacting Mexico's financial markets, foreshadowing a trend that is likely to intensify ahead of the July 2006 presidential election, economists say. The Dallas Morning News a . . .

Protecting property.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the Editor)
I enjoyed Ken Emmond's article ("Whose Land Is It Anyway?") in the March issue of BUSINESS MEXICO. I would like to point out, however, that Stewart Title is not the only title insurer active in Me . . .

Letter to our readers.(influence of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's impeachment on economic conditions)(Editorial)
While the eyes of the world focused on Vatican City, the judicial controversy over Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador caused some jitters among investors in Mexico. The reaction to the ma . . .

Let's apply the law : it's time to put an end to official lip service.(SPEAKERS' CORNER)
Finance Secretary Francisco Gil Diaz may believe his own words when, in a letter to the Financial Times, he stated Mexico has modern securities laws and applies them rigorously. I am not sure anybod . . .

The Country--a story of love or hate?(ART WATCH)(Theater Review)
Contemporary British playwright Martin Crimp's The Country ("El Campo") is not for those seeking a cheerful night out at the theater. In this Pinteresque psychodrama, a middle-class couple has mov . . .

Mexico City restaurant guide.(Illustration)
BUSINESS MEXICO brings you an ongoing list of some of Mexico City's top restaurants, rated by cost, service, decor and cuisine. A new restaurant is rotated onto the list every month, and we welcome . . .