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Bajio
Cleaner Production
Implementation Program (CPIP)
The Inter-American Development
Bank Multilateral Investment
Fund (IDB MIF) and the Mexican
federal government Secretariat
of Environment and Natural
Resources (SEMARNAT) will fund a
32 months Cleaner Production
Implementation (CPI) Program to
be conducted in the Bajio Region
of Mexico. The Region includes
the states of Guanajuato,
Jalisco, Queretaro and San Luis
Potosi, and contains over 32,174
business firms. The purpose of
the program is to promote the
use of cleaner production and
environmental management as
tools to assist companies reduce
their costs of production and
thus increase their
profitability. The general
objective of the program is to
increase the competitiveness of
Small and Medium Enterprises
(SME) in the Bajio region in the
automotive, chemical, hospital,
hotel, and tanning business
sectors through improvements
made in efficiency and
productivity.
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English
Proficiency: A Survey of What
Employers Need For their
Spanish-Speaking Workforce
A recent report by the U.S.
Census bureau shows that one (1)
in five (5) residents speak a
language other than English at
home. Spanish is by far the most
common, with about 28 million
speakers. While approximately
half of residents who speak
another language also reported
being fluent in English, the
large number of residents
without English proficiency
raises concerns about their
ability to function in the
workplace. In response, DOL/ETA
recently launched the Hispanic
Worker Initiative to help
workers find and prepare for new
job opportunities. The Hispanic
Worker Initiative is focused on
helping Hispanic Americans take
advantage of job opportunities
in high growth sectors of the
economy such as health care,
information technology,
automotive, advanced
manufacturing, transportation
and energy. The US Department of
Labor's Employment and Training
Administration (DOL/ETA) has
asked the US-Mexico Cultural
and Educational Foundation (USMCEF)
to undertake a study project
to understand what employers
need for their Spanish-speaking
employees. The purpose of the
study is to inform policymakers
and others about employer needs
in order to guide program
development for limited English
speaking job seekers and workers.
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Growing
the Nation's Hispanic
Manufacturing Supplier Base.
The US-Mexico Chamber of
Commerce (USMCOC) is deploying a
"best practices" approach to
increase the participation of
Hispanic small and medium
manufacturing enterprises (SMEs)
in selected states in defense
and commercial manufacturing
supply chains qualified prime
contractors and/or
subcontractors. Markets have
changed dramatically over the
past ten years. Corporations
have significantly restructured
their organizations and re-engineered
many of their processes,
including procurement. These
companies will continue to
search for innovative ways of
decreasing administrative and
other costs, including reducing
their Tier 1 suppliers and
increasing the efficiency of
their operations, including
greater use of e-business
strategies, greater outsourcing
of non-core competencies, and
exploration of new markets.
Government, traditionally a
significant source of business
for minority entrepreneurs, has
moved in a similar direction,
redesigning its procurement
process and contracting for a
greater number of services. The
project’s objectives are to (a)
increase the readiness and
competitiveness of Hispanic SMEs
through innovation training and
technical assistance and (b)
help these Hispanic SMEs
successfully pursue contract
opportunities with Prime
Contractors and 1st Tier
Suppliers in the Federal and
commercial marketplace. USMCOC
will use a mix of technical
resources that have the
qualifications and expertise to
deliver the requirements of a
SME that participates in this
program. This mix of partners
varies from SME to SME and may
include the Federal Laboratory
Consortium, the laboratories at
the National Institute of
Standards and Technology,
universities, technical and
community colleges and economic
development districts.
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Wiring the
Border
Partnership for Prosperity
report presented to President
Bush and Fox highlighted ways to
integrate Mexican small-and-medium
sized enterprises into the
global economy and cross-border
supply and distribution chains
using e-commerce and other
information technology tools. As
a model for future projects to
follow, the Chamber's Wiring the
Border project has been pointed
out. This project creates a
virtual network of 200 small-to-medium
sized enterprises (SME's) along
the Southwestern border of the
United States, from San
Diego/Tijuana to Brownsville/Matamoros
connected through e-commerce. In
concert with the United States
Department of State, the Chamber
held an E-Commerce Conference in
Tabasco to promote trade and
commerce along the Southern
Mexico States.
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Ventana
Ambiental Mexico (VAM)
founded as ACCESS-MEXICO project
through an U.S. Department of
Commerce grant. The project
consists of an online,
searchable environmental
database of Mexico's federal,
state and municipal laws,
regulations and technical
standards. The Chamber program,
in cooperation with Mexico's
Secretariat of the Environment
and Natural Resources is
designed to: 1.) Remove non-tariff
barriers related to regulatory
uncertainty, 2.) Enhance
business opportunities and 3.)
promote sustainable development.
The VAM went online on April,
2002 and an initiative to
produce an English version is
underway.
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The Seven
Principles of Environmental
Stewardship In
furtherance of the goals of the
Border XXI Environmental
Framework, these Principles have
been developed through a public/private
partnership to promote
sustainable development in the
U.S./Mexico border area. Under a
grant from the U.S. EPA, the
Chamber and the Foundation
developed final performance
indicators for each of the
Principles.
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The Buen
Vecino Internship Program
The BVIP is one of
the Chamber's most successful
projects. More than 200 upper-level,
bi-lingual students participated
from 1995 to 2001. The program
is designed to provide the
students with an opportunity to
learn about their neighboring
country's culture and commerce.
Students gain an overview of U.S.-Mexico
business relations through
contact with the Chamber,
knowledge about a specific
industry by serving as an intern
in a USMCOC corporate member
office, and exposure to another
country's culture by living with
a host family.
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O'NET Jobs
on the Border Project
Funded by the U.S. Department of
Labor, this project is a
collaboration between the U.S.-Mexico
Chamber of Commerce and Aguirre
International. The project will
study demand and emerging
occupations in bi-national
economic zones on both sides of
the U.S.-Mexico border.
Identifying the language and
literacy needs of workers to
fill these jobs will be a
special focus. The study will
also look at the capacity of
education and training
institutions to prepare the
existing labor pool for these
new jobs, and will recommend
effective strategies for
workforce development
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Sector
Task Forces The
Chamber has organized
Infrastructure, Manufacturing,
Business & Commercial Services,
Financial & Risk Management and
Sustainable Development task
forces to bring private-sector
leaders together for
consideration of sector-specific
issues and publication of the
Chamber's position on key policy
issues.
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Publications and Electronic
Resources The
Chamber's on-line service
provides up-to-date information
on the USMCOC and on Mexico,
including economic and trade
data, as well as developments in
binational relations. The
Chamber also publishes a
newsletter, an annual membership
directory and resource guide,
and special reports.
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NAFTA
Forum The NAFTA
Forum is a non-partisan
educational initiative led by
the Chamber to help inform
members of Congress and their
staff, corporations,
organizations and the general
public about the North American
Free Trade Agreement in
particular and U.S.-Mexico
relations in general. The
Chamber has organized several
forums on Capitol Hill, led
Congressional and business
educational delegations to
Mexico, and will continue a
program of meetings in
Washington, D.C., and Mexico
City, as well as publication of
issue papers and sponsorship of
other forums for detailed
consideration of major issues
confronting both nations.
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CADRE
The Center for Alternative
Dispute Resolution and the
Environment is a service
provided to Chamber members and
other companies that seek to
prevent lengthy and costly
litigation over international
contract, environmental or labor
disputes. CADRE operates under
the spirit of NAFTA and provides
mediation and arbitration
services through the Chamber and
affiliated legal counsels.
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Business
Assistance The
Chamber is signing a cooperative
agreement with Nacional
Financiera, Mexico's major
development bank, in order to
promote strategic alliances and
joint ventures between
entrepreneurs in both countries.
The Chamber and NAFIN will form
a Working Group to coordinate
this process and a Business
Assistance Team to help advise
companies and develop mutually
beneficial relationships.
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ALLIANCE magazine,
a quarterly publication and advertising medium published by the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce (USMCOC), is committed to provide timely and relevant data on our binational business community, expanding communication for our members and furthering the goals of being the “Ambassador of Good Business”. Following on the success of the issue celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Chamber and the 15th anniversary of NAFTA, we continue our regular quarterly issues of Alliance with an added impetus and perspective that will expand the depth and scope of our content. We have commitments from our members and prominent participants to continue their learned input and experience to our publications.
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"Transporte International”
is a forum designed to address the issues facing international trade, manufacturing, transportation and all related business. We bring together business leaders and key bi-national government leaders to dialog and explore a broad range of ways to further integrate our economies through trade. It is our intent to focus on current issues that affect transportation, energy, manufacturing, services, trade facilitation, regulatory structure and emerging barriers for the express purpose of continuing to address the most important issues and information needed for our countries to have a competitive edge in the global market. This important public-private sector event enhances the capacity of our two countries to increase their joint competitiveness and participation in the global trade system. The conference promotes transportation, energy and trade capacity building, security and sector development, both of which are consistent with NAFTA, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), and the latest Mexico's National Infrastructure Program 2007-2012.
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The U.S.-Mexico Cultural & Educational Foundation
established the Hispanic Leadership Development Programs (HLDP) with the purpose of combating the Hispanic High School dropout rate through increased resources and education. In addition, the program will target Community College students with information on grants, scholarships and internships that will alleviate the financial burden that often prevents these students from achieving their goals. The goals of the HLDP will be met through the sponsorship, development, and implementation of a variety of activities, such as educational internships, exchange programs, forums, dialogues, conferences, seminars, training programs, cultural activities, exhibits, awards and scholarships..
More
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To augment its
role as a private corporation fostering
trade and investment, the Chamber in
1996 established the United States-Mexico
Cultural and Educational Foundation to
lead educational and cultural
initiatives that will foment greater
understanding between the two countries. |
