UPCOMING EVENT! Strengthening Regional Competitiveness: An Update on the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue

WHEN: Wednesday, March 4, 9:30-11:00am

WHERE: 6th Floor Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC

Click here to RSVP.

When Presidents Obama and Peña Nieto announced the creation of U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) in May 2013, they established a new strategic vision for economic cooperation, focused on delivering tangible and positive economic benefits to the people of the United States and Mexico. Stakeholder engagement is a fundamental component of the HLED, as highlighted by its inclusion in the recently announced list of 2015 strategic goals. Other key areas of work for the year include energy; modern borders; workforce development, regulatory cooperation; and partnering for regional and global leadership. Speakers will discuss the accomplishments of the HLED and priorities in U.S.-Mexico economic cooperation for the coming year.

Speakers

Stefan Selig
Under Secretary for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce

Catherine Novelli
Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, U.S. Department of State

José Raúl Perales
Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Susan Kurland
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation

Adam Sieminski
Administrator, U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy

Lori Faeth
Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

Kenneth Smith Ramos
Minister Counselor, Trade and NAFTA Office, Embassy of Mexico

For more information, or to RSVP, click here.

A live webcast will be available here.

Latest Border Stats Point to Heavy Child, Family Migration in 2015

2/11/2015 Washington Office on Latin America

A wave of Central American children and families, many fleeing violence in their home countries, received heavy media attention in the summer of 2014. Then, the wave receded quickly: by August 2014, the U.S. Border Patrol was apprehending fewer unaccompanied Central American children than it was in August 2013. The humanitarian crisis disappeared from the headlines.

The crisis is not over. If current trends continue, child and family apprehensions in 2015 will fall behind 2014, but still exceed 2013 and every other year on record.

Read more…

How to Boost Border Competitiveness? Just Ask the Folks There.

2/10/2015 Forbes.com

By Christopher Wilson and Erik Lee

For years, the United States’ southern border with Mexico has provoked a range of fears, from terrorism and drugs to overwhelming numbers of unauthorized immigrants, prompting a security-first and often security-only approach to border management. Fear-based rhetoric may resonate in the echo chambers of Washington DC, but it feels wholly out of touch to most (though not all) residents of border communities.

Thankfully, with U.S.-Mexico trade at historic highs and growing faster than trade with any other major trading partner, it is increasingly difficult to ignore the importance of safe and efficient border management to the regional economy. U.S.-Mexico trade is now valued at well over a half trillion dollars per year, 80 percent of which crosses the U.S.-Mexico land border. This trade supports around six million U.S. jobs, and systems of co-production in manufacturing allow companies to combine the comparative advantages of the United States and Mexico, boosting the competitiveness of North America as a whole.

These trends are leading some political leaders to the realization that many in the border region have known for years: the border itself creates a lot of economic opportunity for both nations. And these folks in the border region—popularly imagined to be barely hanging on in a hail of gunfire, even on the sleepy U.S. side—are careful observers of what works and what does not work in terms of trade and economic development. Knowing this, we joined several other organizations in a year-long deep dive into the inner workings of the U.S.-Mexico border economy. But then even we were surprised by the sheer number, variety and magnitude of ideas emanating from this enormous, misunderstood and underappreciated region.

Read more…

Report Sees Border Opportunities

2/3/2015 U-T San Diego

Rich in potential, the U.S.-Mexico border’s economic future can be strengthened through measures such as educational exchanges, renewable energy clusters, binational planning efforts, and improved connections among economic development groups on both sides of the border, according to a report released Tuesday.

“The U.S.-Mexico Border Economy in Transition” focuses on the opportunities and challenges that face border communities in both countries. For all their differences, these communities face many common needs, the report states, chief among them the need for more fluid border crossings.

The 141-page report resulted from a collaboration among the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C., the North American Research Partnership, the Border Legislative Conference and the Council of State Governments-West. Many of the recommendations incorporate issues raised during four regional competitiveness forums conducted last year in San Diego; Rio Rico, Ariz.; and Laredo and El Paso, Texas.

Read more…

Download the report here.

The U.S.-Mexico Border: Reporting on an Economy in Transition

The Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute has released a new report, “The U.S.-Mexico Border economy in Transition.” The report provides insight into day to day life and commerce along the border, and provides a series of recommendations to strengthen competitiveness. We spoke with Mexico Institute Senior Associate, Chris Wilson, to learn more about both the unique process behind the report and also about some of the best ideas emerging from the year-long project. That’s the focus of this edition of Wilson Center NOW.

NEW REPORT: The U.S.-Mexico Border Economy in Transition

Edited by Erik Lee and Christopher Wilson

The Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, the North American Research Partnership and the Border Legislative Conference, a program of the Council of State Governments West, are pleased to share with you this comprehensive report with recommendations aimed at strengthening the economic competitiveness of the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Throughout 2014, our coalition of organizations held a series of four U.S.-Mexico Regional Economic Competitiveness Forums in order to engage border region stakeholders in a process to collectively generate a shared vision and policy recommendations to strengthen economic competitiveness.

This report lays out the major issues involved in border region economic development, compiles the many innovative ideas developed at the forums, and weaves them into a series of policy recommendations that draw on the experiences of those who understand the border best: the individuals who live in border communities and who cross back and forth between Mexico and the United States as a part of their daily lives.

Download the report here.

EVENT TOMORROW: Representing the U.S.-Mexico Border: Congressmen Cuellar, O’Rourke, and Vargas

WHEN: TOMORROW, Tuesday, February 3rd, 9-11am

WHERE: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Click here to RSVP.

The Mexico Institute is pleased to invite you to the launch event for our latest report, The Border Economy in Transition. At the event, three members of Congress representing districts on the U.S.-Mexico border will discuss the challenges they face in overcoming misperceptions about the border in order to promote the economic competitiveness of the region. In addition to the members of the U.S. House of Representatives, we are delighted to host Acting Assistant Administrator for the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau of USAID, Elizabeth Hogan; Chair of the Border Legislative Conference and member of the Nuevo León State Legislature, Imelda Guadalupe Alejandro de la Garza; Antonio Ortiz Mena, Head of Section for Economic Affairs at the Mexican Embassy; and Sue Saarnio, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Department of State. The report will be presented by authors Christopher Wilson, Senior Associate at the Mexico Institute, and Erik Lee, Executive Director of the North American Research Partnership, as well as Edgar Ruiz, Executive Director of the Council of State Governments-West.

The report lays out the major issues involved in border region economic development and presents 27 policy recommendations to create a more competitive border region. The innovative policy ideas were developed by stakeholders at the series of four Regional Economic Competitiveness Forums held along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014.

*A live webcast will be available. For more information, click here.