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offices abroad
ProMéxico Headquarters+ 52 (55) 544 77070
North AmericaNew York Regional [email protected]
Offices in: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver
Europe and Middle EastFrankfurt Regional [email protected]
Offices in: Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Stockholm and Switzerland
Brussels [email protected]
Asia - PacificShanghai Regional [email protected]
Offices in: Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo
Beijing [email protected]
Hong [email protected]
Shanghai [email protected]
Latin America and South AmericaOffices in: Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Guatemala, Santiago and Sao Paulo
Buenos [email protected]
Bogotá[email protected]
agustín pizá, In Search of Sustainable Golfx
ii- 2
00
9Special Report
doMestic appLiances
Video Games
“Made in Mexico,”a SeriouS Bet
the electronics
iSSue
offices abroad
ProMéxico Headquarters+ 52 (55) 544 77070
North AmericaNew York Regional [email protected]
Offices in: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver
Europe and Middle EastFrankfurt Regional [email protected]
Offices in: Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Stockholm and Switzerland
Brussels [email protected]
Asia - PacificShanghai Regional [email protected]
Offices in: Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo
Beijing [email protected]
Hong [email protected]
Shanghai [email protected]
Latin America and South AmericaOffices in: Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Guatemala, Santiago and Sao Paulo
Buenos [email protected]
Bogotá[email protected]
2 Negocios
Contents
From the CEO 6
Briefs 8
Business Tips Human capital in mexico 14
Mexico’s Partner intel designs tHe future from mexico 32
Mexico’s Partner juego de talento: video games “made in
mexico,” a serious bet 34
Product snake & eagle: leading players of tHeir own
tecHnology 36
Special Report a space for HigH tecH businesses 38
Figures 40
tv manufacturing:tHe electronics
edge
22
26Electronics,
a Winning FormulaIn 2010 the electronics industry
will be switching to a new high-tech cluster in Mexico.
load it up, plug it in and walk away
Mexico is at the forefront of the production of domestic electric appliances. Economic forecasts for this particulararea of production are good to excellent.
16
“Chiapas México Original” is a protected designation of origin and a guarantee of the highest quality. The use of this seal is granted to goods and services that meet strict quality standards.
From food and crafts to tourism and travel-related services, quality is what you can find in Chiapas.
Meet Chiapas, meet Mexico
CHIAPAS MEANS QUALITY
Government of the State of ChiapasMinistry of Economy
www.economiachiapas.gob.mxwww.chiapastrade.com.mx
“Chiapas México Original” is a protected designation of origin and a guarantee of the highest quality. The use of this seal is granted to goods and services that meet strict quality standards.
From food and crafts to tourism and travel-related services, quality is what you can find in Chiapas.
Meet Chiapas, meet Mexico
CHIAPAS MEANS QUALITY
Government of the State of ChiapasMinistry of Economy
www.economiachiapas.gob.mxwww.chiapastrade.com.mx
proméxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of their economic solvency. title certificate of lawfulness 14459. text certificate of lawfulness 12032. number of title reserve 04-2009-012714564800-102. postal registry pp09-0044. responsible editor: sebastián escalante. printing: cía. impresora el universal, s.a. de c.v. distribution: proméxico camino a sta teresa 1679, méxico d.f., 01900. phone: +52 (55) 5447 7000. negocios is an open space where diverse opinions can be expressed. the institution might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the responsibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when it states otherwise. although this magazine verifies all the information printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions, inaccuracies or mistakes. december, 2009.
4 Negocios
Interview
agustín PizÁ
In Search ofSustainable Golf
46
The lifestyle Contents
57 Artsacred colors, the evolving art of huichol
60 Feedback eyes that feel,for a society able to see things differently
42 The Lifestyle Briefs
44 DestinationPuerto Peñasco,
a heavenly bay in sonora
50 Interviewian gardner,
a scot in mexico
Proméxicobruno ferrariceo ricardo rojo image and communications director sebastián escalantemanaging [email protected]
miguel Ángel samayoa advertising and [email protected]
fernanda luna copy editing
taller méxico alejandro serratos publisher [email protected]
felipe Zúñiga editor in chief [email protected]
orlando santamariamarketing [email protected]
pilar jiménez molgadodesign [email protected]
jorge silva design [email protected] dalia urzua orozcodesign [email protected]
paloma ló[email protected]
vanessa serratosdesign [email protected]
Piso de ediciones vanesa roblessenior writer [email protected]
karla juárez sandra roblaguilucila valtierramauricio Zabalgoitiastaff writers
translationmely nelsonjuan manuel romero
Proof readinggraeme stewart
contributorsmaría cristina rosas, graeme stewart,alfredo azcárate, sol fortoul, jesús estrada cortés, cristina Ávila-Zessati, francisco vernis, ricardo ibarra, oldemar
this is an editorial project for proméxico by taller méxico & piso de ediciones.
Download the PDF version of Negocios ProMéxico at: negocios.promexico.gob.mx
Art
rivelinoBreaking Silence Through Art
54
• PlentyofhighlyqualifiedprofessionalsintheITIndustry.MexicoistheAmericas’Spanish-speakingcountrywiththehighestratinginhumanresources,accordingtotheA.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index 2009.
• 23ITclustersin20states.Over60%ofMexicanstateshaveproductivecapacityinIT
• Business MonitorestimatesthattheITservicesandBPOsmarketwillgrow10%annuallyduringtheperiod2009-2013,while
• thesoftwaremarketwillgrow9%inthesameperiod.
Mexico has everything to becoMe a key supplier to the world’s it Market:
In spite of the economic and financial hardships that the world experienced in 2009, 2010 will bring encouraging growth perspectives, particularly in areas that have recently proven to be dynamic and in which Mexico is be-
coming one of the world’s leading players.
Among these areas are the electric-electronic and technology industries, which have grown exponentially during the last years and now face promis-ing development perspectives. For more than four decades, Mexico has estab-lished itself as one of the world’s leading players in this area. Today, the coun-try is one of the main electric-electronic manufacturing centers in America and it is renowned as a reliable global business development partner.
Mexico has a strategic geographic location, highly skilled human resourc-es, processes that comply with the highest international quality standards as well as government promotion policies and programs that allow it to leverage every opportunity in the electric-electronic industry.
Our country has developed a solid production capacity in this industry, which enjoys worldwide recognition because of the quality of its products and is currently supported by a clear global trend towards competitiveness. That is why Mexico’s electric-electronic sector focuses on new courses: technologi-cal research and development.
Mexico offers countless opportunities to both companies that manufacture components and inputs for the electric-electronic industry and businesses that focus on developing new technologies. We invite you to explore them.
Welcome to Mexico
Bruno FerrariProMéxico CEO
From the CEO.
8 Negocios8 Negocios8 Negocios Photos archive / courtesy of siemens
The Chinese company Golden Dragon has landed in Mexico, opening its first manu-facturing plant in the state of Coahuila with an initial investment of 100 million usd.
Built over an area of 200,000 square meters (50 acres) in the city of Monclova, the plant is the largest investment ever made by a Chinese company in Mexico.
In this factory, Golden Dragon will pro-duce high-tech copper tubes for air-condi-
Golden Opportunitytioning systems, with an initial annual pro-duction capacity of 60,000 tons for the com-pany to supply orders from North America.
Golden Dragon was founded in 1987 in the city of Xinxiang, with operations in the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and Europe and over 10,000 employees. It recorded sales of more than 2 billion usd in 2008.
www.gdcopper.com
METALLURGY
Increased Investment in Railway InfrastructureOver 182 million usd were invested in railway infrastructure by the public and private sec-tors from January to June 2009, 18% more in real terms than the investment made during the same period in 2008.
www.sct.gob.mx
INFRASTRUCTURE
With an estimated investment of 150 mil-lion usd, in early 2010 the multinational Siemens will be arriving at the Francisco I. Madero municipal district in the state of Coahuila, where it will manufacture com-ponents to be used in its Kansas City plant that caters to the wind energy industry.
w1.siemens.com
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Producing from Mexico
briefs.
Ten years after starting operations in Mexico, the South Korean multinational Samsung Engineering has been awarded public contracts worth 944 million usd for infrastructure projects. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Samsung Engineering focused on Pemex auctions in Mexico. The company is currently awaiting the outcome of three auctions to supply processing plants for a Pemex refinery in Minatitlán, Veracruz, installations for a gas terminal for the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in Colima and water treatment plants for the National Water Commission (Conagua) in different regions of Mexico.
www.samsungengineering.co.kr
INFRASTRUCTURE
A Profitable Decision
Mexico will boast its third wind farm, with a new 70-turbine project in the state of Tamaulipas that will generate 161 MW. This project intends to supply 43 munici-palities with energy produced from re-newable sources. The wind farm will be built by siemens energy Wind Power and res Americas, in coordination with Mexi-can company Gseer sOe, representing a combined investment of 328 million usd.
it will be located in the municipal dis-trict of Los Vergeles. A 100 km transmis-
RENEWABLE ENERGY
clean investmentsion line will be needed to carry the ener-gy generated, and this will be the property of the consortium.
in another project, the Danish company Vestas won an order of 102 MW turbines for the Oaxaca 1 project, sited at Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca. The order is for 51 V80 2.0MW wind turbines and the project is ex-pected to be concluded in December 2010.
www.energy.siemens.com /
www.res-americas.com / www.vestas.com
10 Negocios Photos archive / courtesy of BomBardier
AEROSPACE
Bombardier Prepares for Take-offThe aerospace company Bombardier con-tinues its investment projects in the state of Querétaro where it expects to invest 250 mil-lion usd in the construction of a plant to pro-duce the fuselage of its new business Learjet 85 aircraft.
www.bombardier.com.mx
The Mexican subsidiary of Getronics, one of the world’s leading providers of Infor-mation and Communication Technology services and solutions, has become the first partner in emerging markets to ob-tain the ATP of the Data Center Unified Computing System of Cisco Systems.
With the new ATP, Getronics México will integrate Data Center services using
the Cisco Unified Computing Systems ar-chitecture to consolidate storage, comput-ing and networking in a business unit of the company called Data Center 3.0, bringing together experts in infrastructure architec-ture, business consultancy and ICT solu-tions.
www.getronics.com
IT
Strategic Partner
ELECTRONICS
Honeywell Hobbs Moves to MexicoHoneywell Hobbs, manufacturer of con-trols, switches and electronic sensors, plans to close its two manufacturing plants in Illinois to consolidate its produc-tion in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
www.honeywell.com
Ph
oto
ca
rr
ao
l
briefs.
The City Express hotel chain inaugurated its latest hotel in Mexico City, centrally located by the emblematic Ángel de la Independencia monument on Paseo de la Reforma, with an in-vestment of 18 million usd. This new hotel has 141 rooms, a breakfast restaurant, terrace, tele-vision lounge, gymnasium, business center and a meeting room. With this opening, the chain now has 43 hotels throughout Mexico. The chain aims to open twelve more hotels in 2010.
www.cityexpress.com.mx
The Mexican consortium Gruma, the world’s largest producer of corn flour, opened a new plant in Melbourne with an investment of
60 million usd and an annual production ca-
TOURISM
FOOD
New City Express Hotel
tortillas in australia
Pfizer expects to finish 2009 with sales of more than 1.1 billion usd in Mexico, a similar figure to that of 2008, staking a 9.2% market share after its acquisition of its competitor Wyeth.
www.pfizer.com.mx
PHARMACEUTICAL
Pfizer Grows in Mexico
pacity of 37 thousand tons. This new plant is expected to generate annual sales of be-tween 45 million and 50 million usd.
www.gruma.com
12 Negocios Photos archive
Before the end of 2009, the Yucatán Peninsula will be the proud owner of a designa-tion of origin for the habanero chili, the world’s first “quality seal” to be awarded to a spicy chili pepper.
www.cofemermir.gob.mx
AGRICULTURE
100% mexican
Cold ExpansionWhirlpool México home appliance company will invest 55 million usd in expanding its SUPSA refrigerator plant in Apodaca, Nuevo León. The investment will be spent on devel-oping technologies, purchasing equipment, expanding production lines and building over 7,000 square meters (1.7 acres) of pro-ductive plant area.
www.whirlpool.com.mx
HOME APPLIANCES
FOOD
Coffee Group Invests in Mexico
Louis Dreyfus Commodities Group set up a coffee mill and deposit in Perote, Veracruz. This is the Group’s first investment in Mexico and is valued at over 3.4 million usd. Mexico is the world’s sixth-largest coffee-producing country, according to figures provided by the International Coffee Organization (ICO).
www.ldcommodities.com
briefs.
World’s Top Egg Consuming NationMexico’s National Poultry Institute (INA) reported that Mexico is the world’s largest consumer of eggs per capita. In 2008, the average consumption was 21.7 kilos per person per year, and by the end of 2009 this figure is expected to rise to 21.9 kilos per person. Mexico is also the world’s sixth-largest producer of eggs. In 2008, it produced 2 million 306,000 tons of this product and by the end of 2009 the total production is expected to rise by 2%.www.institutonacionalavicola.org.mx
FOOD
Construcción Inteligente de América (CIASA) will install over 10 plants in Mexico to manufacture envi-ronmentally-friendly construction
materials over the next three years, with an investment of over 100 million usd.
The US construction company based in
CONSTRUCTION
ciasa to install Plants in mexico
California manufactures materials using the “Innovida” technology and its first two plants in Mexico will be located in Estado de México and Jalisco, with an initial investment of more than 35 million usd.
www.innovida.com
14 Negocios14 Negocios
tHe importance of Human capital for a country’s economy is undeniable. mexico knows it and is making extraordinary efforts to increase its educational level, providing investors witH an attractive workforce of HigHly qualified and competitive professionals.
Human capital in Mexicoby marÍa cristina rosas*
We often point out the importance of natural resources as one of the pillars of a nation’s de-velopment. However, Japan —a country with a small territory and few natural resources— is one of the world’s most developed economies thanks to its population. Japanese people have been the force behind the Land of the Rising Sun’s success, which started when the country was rebuilt after World War II. With examples like Japan, we can undoubtedly say that a coun-try’s most important resource is its people.
People are what add value to production, and this value increases as the workforce
skills improve. Products will have a higher value added if the workforce that manufactures them has better skills and knowledge. Furthermore, a more skilled workforce allows a country to trans-form its comparative advantages (for example, through its natural resources) into competitive advantages.
According to the human development rates of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Mexico is in the 53rd place among countries with high human development (HHD). These rates measure not only economic growth but also quality of life and social welfare. It is im-
portant to note that other countries that are considered as leaders of the global economy, such as Brazil, China and India, are in the 75th, 92nd and 134th place, respectively and that only Brazil is among countries with HHD [China and India are classified as countries with medium human development (MHD)]. This means that Mexico offers a better quality of life and expe-riences a higher development rate than these countries.
Human capital brings important advantages to a country’s economy. First, a company that
ILLUstRAtIoN Pilimar
business tiPs
try’s economic growth and improve society’s quality of life. Unfortunately, due to issues with the survey’s methodology, while it does address level of specialization, it focuses only on two variables (knowledge of English and computer skills), ignoring, for example, the all-important subject of educational level. According to the survey, in urban areas, 35% of the surveyed people responded that they have some knowl-edge of English, while 53% stated that they have used a computer at some point in their life. To compensate for the study’s reduced spectrum, CIDAC publishes a very encouraging fact: 75% of people who reported having extracurricular training participated in learning activities dur-ing the last year. This means that these individu-als are interested in further developing their skills to improve their working conditions and increase their salaries.
In another survey on the quality of educa-tion, CIDAC found that 57% of respondents think that the quality of education in Mexico is good or very good and that one of every ten individuals thinks it is very good.
CIDAC has done other studies that provide information regarding the best-paid jobs in Mexico City, considering the trends among peo-ple who decide to complete their undergradu-ate studies. According to the study, some of the best-paid professions are aeronautic, naval and transportation engineering; naval and aircraft pilots; ocean sciences; extraction, metallurgic and energy engineering; biochemical engineer-ing; topographic, hydrographic, geologic and geodesic engineering; followed by medicine, management, law, accounting and finances and then by computer and systems engineering.
This is a very interesting study because respondents think that medicine and law are part of what is usually seen as “successful” professions in terms of salaries, while in real-ity, the market favors, as it was previously sug-gested, engineering. This should not be seen as negative, it means that we have a wide base of law and medicine professionals and these are important professions for national and foreign companies. Furthermore, while there are fewer individuals who select engineering as a profes-sion, the country’s economic dynamics and the global economic conditions contribute to a higher demand for these type of professionals. This explains the wide salary gap between engi-neering and other professions. A good example of this is aeronautic engineering.
Mercer Consulting, a human resources
firm, affirms that Mexico is a country with qualified human capital. As a country with an emerging economy, it has a growing num-ber of professionals that specialize in areas that are required by today’s global economy. On this matter, Mercer found that half of direct foreign investment (DFI) in Mexico goes to the manufacturing industry. Therefore, Mexico is a good option for businesses that require hu-man capital for their manufacturing activities and that value paying higher salaries to expe-rienced workers.
Workers’ skills must also be seen through the prevailing culture because it affects busi-nesses significantly and it may bring larger benefits. For example, Mexican culture favors team or group work where common goals and objectives are established.
In Mexico, workers who are between 25 and 29 years old have the highest post-secondary education levels (25% of the work-force), while the 45 to 49 group is significant in terms of production (they represent 20% of the workforce). This fact places Mexico above countries such as Indonesia, where the per-centages are considerably lower (8% and 7%, respectively) in each of these segments.
In the last few years, Mexico has con-centrated its efforts on increasing its human capital reserve. Investment in education rose between 1995 and 2004, and it was the highest increase as a percentage of the Gross Domes-tic Product (GDP) among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Furthermore, investment in education represents over 20% of the pub-lic expenditure, which is twice the average for OECD members. Also, the increase in ex-penditure per student is higher than OECD’s average.
Nonetheless, more expenditure is not the only way to improve education. How these resources are used and managed is crucial. In fact, productivity in the education sector of OECD countries has not increased as much as productivity in other areas. That is why it is vital to note that investments in education are necessary but these investments must be well applied and the results must be evaluated in order to reach more productive and efficient solutions. n
* Professor and researcher in the Political and So-
cial Sciences Faculty, National Autonomous Uni-
versity of Mexico (UNAM) .
has skilled workers may increase the ef-
ficiency of its systems and its production processes while
it reduces its production costs. This leads to improved productiv-
ity and sensitizes the staff regarding the importance of closing ranks to
improve the company’s performance and to ensure its market presence. Fur-
thermore, skilled workers contribute to in-novation. This is where the concept of “human capital” becomes clear, especially since compa-nies rely on their human resources to develop their production processes. That is why human resources are indeed “capital” that is crucial for a company to achieve its growth goals.
Mexico’s Center of Research for Develop-ment (CIDAC) recently published the results of its first survey on human capital in Mexico. The survey is based on the premise that an educated population can have a positive effect on a coun-
Mexico is a good option for businesses that
require human capital for their manufacturing
activities and that value paying higher
salaries to experienced workers.
16 Negocios Photo courtesy of whirlPool
rePort Home appliances industry
Load it Up, Plug it In and Walk Away
Mexico is at the forefront of the production of domestic electric appliances. Economic forecasts for this particular area of production are good to excellent.
by graeme stewart
Readers of a certain vintage will remember black and white television and the days before microwave ovens when pots and pans were the only way to cook and heat food.
Some, and they must surely now be of retire-ment age and certainly from northern climes, will remember how we managed before every house boasted a refrigerator, the groceries be-ing placed in a scullery or parlour –something like cool rooms–, to keep them fresh.
Or perhaps you can remember mother and grandmother squeezing clothes through a wringer after a handwash in the sink.
It all seems so ridiculously Stone Age now as we take our Space Age technology in house-hold appliances for granted. Plasma and LCD TVs, ice makers, powerful microwave ovens and well advertised grills have made life so much easier.
Happily, Mexico is at the forefront of the production of domestic electric appliances, or white goods as they are commonly known, and electric products manufactured in this coun-try are recognized for their quality and sold around the world.
While it would be folly to ignore the dam-aging effect the world economic downturn has had on every industrial sector, the good news for Mexican white goods manufacturing com-
panies is that economic forecasts for their par-ticular area of production are good to excellent.
The respected Euromonitor International says this of Mexican white goods produc-tion: “Growth until 2013 will slow but remain positive, underpinned by Mexican consumers’ growing demand for more technologically ad-vanced electrical appliances. While increased access to credit and new home construction will most certainly spur volume sales across all economic classes, higher income earners will be drawn to more sophisticated technology in categories such as hair care appliances, refrig-erators, laundering appliances, air treatment products, microwaves and irons.”
In addition, states Euromonitor, niche prod-ucts that promote convenience, like dishwash-ers and washer dryers, will strengthen the in-dustry and help offset slowing growth due to inflation, commodity price increases and the global economic slowdown.
“Multinational companies, such as LG, Samsung and Whirlpool, as well as national firms like Mabe, will lead their respective sec-tors in innovation with more diverse product portfolios,” concludes Euromonitor’s report.
There are a total of 78 white goods manu-facturing plants in Mexico, all well distributed among the states. The industry generates
about 46 thousand direct jobs and 140 thou-sand indirect jobs.
Products made in Mexico include micro-wave ovens, coffee makers, juice extractors, dishwashers, air conditioning vacuum cleaners, plasma televisions, blenders, refrigerators, mix-ers, washers, dryers and irons.
Baja California can boast such companies as, among others, Sanyo E&E, Sharp Electronics México, Infinity Magna and Panasonic Electric Works Mexicana.
Jalisco has Ventiladores Copacabana and Jabil Circuit de México and San Luis Potosí Lei-ser, Mabe and Mabe Sanyo Compressors.
Guanajuato has Whirlpool, Mabe, GSEB Mexicana and Vistar and Queretaro Daewoo Electronics Home Appliances, Mabe, Samsung Electronics México, Applica Manufacturing and Servilamina Summit Mexicana.
Chihuahua is home to Electrolux de México, Juver Industrial, Honeywell Manufacturas de México and Jabil Circuit de Chihuahua, among others. Nuevo León has LG, Oasis Latinoameri-ca and Plexus Electronics.
Estado de México has factories belonging to LG, Philips, Sunbeam and Appleton and the DF has BSH Electrodomésticos, Indus-trias Man de México, Kim Teck and Hamilton Beach/Proctor.
18 Negocios
And so it goes on as the giant US manufac-turers continue to look south to Mexico as a production base.
Only recently, Whirpool announced it was transferring production of refrigerators from Michigan to Ramos Arizpe, in Coahuila, where some 80 million usd would be used to expand the company’s production facility and build a new refrigeration production plant in the northern town.
Laura Champine, an analyst with Cowen & Co., said: “Given the industry’s downturn, Whirlpool had to move production to larger, newer, more efficient plants. These happen to be in Mexico for the refrigeration category.”
Whirlpool is the world’s leading manu-facturer and marketer of home appliances. The company employs 68,000 at nearly 50 manufacturing sites and technology research centers and markets products in more than 170 countries.
So why Mexico? Manufacturers are unanimous when they say that Mexico’s skilled workforce, strategic location, large suppliers and supply chains and logistics easiness are the main reasons for locating in the country.
A spokeswoman for San Antonio, Texas, based Friedrich Air Conditioning, which has a large manufacturing plant in Monte-rrey, said the city was selected because of its skilled, stable workforce, strong supplier base and strategic location close to the San Antonio headquarters.
Such has been the proliferation of white goods manufacturing in Mexico that if we were to look into homes in the US, Mexico or Canada, we would find that most of their electrical appliances –washer, dryer, range, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner and microwave oven– were made in Mexico.
For most companies, North America rep-resents an attractive share of the domestic electrical appliance market. Mexico, the US and Canada represent 27% of over 47.4 bil-lion products that LG sold in 2007. The com-pany’s three plants in Mexico supply 90% of LG products sold in Mexico and 80% of those sold in the US. LG also manufactures for Latin America, which represents 10% of the company’s total sales worldwide.
Efrén Fregoso Vázquez, a financial expert at Mexico City’s Anahuac University North, ex-plains the US was Mexico’s main customer in the home appliance market although Mexico was currently seeking to strengthen relation-ships with Central and South America.
Such has been the proliferation of white goods manufacturing in Mexico that if we were to look into
homes in the US, Mexico or Canada, we would find that most of their electrical appliances –washer, dryer, range, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner and microwave oven– were
made in Mexico.
Photos courtesy of whirlPool
rePort Home appliances industry
So why Mexico? Manufacturers are unanimous when they say that Mexico’s skilled workforce, strategic location, large suppliers and supply chains and logistics easiness are the main reasons for locating in the country.
He said: “Foreign investment in the domes-tic appliance sector of Mexico during 2007, 2008 and the first semester of 2009 is led by five countries –US, Korea, Japan, United King-dom and Spain. Over that same period they have, respectively, invested 315.3million usd, 200.1 million usd, 5.6 million usd, 0.8 million usd and 0.3 million usd. As a whole, over the last five years they have invested, approximate-ly, 53.1 million usd in 2005, 120.6 million usd in 2006, 98.0 million usd in 2007, 300.4 million usd in 2008 and, in the first half of 2009, 124.7 million usd.”
“I believe that the opening of facilities by both the Federal and State governments, and making them available to foreign investors, as well as Mexico’s stable economy and free trade agreements, have helped this sector to flour-ish,” he adds.
There are some states that received more foreign investment than others in this sector, Fregoso explains. For example, Nuevo León received in 2008 205.7 million usd and in January to June of 2009 it has received 20.5 million usd. In the same periods, Estado de México received 10.7 million usd and 61.4 million usd, Distrito Federal 32.8 million usd and 14.9 million usd, Sonora 21.8 million usd and 7.7million usd, Baja California 16.8 mil-lion usd and 16.1 million usd, Chihuahua 10.2 million usd and 2.2 million usd and Tamauli-pas 2.4 million usd and 0.9 million usd.
Foreign investors are attracted to Mexico for several reasons, apart from the facilities made available by Federal and State govern-ments. One of them is our skilled workforce. Companies look for a workforce that has the ability to manufacture equipment to the re-quired standards. Another aspect is geograph-ic location in relation to the United States and Latin America. Home appliance clusters in the states of Nuevo León, Coahuila, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí are important elements of competition that have benefitted companies.
Home appliance clusters have provided com-panies with advantages that have made them very competitive. First, companies are located in the same geographic areas, allowing them to group as a sector and operate among themselves. These same sites also incorporate suppliers, aux-iliary industries, recycling and training institu-tions and many other services, substantially im-proving their competitiveness.
Really, there is no better location in the Americas for inexpensive labor, proximity to the huge US market and organization. It is difficult for other countries in the Americas to compete.
The only two who perhaps could, are the US and Brazil and we can see already that US companies are turning in their droves to establish manufac-turing sites in Mexico.
It must also be remembered that the main distribution channels have contributed to the success of the home electrical appliance indus-try in Mexico. Appliances are now sold in su-permarkets, department stores and wholesale furniture shops. There are also many financing and credit programs that allow consumers to buy home appliances at fixed prices or at favor-able interest rates.
In spite of the global economic crisis, this sec-tor will keep more or less stable in the first se-mester of 2010. I hope that in the second quarter of 2010 we will see a growth in exports of 3 to 4%. That will be thanks to the excellent quality of the electric domestics manufactured in Mexico.”
Yes, we have come a long way since the “Stone Age” and many an old granny must look in wonder as her grandchildren load up the dishwasher or washer dryer. How she would have loved such appliances back in her younger days. n
20 Negocios INFogRAPhIc oldemar
9
ChihuahuaElectrolux de México
Electrolux Home-Products
Juver Industrial
Digital Appliance Controls
Dometic MX
Honeywell Manufacturas
IMW de México
Jabil Circuit de Chihuahua
Plexus Electrónica
9
Nuevo LeónLG Electronic Monterrey
Mabe
Industrias Acros Whirlpool
Starion México
Carrier México
Oasis Latinoamérica
Panasonic Home Appliances
York Aire
Criotec
9
Estado de MéxicoLG Electronics México
Koblenz Eléctrica
Calentadores Magamex
Gillete de México (Braun)
Industrias Técnicas Mexicanas (Lenisco)
Philips Mexicana
Sunbeam Mexicana1
Turmix de México
Appleton Electric
Home Appliances Industry in Mexico
78ManufacturingPlants
24Majorappliances
Source: ProMéxico
Leiser
Mabe
Mabe SanyoCompressors
32Minorappliances
22Suppliers
1 Sunbeam, Osterizer, Oster and Mr. Cofee 2 Bosch and Continental 3 T-Fal, Krups, Moulinex, Romenta Major appliances Minor appliances Suppliers
9
TamaulipasMaytag Mexico Appliance Products
Tutco de México
Black & Decker de Reynosa
Grupo Marshall
Industrias Rheem
Sunbeam Oster
Matamoros
Kimco
Wiegand
6
5
CoahuilaWC Wood
Grupo Industrial Saltillo (Calorex, Cinsa)
Hamilton Beach Proctor Silex
Sunbeam Oster de Acuña
Aparatos Eléctricos Acuña
5
QuerétaroDaewoo Electronics
Mabe
Samsung Electronics México
Applica Manufacturing
Servilamina Summit Mexicana
Distrito FederalBSH Electrodomésticos
Hamilton Beach/Proctor–Silex de México
Industrias Man de México
Timco
Kim Teck
Nulec Industrias
QuerétaroJalisco
Aguascalientes
Tamaulipas
Estadode México
Nuevo León
Chihuahua
VentiladoresCopacabana
Jabil Circuitde México
2 San Luis Potosí
2
2
2
4
1Texas
Instruments
GestarElectrodomésticos
IndustriasAcros Whirlpool
ElectrodomésticosLatinoamericanos
Taurus Mexicana
Puebla
Tlaxcala
IndustriasAcros Whirlpool
Mabe3
GSEB Mexicana
Vistar
Guanajuato
U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A
PA C I F I C O C E A N
G U L F O F M E X I C O
rePort Home appliances industry
9
ChihuahuaElectrolux de México
Electrolux Home-Products
Juver Industrial
Digital Appliance Controls
Dometic MX
Honeywell Manufacturas
IMW de México
Jabil Circuit de Chihuahua
Plexus Electrónica
9
Nuevo LeónLG Electronic Monterrey
Mabe
Industrias Acros Whirlpool
Starion México
Carrier México
Oasis Latinoamérica
Panasonic Home Appliances
York Aire
Criotec
9
Estado de MéxicoLG Electronics México
Koblenz Eléctrica
Calentadores Magamex
Gillete de México (Braun)
Industrias Técnicas Mexicanas (Lenisco)
Philips Mexicana
Sunbeam Mexicana1
Turmix de México
Appleton Electric
Home Appliances Industry in Mexico
78ManufacturingPlants
24Majorappliances
Source: ProMéxico
Leiser
Mabe
Mabe SanyoCompressors
32Minorappliances
22Suppliers
1 Sunbeam, Osterizer, Oster and Mr. Cofee 2 Bosch and Continental 3 T-Fal, Krups, Moulinex, Romenta Major appliances Minor appliances Suppliers
9
TamaulipasMaytag Mexico Appliance Products
Tutco de México
Black & Decker de Reynosa
Grupo Marshall
Industrias Rheem
Sunbeam Oster
Matamoros
Kimco
Wiegand
6
5
CoahuilaWC Wood
Grupo Industrial Saltillo (Calorex, Cinsa)
Hamilton Beach Proctor Silex
Sunbeam Oster de Acuña
Aparatos Eléctricos Acuña
5
QuerétaroDaewoo Electronics
Mabe
Samsung Electronics México
Applica Manufacturing
Servilamina Summit Mexicana
Distrito FederalBSH Electrodomésticos
Hamilton Beach/Proctor–Silex de México
Industrias Man de México
Timco
Kim Teck
Nulec Industrias
QuerétaroJalisco
Aguascalientes
Tamaulipas
Estadode México
Nuevo León
Chihuahua
VentiladoresCopacabana
Jabil Circuitde México
2 San Luis Potosí
2
2
2
4
1Texas
Instruments
GestarElectrodomésticos
IndustriasAcros Whirlpool
ElectrodomésticosLatinoamericanos
Taurus Mexicana
Puebla
Tlaxcala
IndustriasAcros Whirlpool
Mabe3
GSEB Mexicana
Vistar
Guanajuato
U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A
PA C I F I C O C E A N
G U L F O F M E X I C O
22 Negocios Photo courtesy of sony
by alfredo aZcÁrate varela
TV Manufacturing: The Electronics Edge
After creating thousands of jobs and bringing millions of dollars in economic activity generated by their operations, TV manufacturing firms operating in Baja California suffered the worldwide financial crisis but Government officials and industrial leaders consider that in 2010 the market demand will grow again.
One of the industrial sectors that expanded in Mexico due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was electronics and TV manufacturing which reached unexpected high levels. The TV production in Mexico was 1.7 mil-lion in 1987 and grew to 25 million in 1998 with an ever-growing pace that reached a peak of al-most 35 million TVs in 2003.
mexican tv exPorts(millions of usd)
2000200120022003200420052006200720082009**January – August
5,744.426,244.806,700.286,413.367,693.1210,318.3716,641.6821,762.3122,612.1711,088.56
Source: Banco de México
Mexico’s share of international TV imports in the USA went from 40.6% in 1990 to 63.5% in 1996, above Malaysia, Japan and Thailand, mainly due to the changes on TV set production in the US, first with Asian plants setting up in the US and then with a trend to relocate plants to the Northern region of Mexico. Baja California was the state to receive most benefit from this.
sPecial rePort tv manufacturing
Television manufacturing is going through a transition
phase and, according to expectations from the
public and private sectors for 2010, TV manufacturing
operations will grow, as well as many other clusters
related to digital TV and monitors.
In the mid 80s most American TV manu-facturers disappeared because of their Asian and European transnational competitors. Some examples are: Thomson, a French corporation which bought all General Elec-tric and RCA plants and was itself later pur-chased by a Chinese company; Phillips from the Netherlands bought Sylvania and Mag-navox; Japan’s Matsushita acquired Quasar and Korean LG electronics bought Zenith.
Thus, the worldwide television industry split into two main branches: European and Asian manufacturers both with operations in the US. Asian operations in America grew so fast that started a TV cluster or vertical manu-facturing integration in Tijuana due to its close-ness to Long Beach port facilities.Throughout the 90s and the early years of the 21st century, these TV manufacturing operations became bigger and stronger in northern Mexico, cre-ating thousands of jobs in Baja California. The expectation for many local small enterprises was that they would become a supplier for one of these firms operating in Baja California.
These plants started attracting their suppli-ers to be closer to them, to satisfy the plants’ demands, so industrial parks hosting different maquila operations became industrial “clus-ter” locations, with different firms coming to Baja California, creating jobs and transferring technology.
These parks were production centers where all the TV manufacturing components were made in separate plants and then incor-porated into the process in the main plant, so they could have better industrial input prices and “Just In Time” deliveries.
An example is the Tijuana operation of Sony where the cluster includes foreign supplier Tijuana operations, comprising screens, chassis, print circuits, deflection yolk, tuners and plastic components, among others, while local suppliers were able to deliver plastic bags, plastic and wooden cabi-nets, uniforms, reparation molds and some plastic components.
When the “clustering” process began there were Mexican suppliers who upgraded their operations to fulfill different firm re-quirements and started doing business with these Asian operations, therefore becoming part of the cluster.
The TV manufacturing cluster “splen-dor” establelized. Even though it had ups and downs, it is one of the biggest employment sources in Baja California and, in its heyday,
had almost 25,000 jobs. The world crisis low-ered this crucial economic activity but it didn’t obliterate it.
Recovery SignalsThe problem of plants closing in Baja Cali-fornia has almost finished according to Gov-ernor Guadalupe Osuna, who said there are investment retention strategies being set by the state’s Ministry of Economic Development
and that electronic and aerospace operations such as Skyworks will soon announce new im-portant investments. He considered that eco-nomic recovery had already started as 2009 had overcome a cautious foreign investment forecast of about one billion usd, adding up, as of September 2009, to 1.089 billion usd, taking into consideration national and international investment in the state.
According to the Minister of Economic De-velopment of Baja California, Alejandro Mun-garay, October 2008 was an extremely difficult month for manufacturing plants operating in Baja California, as well as for the rest of the world, but as of first quarter of 2009, things started to improve a bit, at least in Mexico.
Transition PhaseConsumer world trends have evolved with modernization process on the TV cluster. This industry is going through a restructuring pro-cess due to legal standardization of the digital television signal for the US which has yielded a big demand for digital televisions.
Baja California has witnessed this concen-tration process regarding TV manufactur-ing and some companies being absorbed by Taiwanese enterprises which are now leaving behind processes based on restructuring and reorienting their distribution channels to Cen-tral and South American markets as well as the exporting Californian market.
In Sony’s case, they closed their plants in Mexicali, Kansas and Pittsburgh and relocated all in Tijuana, thanks to the availability of tech-nical resources and trained personnel other enterprises had left behind, stressing once again the high technical level of Baja Califor-nia’s workforce and industrial park facilities.
The relocation of Sony created about 1,500 jobs in Tijuana, then it merged with Fox-com, creating an enterprise with more than 600,000 employees worldwide. They also opened 1,000 new job positions in Tijuana, so there were job positions closed in Mexicali but many others opened in Tijuana.
Another example is LG Electronics from Korea, with a huge TV manufacturing opera-tion that started more than fifteen years ago and now has left Baja California. Mungaray explained that LG manufactured cell phones as well as televisions in Mexicali, when their analysts determined it wasn’t profitable to continue the cell phone operation they closed the plant and moved their plasma screen op-eration to an ongoing project in Reynosa, Tam-
24 Negocios Photos courtesy of sony
Consumer world trends have evolved with modernization process on the TV
cluster. This industry is going through a restructuring process due to legal standardization of digital television
signal for the US which has yielded a big demand for digital televisions.
aulipas, another northern Mexican state, so most of LG investment in Baja remained in Mexico.
Kyowa, a Japanese supplier for Sony, closed its plant almost completely but this allowed the growth of another enterprise of plastic injection operations.
Yet another example is Data Products which was able to double its staff by using trained employees from companies that had closed or cut their operations in Mexicali. So once again Baja California is growing stron-ger after surviving the 2008 world financial crisis.
Javier Martínez Luna, President of the Tijuana Maquila Industry Association said “Tijuana has benefited in the electronics cluster because there was a TV signal switch from analog to digital, so this brought along a commercial boom. TV manufacturing oper-ations have broadened operations, creating approximately 2,530 direct job positions.”
“Estimations are of 8,000 to 10,000 di-rect jobs in Baja California TV manufacture operations, with names such as Sharp, Sony and Sanyo. With some Korean operations and Taiwan enterprises starting to arrive, it is difficult to estimate the total television production in Tijuana but only one firm will manufacture a grand total of one million TV sets this year and expectations are as high as 4 million TV sets in 2010,” said Martínez Luna.
According to Arturo Lara, President of the Mexicali Maquila Industry Association, “The electronics sector is very ‘aggressive’, mainly the TV manufacturing branch. An example is Sony. It left Mexicali and part of it was sold to another firm, seeking more economic manu-facturing to achieve bigger corporative profit margins. LG also left but Mitsubishi stayed, manufacturing 40 to 82 inch LCD televisions and plasma screens with an output of approx-imately 30,000 TV sets a month, and accord-ing to the recovery process pace this figure could be much bigger in 2010.”
“We are recovering from the losses stem-ming from the international financial cri-sis and the plants that were to leave have already gone and the ones that stayed will remain for a stable period of time. As a mat-ter of fact, we have hit rock bottom and, in a technical sense, recession in the US is almost over. We hope that as of February the tech-nical layoffs will end and in March or April most of the plants will be working at full ca-pacity,” concluded Lara.
sPecial rePort tv manufacturing
The TV manufacturing cluster “splendor”
establelized. Even though it had ups and downs, it is one of the biggest
employment sources in Baja California and, in its heyday, had almost
25,000 jobs.
Television manufacturing is going through a transition phase and, according to expec-tations from the public and private sectors for 2010, TV manufacturing operations will grow, as well as many other clusters related to digital TV and monitors, such as medical de-vices, aerospace, computers and automotive, among others.
The transition phase that resulted from the crisis might become another blessing for Baja California and the television cluster might rise again and soar higher in the sky of the future. n
26 Negocios Photos archive
electronics, a winning formulaby sol fortoul
cover feature electronics industry
In 2010 the electronics industry will be switching to a new high-tech cluster in Mexico. Alliances are being forged between emerging clusters all across the country, fostering projects to realize Mexico’s vision for itself as an international bridge and a strong hand for Latin America.
It is the newest member of Mexico’s industrial family, and the flexibility of its productive capac-ity makes it a sturdy partner at times of interna-tional crisis. In 2010, the electronics and technol-ogy industry, comprising around 3,000 business units, will seek to consolidate Mexico’s emerging clusters and form international alliances in the fields of design, production and services.
With exports worth 69.74 billion usd in 2008, the electronics industry expects to end 2009 on a positive note, with modest increases in manufacturing levels of between 2 and 3% and a notable increase in segments such as multimedia and custom-designed services, that have posted 30% increases in productivity.
In 2010, the electronics industry will con-solidate alliances between individual clusters and map out a national high-tech cluster as the engine for project leadership in Latin America. Mexico is now the control center for the essen-tial operations of international enterprises. HP controls parts of its financial system from here, while IBM’s plant located in Jalisco handles pro-curement and supplies for Latin America.
“The outlook for 2010 is promising. We are confident, because the sector continues ex-panding in new segments that are growing at a healthy rate. Manufacturing is still on the up, this year we will see a 2% growth, and multi-media has a higher growth rate. However we cannot compare both results, as a 2% growth rate in manufacturing represents a strong performance in the current financial context”, explains Ricardo Gómez, an executive at the National Chamber of the Electronics, Telecom-munications and Information Technology In-dustry (Canieti).
Timelinew
1950 The first manufacturing plants for the technological development of electron-ics for audio, video and product assem-bly are installed along Mexico’s north-ern border.
Mexico’s first intelligent cluster is formed, initially boosted by the pres-ence of companies such as Motorola and IBM, in Jalisco’s “Silicon Valley”.
The development of the software indus-try sows its seeds in the electronics sec-tor, marking a radical new perception of the industry, which had focused exclu-sively on manufacturing processes until that point.
Mexico becomes the international man-ufacturing procurement center for CEM and its supporting companies. The ar-rival of Asian headquarters leads to an important growth in higher-complexity assembly plants.
2000The electronics industry is forced to adapt following the international crisis and cost-competition in Asia.
Flexibility in manufacturing production lines ensures the survival of internation-al electronics companies with a presence in Mexico, and the migration towards the design of higher added-value prod-ucts becomes the only alternative.
Product design gathers momentum and a new business niche is born for the sec-tor: services.
Medical and aerospace systems and products are developed, increasing the sector’s level of complexity and placing Mexico in a prime position as a leading business location for multinational cor-porations working in Latin America.
2002
1967
1985 2003
1990 2009
28 Negocios Photo archive
Numbers speak for themselves: elec-tronics manufacturing departments which produce items such as modular circuits for telephony equipment, processing units, com-puter equipment, telephone switching appa-ratus or laptop computers (PCs) all maintain modest growth rates, with higher increases in the multimedia and design segments.
With a network of over 350,000 jobs and a predominantly female workforce the electronics industry took root in Mexico 50 years ago with the arrival of companies such as Motorola. Ever since, the industry has managed to reinvent itself in order to handle state-of-the-art products with its competitive advantages over the Asian cluster, its main manufacturing competitor.
A Strong ImageThe most advanced audiovisual products such as plasma screens and systems for video and sound is the cluster generating the highest manufacturing output in Mexico. The plants are mostly located along the border with the US, the world’s largest consumer market.
The large expanse of these manufactur-ing plants convert many of these companies veritable industrial parks, as their premises include services such as clinics, child nurser-ies, canteens and sports facilities.
A map produced by the Mexican Minis-try of Economy marking the location of the most representative industries shows that around 61% of the audio and video elec-tronic industries are located in the Tijuana and Mexicali cluster. In Baja California the
With a network of over 350,000 jobs, the
electronics industry took root in Mexico 50
years ago. Ever since, the industry has managed to
reinvent itself in order to handle state-of-the-
art products with its competitive advantages
over the Asian cluster, its main manufacturing
competitor.
cover feature electronics industry
A Multimedia Lake Mexican multimedia companies are recording robust annual growth rates between 30% and 100%, taking full advantage of the opportunities available to them.
Multimedia has been the fastest-growing technology sector in recent years, due to the large pool of talent in creativity and program design, including animation and other movie-related technologies. It is at the heart of the electronics industry, with annual growth rates between 30% and 100%, according to a survey undertaken with companies in the sector.
“The growth in multimedia and digital filming has been key for Mexico’s electronic and technological sectors. This has been a strong trend for some years and now we can make highly-complex productions”, say executives from Más Fusión, a multimedia company that has widened its horizons to handle international productions.
Hundreds of companies have found that multimedia offers a number of advantages for growth, making it attractive in comparison to the more modest levels of growth seen in other sectors including the electronics manufacturing industry itself.
A Smart ParkThe cloudy pale blue-sky contrasts with the pink tower that signals an innovative development for Mexico’s software and multimedia industry – a “smart city” built over 35 acres on the banks of Lake Chapala in Jalisco. Chapala Multimedia Park is one of the strategic projects supported by the National Council on Science and Technology (Conacyt), involving an investment of over 7 million usd in its first phase.
“The added value encourages us to develop another industry for animation, video games, visual effects for movies and for other areas such as multimedia simulation. The project has been under development for four years with developments such as Creanimax, bringing together key talent. But it was two years ago that we took the decision to create a physical space for these companies with a multimedia park”, says Ricardo Gómez, the driving force behind this project.
The area is located on the bypass between Chapala and Ajijic and was developed with funding from the three levels of Mexican government (federal, state and municipal) and from the private sector. “To detonate the development of Chapala Multimedia Park we visited locations in the United States, Canada, Argentina and Spain to see what was needed, and based on what we learned we drew up the project for Conacyt and it was classified as a strategic project”, explains Gómez.
The first phase of the park, which has been operating since December 2009, will provide space for around 300 people and boasts a digital cinema forum, professional audio studios and all the necessary technology for animation and video game production.
sound and image are crystal clear, with com-panies such as Samsung, Sony, Sanyo, JVC and Pioneer. It is followed by Ciudad Juárez with 26% of companies, with the remainder spread out between cities such as Monterrey and Reynosa.
Chip by ChipThe manufacture of components and prod-ucts makes the electronic sector one of Mex-ico’s industrial sectors with the widest scope.
Over the past decade, the industry has made significant progress and products now include everything from systems that can be used for brain-scanning as well as 3D anima-tions, or for financial system planning and multinational corporations’ strategic work.
Mexico has an estimated 3,000 com-panies in the electronics industry: 2,000 specialize in information technologies, 500 in manufacturing and the rest in industry-related activities.
For high value-added manufacturing, the Jalisco cluster offers clear advantages when compared with other development nodes in Mexico and even Latin America. As well as generating 2,000 new jobs in 2009 and over 17 billion usd in exports, this cluster of com-panies such as IBM, Flextronics, Sanmina, Jaibil and other software giants invested some 300 million usd over the past year.
Other Mexican states such as Estado de México, have kept their focus on mobile tele-phony with the presence of companies such as Ericsson and Pantech.
“Jalisco is an important cluster in terms of the technological complexity that it can develop. The Tijuana-Mexicali corridor is also important for Mexico’s electronic in-dustry. Interesting examples can also be found elsewhere in places such as Merida for collaborative IT projects as well as cities with a technological vocation such as Aguas-calientes, León, Colima, Tepic, Morelia and Guadalajara. Adding all these cities together, we have a bridge with nine airports and four maritime ports”, says Ricardo Gómez.
Mexico’s electronics industry provides many examples of formulae for continuous improvement, with five decades’ worth of experience with multinational manufactur-ing companies and 24 years of technology applied to software development. Its advan-tages in the area of electronic design add an exclusive bonus for Latin America: Leader-ship. n
In 2010, the electronics industry will consolidate alliances between individual clusters and map out a national high-tech cluster as the engine for project leadership in Latin America. Mexico is now the control center for the essential operations
of international enterprises.
30 Negocios illustration oldemar
Source: ProMéxico
AguascalientesWhite WestinghouseXeroxSiemensFlextronicsVolexTexas Instruments
Baja CaliforniaDeltaDisplay OrionHitachiIchiaJVCKing Cord MexLGMatsushitaMerry TechMitsubishiPioneerSamsungSanyoSharpSonyThomsonWistronBenQKodakDelphiAmphenolADI SystemsPhilipsKyoceraRectificadores InernacionalesVigobyteCoumsBoseSkyworksPanasonic
SonoraAlcatel
MotorolaVolex
MolexAMO
Amphenol
Estado de MéxicoEricsson
AlcatelPantech
Scientific AtlantaOlimpia
AMPSony
QuerétaroClarion
Siemens
JaliscoIBM
HPHitachi
NECLucent Technologies
KodakSiemens
MTI ElectronicsSolectron
FlextronicsJabil Circuit
SCI SanminaECMM
BenchmarkTechnicolor
Universal ScientificMotorola
Cumex
Major Firms U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A
PA C I F I C O C E A N
G U L F O F M E X I C O
Electronics Industry in Mexico
Electronic Contract ManufacturingAudio & Video ComputersTelecommunications Automotive Home AppliancesPhoto & Printing Other industries
Baja California
Aguascalientes
Chihuahua
Coahuila
Tamaulipas
Nuevo León
Estado de México
JaliscoQuerétaro
Sonora
Nuevo LeónPioneer
KodakSCI – Sanmina
CelesticaElcoteq
AFLNippon Denso
Axa Yazaki
ToshibaPhilipsThomsonKenwoodAsusKeytronicsTatungLite on Enlight FoxconnHoneywellECMMElcoteqJailSMTCDelphiElamexPlexusAltec
TamaulipasPhilipsSonyJabilCelesticaNokiaLucent TechnologiesFujitsuConduraDelnosaDelco MatsushitaDelphiKeytronicsTyco
Thomson
Morelos
NEC
Source: ProMéxico
AguascalientesWhite WestinghouseXeroxSiemensFlextronicsVolexTexas Instruments
Baja CaliforniaDeltaDisplay OrionHitachiIchiaJVCKing Cord MexLGMatsushitaMerry TechMitsubishiPioneerSamsungSanyoSharpSonyThomsonWistronBenQKodakDelphiAmphenolADI SystemsPhilipsKyoceraRectificadores InernacionalesVigobyteCoumsBoseSkyworksPanasonic
SonoraAlcatel
MotorolaVolex
MolexAMO
Amphenol
Estado de MéxicoEricsson
AlcatelPantech
Scientific AtlantaOlimpia
AMPSony
QuerétaroClarion
Siemens
JaliscoIBM
HPHitachi
NECLucent Technologies
KodakSiemens
MTI ElectronicsSolectron
FlextronicsJabil Circuit
SCI SanminaECMM
BenchmarkTechnicolor
Universal ScientificMotorola
Cumex
Major Firms U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A
PA C I F I C O C E A N
G U L F O F M E X I C O
Electronics Industry in Mexico
Electronic Contract ManufacturingAudio & Video ComputersTelecommunications Automotive Home AppliancesPhoto & Printing Other industries
Baja California
Aguascalientes
Chihuahua
Coahuila
Tamaulipas
Nuevo León
Estado de México
JaliscoQuerétaro
Sonora
Nuevo LeónPioneer
KodakSCI – Sanmina
CelesticaElcoteq
AFLNippon Denso
Axa Yazaki
ToshibaPhilipsThomsonKenwoodAsusKeytronicsTatungLite on Enlight FoxconnHoneywellECMMElcoteqJailSMTCDelphiElamexPlexusAltec
TamaulipasPhilipsSonyJabilCelesticaNokiaLucent TechnologiesFujitsuConduraDelnosaDelco MatsushitaDelphiKeytronicsTyco
Thomson
Morelos
NEC
cover feature electronics industry
32 Negocios Photos courtesy of intel
A significant amount of the technology that Intel will launch for the global market during the next decade is researched, designed and validated by a group of nearly 400 Mexican engineers at the Guadalajara Design Center (GDC), a facility established in 2000 by Intel in the western state of Jalisco.
The history of the center reflects the tal-ent potential of Mexican “mind labor”, which has propelled Mexico’s “Silicon Valley”, a title earned by Jalisco’s technology industry clus-ter thanks to its wide array of services which cover from simple assemblies and product manufacturing to maintaining complex de-sign, innovation and development projects.
Jesús Palomino, General Manager of GDC describes the evolution of the center since its opening in October 2000 “with a focus on the telecommunications industry.” Chips were designed, tests were performed “and we provided support and developed products with other teams in the US; we worked with a staff of 30 to 40 people until 2002.”
At the end of 2002, the telecom industry was affected by the economic downturn that came after the “dot com” bubble burst or the
Intel Designs the Future from MexicoThe future is being written by a group of 400 Mexican engineers at Intel’s Design Center in Guadalajara, where a significant amount of the technology that will be launched during the next ten years is researched, designed and tested.
by jesÚs estrada cortes
internet-based company crisis. When sales expectations changed, “we decided to focus on another area, on all server platforms. From that moment on, new growth opportu-nities emerged,” Palomino recalls.
That is when GDC began to restructure. Some integrated circuit test operations were refocused to work with servers and the site began building a new infrastructure.
Design and validation“We began to set up laboratories, because al-though we already had labs for telecom circuit testing, server-type platform tests required larger equipment and space. We set up 8,000 sq feet of laboratories and began to bring new projects, more tasks and opportunities,” ex-plains Palomino.
At the same time, the center’s staff also began to expand and became more specialized. Al-though the focus of this second stage was server platform validation, “a wide array of new options opened inside the center. We began with com-patibility validation to make sure that all operat-ing systems would execute properly on the new servers,” Palomino recalls. Hardware and video card applications were also designed.
mexico’s Partner intel
“Alter that we passed on to system-type validation. Then we added electric-level vali-dation for all interfaces and communication between the processor, chip set or computer.” This type of validation deals with commu-nication between these two circuits and “we are now talking about quite a few gigahertz, the signal quality must be analyzed as well as temperature variations and voltage changes, we analyze all these and make sure that the signal quality continues to be adequate,” notes Palomino.
The success in validation processes allowed the center to attract more responsibilities, such as keeping a group of engineers “that designs a complete computer to test future processors and chip sets. We have two groups that design complete computer platforms […] in order for the platform to be ready before the new pro-cessor or chip set is launched.”
Furthermore, integrated circuit design and development was assigned to the center to test the technology with the chip sets that will be launched in the market.
Research and developmentThe positive outcome attracted research and development groups to Guadalajara. A group of platform specialists was created, researching ev-erything from power transmission to tempera-ture control. This was at the end of 2005.
Subsequently, another group was created to research wireless connection architecture such as Wi-Fi or Wi-Max. These are Intel’s only research and development groups in Latin America.
More recently, a group that designs BIOS was created. This is the most basic software that runs on a computer, for Intel platforms.
Today the center has groups that design cir-cuits, platforms and packages, and perform the electrical validation process for products that will be launched in the market in three years. There are also research and development groups for the technology that will be available in five to ten years.
“The third group is dedicated to platforms that can be successful in emerging coun-tries,” explained Palomino. The challenge here is to understand what type of platforms can be placed in the market to support edu-cation in schools. That is how Class Mate PC
was created: the personal computer that In-tel launched to support children’s education in emerging countries. The concept of this product was conceived from Guadalajara jointly with China and India and the testing was performed at GDC.
Writing the futureAmong the nearly 400 engineers that work at the center, 53% have a bachelor’s or engi-neering degree, 33% have master’s degrees, almost 7% have doctor’s degrees and the rest are technicians.
For the future, “we face a great opportu-nity. After this economic crisis, enterprises have to stretch their finances, continue to in-novate, continue with the product road map and place new products in the market in or-der to compete.”
Palomino considers that “we can offer a good solution of adequate talent at suitable costs” with technical and management lead-ership development, adequate infrastruc-ture, and the support in Jalisco’s ‘ecosystem’ thanks to the synergy between universities, industries and the government, “we have a big chance to attract more high technology projects” to the country.
“We are at a transition point where not only large transnational corporations, but also the small and medium-sized US com-panies will need alliances with Mexican en-terprises […] to carry out their projects with quality, on a timely basis, with innovation and suitable costs.”
Palomino considers that Mexico’s strengths include its geographical proximity to the US, as well as easy and fast communication and trans-portation between both countries.
Other advantages are the competitive cost of Mexican engineering or “mind labor”, with a lower staff rotation rate than other countries, which encourages work group growth, acceler-ates maturity and attracts more roles and duties.
He also mentioned the great availabil-ity of talent. “There are universities all over Mexico that are producing good quality tal-ent,” therefore company training is quick and the learning curves are short. Finally, he mentioned the support offered by state and federal governments, which “have aided in attracting projects.” n
Today the center has groups that design circuits,
platforms, packages and perform the electrical validation process for products that will be
launched in the market in three years. There are also research and development groups for the technology
that will be available in five to ten years.
the
34 Negocios
by cristina Ávila-Zesatti
Global economic crisis? For the video game in-dustry this concept merely represent another of its animated fictions due to the fact that the figures sound absolutely real.
According to the International Develop-ment Group (IDG), a company that identifies the fastest growing social and economic sec-tors, by 2011 the global video game market will reach revenues as fantastic as its creations: 45 billion usd.
Mexico’s role in this 3D story is worth mil-lions and is significant mainly for the produc-ers. In 2011, the video game industry in Latin America will surpass those of Canada, Italy and Australia. Mexico is the leading consumer of the region, where 50% of the video games are sold. According to an Americas News Intelligence re-port, Mexico has a market of 15 million players that generates annual sales of 670 million usd. The manufacturers expect an income of 1 billion usd by 2010.
We are ready to “go to the next stage of the game.” Mexico is beginning to participate in
Video Games “Made in Mexico,”A Serious Bet
The Mexican market for video games is the largest in Latin America and the country moves forward to consolidating an industry with creations of its own. Juego de Talento (Talent Game) is an entrepreneurial venture with an innovative and propositive business model with the objective of promoting purely Mexican video game production. The challenge is to actively integrate Mexico to one of the most buoyant industries of our times, which foresees sales of 45 billion usd during the course of the next two years.
another section of the industry: the develop-ment of its own video games. The bids are high and the game is undoubtedly serious.
Turning the Game into BusinessThe initial development stages of the industry are precisely what Gabriel Grinberg has trans-formed into the strength of his business strate-gy. As the saying goes, a good player never loses if he knows how to recognize the signs in time.
Grinberg is the creator of Juego de Talento (Talent Game), a company which main goal is to develop the “Made in Mexico” video game industry with a relatively fast-paced growth rate.
“The fact that countries with a much small-er market have a much larger video game in-dustry is unconceivable to me,” remarks the President of Juego de Talento.
It is a fact that the consumers of Venezuela, Central America, Chile and Colombia barely represent 5% of the total regional market; nev-ertheless, the video game industries of these
countries are ahead in production compared to Mexico, which in realistic terms, is barely beginning to participate in one of the most promising sectors of the global economy.
In this scenario, Juego de Talento is not merely an enterprise. It is a business model conceived in 2007 by Gabriel Grinberg with a focus not only on the present but also on the short-term future.
The strategy has various stages, most of them simultaneous, to promote the Mexican video game industry: an annual contest to iden-tify young talents, an incubator for new enter-prises and the certified training of these talents in the process of creating new companies.
“The idea is to initially generate the critical mass in order to incorporate these talents to the industry, therefore gradually increasing not only the number of developers, but also the quality. This is the reason why training is important and an integral part of our plan,” explains Grinberg.
The first contest announcement for Mexican video game developers was made in 2008 with
ILLUstRAtIoN oldemar
the
a response that even surprised the organizers: 104 projects were received from young develop-ers from all over the country, who were not over 30 years old. Juego de Talento identified the most talented, awarded 6 teams and added a total of 10 groups to the incubator, which will enter the market as formal businesses this year.
In 2009, the second announcement proved that this business model is positively changing the rules of the game in the Mexican industry. A project theme related to Mexican history was proposed –taking advantage of the soon-to-be-celebrated Mexican Independence Bi-centennial– the response was overwhelming: over 400 teams, with larger and better quality projects than those of 2008; to the point that the President of Juego de Talento estimates that the number of incubated enterprises could easily double.
The Game is a Serious IssueIf video game detractors argue that they pro-duce negative reactions such as inhibition, in-activity, lack of formal training, and even men-tal disorders, its defenders –among which Ga-briel Grinberg stands– state that today young people interact differently with technology.
Recent studies prove that many players im-prove their neuro-kinetic abilities and visual reflexes, in addition to a new type of social-
1000 Entretenimiento Digital
Dream Builder
Y Pix-T Art
COMPANY PROJECT
comPanies and Projects in the incubation Phase through juego de talento:
1000 D.C. Action game based on the Bible.
Gilgamech Online strategy video game that depicts the epic history of a battle.
Microbus Driver An adaptation of the Taxi Driver (1999) game based on the film of the same name, with a Mexican touch.
• The teams formed in the incubator go through a four-month development period.
• So far the cost of the most expensive project supported by Juego de Talento is 4 million usd.
• The cost of some most successful video games in the market today vary between 15 and 30 million usd.
mexico’s Partner juego de talento
ization, when various participants interact in front of a challenging screen.
The myth that video games are “for chil-dren”, and created to penetrate in fantasy worlds, has practically disappeared. In many countries developers have taken advantage of this situation to create various programs dealing with society, environment awareness,
culture, music, sports, and various other topics.“Juego de Talento’s annual contest always
has a theme, because we want to promote edu-cation and be propositive. We must understand that today’s youth is hyper textual and very skilled in surfing the web. These traits represent an advantage and not an obstacle if they are steered correctly. Video games can offer a posi-tive contribution to education of future genera-tions,” Grinberg notes.
This is the reason why, Juego de Talento has decided to walk hand in hand with the Mexican Independence Bicentennial celebrations. In fact, the 2010 National Celebrations Organizing Committee is sponsoring the company because as Grinberg says, “they are interested in teach-ing Mexican history in a way that would be fun and most of all, alluring for young people.”
Randomness is “Out of the Game”Gabriel Grinberg used to be an IT consultant. As a businessman today, he knows that right choices should be pursued while mistakes must be avoided.
Juego de Talento is a small company. Nev-ertheless, it expects to grow as the incubating projects become productive. By 2010, Grinberg expects to have at least 30 of these new develop-ments. Furthermore, he is aware that one of the key elements of any industry’s growth is human capital development, thus the importance of specialized trainers. This year, Juego de Talento launched its first specialized video game devel-opment diploma course, jointly with the Sor Juana Cloister University: a five-month course that will allow students to immerse in the differ-ent stages of video game project development.
In 2010, more aggressive strategies will be used based on facts that have nothing to do with fiction, on the contrary, facts that are very real. Juego de Talento will open branches in at least 8 states of the country, to insure that its ‘talent hunting’ efforts are as broad as possible.
In the meantime, while expecting gradual results from the incubator as well as from the expert training endeavors, Gabriel Grinberg’s company will maintain its current income seg-mentation. Juego de Talento currently handles an approximate investment of 1.5 million usd, 40% of which was made by the three business partners while 60% came from sponsors The short-term goal is to reach self-sustainability, once its business model has been consolidated and the first enterprises emerge from the pres-ent incubation stage. n
www.juegodetalento.com
An Enterprise that Gives Birth to Other Enterprises• Juego de Talento’s incubator offers
specialized counseling regarding all technical aspects related to video game development, as well as on business topics such as business plan development, how to create a financial program, and the steps that need to be taken in order to establish an enterprise.
• Additionally, the physical working space is provided for the team during the product incubation period, as well as the technological infrastructure for prototype development.
36 Negocios Photos courtesy of snake & eagle
Leading Players of Their Own TechnologySnake & Eagle is one of the Mexican enterprises that have penetrated the videogame market. The company has chosen to create its own technology, which is comparable to the one used by the large international enterprises that trust Mexican talent.
by francisco vernis
Snake & Eagle is one of the main Mexican de-velopers and “publishers” of videogames; the first to create a game for PlayStation and to reach the Russian market, accomplishments attained mainly due to its most basic commitment: the development of its own technology.
The bizarre story of this 100% Mexican company began in 1995. David Sánchez Na-varro, founder and President of the firm, ex-celled in computer knowledge as an engineer since the 80’s, when he designed programs and applications in 3D for civil engineering.
After the construction industry downturn in 1995, he began to produce videogame 3D animation as a subcontractor, using similar elements to those that applied for large engin-eering projects. That is how Snake & Eagle was born, with the main objective of serving the United States market outsourcers.
Sánchez Navarro began developing his own technology and the launching of Windows 95 paved the way for the process. He had to begin from scratch since there were no applications that ran on the new operating system, and this narrowed the gap between Mexico and the United States.
“In 1996 I began to program in Mexico as I did for all the large US companies. All the pre-vious codes were discarded, they were useless, new ones had to be created from scratch. By
2005 we reached the same level of practically any technology in the world. There isn’t any-thing that we cannot match or do better than any company in the US, Russia or Great Brit-ain,” remarks Sánchez Navarro, who changed the business suit he wore as an engineer for a T-shirt, which identifies him as a member of the rest of his team.
With a more mature technology, Snake & Ea-gle began developing its own videogames and af-ter the company Linaje Editorial was established,
Snake & Eagle launched the first videogame, An-trophos, in 2002, which was distributed together with a comic in Mexican newsstands and other points of sale in the US.
Three years later, with a much more com-plex technology, Snake & Eagle produced the second part of Antrophos, which caught the eye of the Russian market where a total of 60,150 games were distributed.
“The only way to produce profit is to de-velop your own technology, and the first five
Product snake & eagle
years are the most difficult. Once you have passed that stage and you have an efficient technology, development is simpler, due to the fact that technological updates are less expen-sive and new developers join a more compact cluster, which shortens the distance with those who have more advanced technologies,” com-ments Sánchez Navarro as he speaks about the obstacles in his business.
In the US, sale and distribution of Antrop-hos was done directly through Linaje Editorial, which was in charge of promotion and distri-bution. This was an excellent introductory let-ter for negotiations with Sony in order to place one of their videogames on the PlayStation platform.
Lucha is a game similar to Street Fighter, but with Mexican scenes and fighters. The bat-tles take place in Mexico City’s Zócalo Square, in subway stations, or even at the Chamber of Deputies. Furthermore, the game has live al-ternative Mexican band music.
“I have always said that videogames carry an enormous cultural burden; if you play a Japa-nese game, you are in pagodas, with samurais, with Japanese antiques, you are practically playing in Japanese. If you play a British game, such as Fable, you are playing with completely British elements such as wizards, giants, and elves, thus you are experiencing the British cul-ture. In the US they have a very peculiar glimpse on life: between weapons, gunshots and sex you are playing a US culture game,” explains Sán-chez Navarro.
It was a difficult task for Lucha to reach Sony, but the Mexican enterprise was successful. Lu-cha generated another phenomenon: the inclu-sion of independent bands promoted the birth of a third company, Snake & Eagle Music, to rep-resent these bands. Therefore, the enterprise has various business units: Snake & Eagle Tech-nology, which produces the simulators; Snake & Eagle Studios, which develops the videogames; and Snake & Eagle Music. The Technology MarketDespite the fact that the company focuses on videogames, the development of the required technology has opened other markets, such as the production of simulators for other Mexican companies and organizations, mainly public, such as the Mexico City subway system, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), the Mexican Oil Company (Pemex), and the Uni-versity of Guanajuato, among others.
“Simulators exist thanks to the videogame industry; they require more development and
Snake & Eagle: A 100% Mexican Team• Alejandro Hernández Trigueros. IPN (National Polytechnic Institute)
Communications and Electronics Engineering graduate; UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) Science and Engineering Professor, experienced in systems design and development since 1997. In 2004 he joined the staff and is dedicated to 3D modeling and programming.
• Moisés Cano García. Graphic designer, with a background in magazine design and printing systems. He joined the team in 2001 and is in charge of animation, modeling and texturizing characters and videogame atmospheres and simulators.
• Miriam Raquel Gamero Arenas. Graphic designer and illustrator, experienced in text and magazine design and illustration. She is part of the staff since 2007 and is in charge of texturizing videogame characters and atmospheres. She also provides support for design and concepts.
• Luis Cepeda Castillo. Sor Juana Cloister University Audiovisual Communications graduate, with a background in electronic (radio and TV) and digital (internet) media. He joined the company in 2003 to provide assistance in videogame sound design; he is responsible for all music production.
• Juan Luis Ruiz Beltrán. Level Designer, animator and modeler. He became part of the team in 2001, and is responsible for videogame and simulator 3D modeling.
• Alejandro Soto Serafín. UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) Computer Engineering graduate, experienced in 3D visualization system development. Joined the staff in 2006 as a programmer.
• Benigno Fernández Aarún. UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) 3D Modeling graduate, with experience in character modeling and animation. He became part of the company in 2006; and is in charge of modeling characters, atmospheres and other elements for videogames and simulators.
• David Sánchez Navarro. UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) Civil Engineering graduate, Science Professor for Surrey University, England. Experienced in system analysis and application for engineering, biotechnology projects, animation development and production for CD-ROM. He founded Snake & Eagle in 1998.
complexity. Simulators are based on math-ematical equations and on a controlled virtual reality but videogames call for artificial intelli-gence, a collision atmosphere and system, real visual systems, reflections on water, soil, par-ticles that generate dust, smoke, fire, special effects. You have to create an attractive story, have total control over the character,” explains Sánchez Navarro.
The advantages of a company that has a spe-cifically designed technology seem evident. Nev-ertheless, the engineer admits that some sectors are still a bit reluctant towards technology.
“The need for your own technology is not evi-dent until you have it and you develop it. When an advanced simulator is installed, for CFE for instance, it’s very easy to understand because it is produced entirely in Mexico, with our own tech-nology, with the nature, language and ideology of Mexican people. Even if the staff is not familiar with the technology, it is very simple to operate, they catch on quickly,” notes Sánchez Navarro.
For Snake & Eagle the simulators represent the work that allows them to cover everyday expenses, leaving time for research and devel-opment of videogame technology: each title requires approximately four years of work be-tween the technological conception, the con-ceptualization and the detailed development.
The company has a permanent staff of 22 employees, which can increase up to 50 dur-ing high workflow periods, commented Sán-chez Navarro, who claims that the success of his enterprise lies on his team, thanks to their ability to learn and eagerness in keep-ing up with the pace of innovation.
“The enterprise has survived thanks to its people, who have withstood the lack of resources for the passion of technological development and videogames, maintaining the workflow and constantly learning. These people have taken the company to its current position of technological leadership,” adds its President. n
38 Negocios
Silicon Border is one of the first Mexican in-dustrial parks 100% focused on Science, Tech-nology and Renewable Energy projects. It is located in Mexicali, just across the border with the US in an area supplied with water from the Colorado River and a major electrical sub-sta-tion supplied by three separate power plants.
The park aims to become an ideal location for alternative energy projects such as Solar and Wind farms. It is also a great location to establish processes for high-tech manufactur-ing, which are characterized by intensive use of water and electricity, “such as solar panel industry, semiconductors, biotechnology, nan-otechnology, medical, plasma technology ‘dis-play devices’, among other sectors that are the future of high technology,” says Daniel J. Hill, CEO and founder of the project.
For eight years, Hill has been an enthusi-astic promoter of the creation of this park as a competitive alternative to Asia. “The vision in creating this high-tech industrial complex on the US-Mexico border is to provide Mexico with an infrastructure that enables high-tech companies anywhere in the world to move manufacturing operations to the country and exploit its competitive advantages such as geo-graphical location, human capital, research, legal and tax benefits, intellectual property, international treaties and logistics provided by
A Space for High Tech BusinessesLocated on the border between California and Baja California, Silicon Border, a project for the scientific and technological industry in Mexico, will host companies with a high content of technological innovation and promises to become an attractive business model for the high technology major players in the world.
the country for manufacturing high technolo-gy products while allowing research to develop processes, design, fabrication and testing able to compete with Asian operations and costs,” says Hill.
Thus, Silicon Border has a goal of attract-ing investment from leading hi-tech players in the world and will generate more than 50,000 jobs, mostly engineering and technical level during the development process, estimated to take between 15 and 20 years.
Best Practices and the Mexican ModelThe Silicon Border project is based on the concept of Hsinchu science park in Taiwan, operating since 1980 with great success. This will have an area of 2,000 hectares, of which the first 200 have been totally developed with an investment of over 60 million usd.
Silicon Border is designed, built and oper-ated by executives from the semiconductor in-dustry who have been involved in technology transfer to Asia over the past 3 decades.
Furthermore, the concept of the park is based on recent international experience. With a strategy based on the growth of ICT, Ireland surpassed a situation of relative back-wardness and became the country with the second highest per capita income in the Euro-pean Union. Other interesting cases are those of Korea, Scandinavia and India.
Why Baja California? According to Oc-tavio Garza Fernández, President of Silicon Border, the Mexicali Valley and Silicon Bor-der is ideal for these types of projects. The Park has the most advanced state-of-the-art infrastructure, a Leeds certified water pu-rification and recycling waste treatment plant, and highly reliable energy sources. Additionally, the Valley has a very favor-able geographical location, a long career in the electronics industry and manufacturing, and excellent schools for higher education. “The Autonomous University of Baja Califor-nia, will be located inside the park with a 25 hectares campus for specialized engineering
01 maP of Silicon Border 02 water treatment settling pond
03 view of the main entrance to the park04 aerial view of the first phase of Silicon Border
01 02
03
Photos courtesy of silicon Border
01
technologies in renewable energies semicon-ductors, laboratories and incubators. Also Mexicali has such excellent Universities as CETYS and the Technological Institute of Mexicali, among others. We will also like to have Conacyt (National Council for Science and Technology) in the park,” explains Garza Fernandez, “so that the activity of industries of the highest level of technology can be com-plemented by Mexican research centers and international resources for development of new products.”
It is perhaps here where lies the novelty of the model proposed by Silicon Border. It seeks to create an “ecosystem” favorable for the insertion of the talent of Mexican scien-tists and research centers within the value chain of production projects and the devel-opment of regional clusters of high technol-ogy related to companies to be established in
ics, Information Technology, Aerospace, Bio-technology, Automotive and Energy. These are “mega clusters” which seek stronger in-tegration noy only with the US but also with other regions of the world and within the country.
This strategy opens a great opportunity to strengthen research and development ac-tivities related to the high tech industry and Silicon Border is a clear example.
The project aims to attract world-class companies in those sectors that currently have the highest annual growth rates in the world.
Silicon Border provides first class infra-structure to meet the strict requirements of high-tech industries in a sustainable and ecological environment. The park offers a unique position to companies engaged in manufacturing operations as well as to those oriented to design and renewable energy generation.
The Park is located on the North Corri-dor Silicon Market that will have sustained growth for 20 years. It is estimated that at the time of its maturity the park will house more than 40 high-tech companies. n www.siliconborder.com
04
Silicon Border seeks to create an “ecosystem” favorable for the insertion of the talent of Mexican scientists and research centers within the value chain of production projects and the development of regional clusters of high technology related to companies to be established in the park.
the park, allowing in addition, collaboration with research centers in other countries like Germany, Spain, Taiwan, Japan and China.
Silicon Border aims to become a “satellite city, sustainable, focused on the development and application of science and knowledge”, with a proper climate to further develop re-search projects and the creation of high tech-nology in a collaborative environment which facilitates the linkage between industry and research institutes, universities and techni-cal schools.
Key ElementSilicon Border is inserted into a broader strategy. Since 2002, government and pro-ductive sectors in Baja California have prompted a clustering strategy to strength-en some of the most important sectors of the economy in the region, including: Electron-
sPecial feature silicon border
40 Negocios INFogRAPhIcs oldemar
Electric & ElectronicsIndustry in Mexico
Source: ProMéxico with data from the Ministry of Economy.
632
723
700690
729751
IndustrialPlants
MexicanElectronics Industry
21,124
69,741
IndustrialPlants
Electric Industry(Includes Home Appliances)
Electronics Industry
991,335
634,941
EmploymentIndirect Jobs
330,445
211,647
EmploymentDirect Jobs
850
751
Exports(Millions Of USD)
777
535
Foreign Direct Investment(Millions Of USD)
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Exports(Millions Of USD)
39,032 44,783 46,856 64,63756,398
69,741
Foreign Investment(Millions Of USD)
535551 904689
794 999
Negocios figures
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42 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos archive
Guanajuato celebrates the BicentenaryThe state of Guanajuato advances in the con-struction of the Bicentennial Expo Park (Expo Parque Bicentenario). Located in the city of Guanajuato, the Bicentennial Expo Park encompasses more than 245 acres and will include exhibitions and photographs that will transport visitors into the past and allow them to reflect on the future of our environment. This expo is set to be open from July 10th through November 20th, 2010.
A grand opening is planned to take place on July 10th, 2010. The Park’s celebrations will
CITY
History DigitalizedAs part of Mexico’s celebrations for the Bicentenary of its Independence and the Centenary of its Revolution, the Mexican Government has launched a digital library with more than 450 titles.
CULTURE
TECHNOLOGY
last for four months featuring artistic, gourmet tastings and folkloric events with the participa-tion of 10 countries.
In addition, a stellar event will be celebrated on September 15th, 2010, with the traditional In-dependence Day Grito (shout) and the presence of popular artists. Finally, commemorating the 100 years of the Mexican Revolution, an extraor-dinary celebration will mark its finale on Novem-ber 20th, 2010.
Guanajuato is known for its splendid monu-ments and buildings that make up an architec-tural landscape full of culture and history. Its colonial constructions have been kept intact for hundreds of years and the city is known for its cultural and artistic lifestyle.
www.bicentenarioguanajuato.gob.mx
The Bicentenary Digital Library is an on-line collection of digitalized books referring to different scenes of Mexican Independence and Mexican Revolution, as well as literary pieces in which the spirit of both events is portrayed.
Many of these pieces are not available now, either because publishing houses ran out of stock or because they are antique or
unique editions. Readers are allowed to read each one of these books and “feel” the color, typography and even the texture it had when first published, with a plus: the book is always available as readers can save it in their computer or mobile devices.
www.bicentenario.gob.mx/bdbic
Exploring Mexico Through the WebInternet users can explore the streets of eight Mexican cities through the application Street View from Google. Mexico is the first Latin American country where the company has launched this application that allows users to explore the world through images.
Street View was first launched in May 2007. At the time, coverage was limited to just five US cities.
The feature provides users 360° horizontal and 290o vertical panoramic street level views within Google Maps. Google collects these im-ages using special cameras and equipment that capture and match images to a specific loca-tion using GPS devices. Once the images are captured, they are “sewn” together to create a 360o panorama.
www.google.com
The Lifestyle briefs
The Mexico City Metrobus received the 2009 Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnership from the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University. The Mexico City Metrobus is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that has significantly reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the world’s second largest city. This award is presented bi-annually and recognizes an outstanding public-private partnership project that enhances environmental qual-ity through the use of novel and creative ap-proaches. The Mexico City Metrobus, which carries 450,000 passengers per day, is the re-sult of a successful collaboration among sev-eral public and private institutions including the Government of Mexico City, EMBARQ (The World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport) and CEIBA (a Mexi-
ECOLOGY
mexico city’smetroBus awarded
can NGO). Support includes funding from the Shell Foundation, Caterpillar Founda-tion, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and the World Bank.
By introducing buses that operate on clean-burning ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and convincing many commuters to leave their cars at home, the Metrobus system has reduced carbon dioxide emissions from Mexico City traffic by an estimated 80,000 tons per year. In addition, due to the expan-sion of the system, a total of 839 polluting mini-buses have been permanently removed from the roads. New Metrobus corridors are planned and will expand the system to ten corridors by 2012.
The Metrobus system is part of Mexico City’s Climate Action Plan, which is focused on making Mexico City one of the most environmentally-conscious and sustainable
cities in the world. The 15-year plan is de-signed to reduce transportation-related emissions; conserve public lands through major reforestation projects; encourage businesses to adopt sustainable environ-mental practices; invest in critical envi-ronmental infrastructure such as water management systems and recycling cen-ters and implement reforms regarding the disposal of solid waste.
Mexico City, which is an active member of C40 Cities-Climate Leadership Group, a group of world cities promoting action and cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is investing more than 1 billion usd on environmental-related infrastruc-ture and implementing sustainable envi-ronmental programs and practices.
www.metrobus.df.gob.mx
44 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of Puerto Peñasco
Puerto Peñasco, a Heavenly bay in sonoraPuerto Peñasco, on the northwest coast of the Sea of Cortés, in the state of Sonora, offers a perfect combination of natural beauty, excellent tourism facilities and well-developed ecological programs. Puerto Peñasco is becoming one of beach lovers favorite destinations in Mexico.
Puerto Peñasco or Rocky Point, as it is alter-natively known among many of its English-speaking visitors, was formerly known for its large fishing fleet. In fact, it started as a fishing village in the 1930s and gradually developed into one of the major shrimp producing areas in the Sea of Cortés.
Luckily for those who enjoy relaxing in warm and clear beaches, Puerto Peñasco has gradually left behind its commercial fishing vo-cation, and is now completely open to the sight of tourists from all around the world.
During the Prohibition era in the US, John-ny Stone, a US businessman, visited Puerto
Peñasco. Realizing the potential of this village to attract wealthy Americans to vacation and fishing, Stone built the town’s first hotel, drilled a well, and opened for business.
But it was not until years later that Puerto Peñasco was discovered as an alternative for retirement and vacation. Nowadays the resort is growing rapidly: there are several beach ho-tels, more and more beach condominiums and many beachfront RV parks. Finding a place to stay in Puerto Peñasco has never been easier.
This heavenly bay in the state of Sonora is located in the municipality of Puerto Peñasco, which borders with San Luis Río Colorado,
destination puerto peñasco
Sonoyta and Caborca, in Sonora, and Arizona in the US. It is a little over 60 miles from the US border, which makes it a popular drive destination by visitors from the US, as they can drive there in as little as 3 and a half hours from Phoenix, Arizona.
There is so much to do in Puerto Peñasco. It is a popular fishing destination due to the wide variety of species that inhabit the bay, such as yellowtail, sea bass, corbina, sierra, mahi mahi and sailfish. Fishing is definitively a favorite with numerous charter companies that offer not only local fishing, but trips to far away islands in the Sea of Cortés for snorkeling and scuba div-
ing. You can also participate in various fishing tournaments during breeding season.
Isla San Jorge is a close island and a bird watchers dream come true with many rare species of birds. Off the coast of this rocky is-land you can also spot a wide array of marine species, including sea lions —the island is home for one of the largest sea lion colonies in the world—, dolphins and even whales, as there are many pods in the area.
Puerto Peñasco has some of the very best beaches, the water is warm and clear, the tides are quite large and the swimming and snorkel-ing are excellent. Step on the beach and at your service are jet skis, banana boat rides, kayak-ing, parasailing, volleyball, horse back riding and more.
In the environs of the bay of Puerto Peñasco you’ll find vast natural areas like the Pinacate Bio-sphere Reserve and the Gran Desierto de Altar, 52 kilometers north of the bay.
Visitors head to these places to do research on native animal species such as the mule deer and the bighorn sheep, while others go to enjoy various outdoor recreational activities, including sandboarding, mountain climbing and hunting.
In this region you can observe desert and vol-canic ecosystems, the latter of which is marked with maar craters, which take form when mol-ten lava interacts with groundwater, forcing steam to the surface.
If you’d like to explore the surrounding areas, you can head out from Puerto Peñasco to the Caborca, Atil and Pitiquito missions and visit other missions founded by legendary Friar Eu-sebio Kino.
Caborca is known for its important agricul-
tural activity and the beautiful architecture of the Templo de la Purísima Concepción, a mission built at the end of the 18th century, which is a structure supported using a pedestal or inverted pyramid form.
In Pitiquito you can visit the Templo de San Diego, built in the 19th century. This edifice has an austere façade with a doorway flanked by col-umns and a frieze adorned with plant motifs.
The Atil Mission was founded by Jesuit Friar Jacobo Sedelmayer in 1751. This mission still has its nave intact and you’ll see the remains of its original adobe walls.
But if your vacation is all about rest and relax-ation and baking in the sun, you can easily find a quiet spot to read a book, have a spa treatment or watch an amazing sunset and lounge to your hearts content.
La Spa de Peñasco, located in the Sonoran Spa Resort, offers professional treatments aimed to help you relax, improve your overall well being and maintain your beauty.
When you return to the port, you can sit down to a delicious fish or seafood dinner. Puerto Peñasco is well known for it’s fresh daily catch of a wide variety of seafood, delicious shrimp being one of it’s favorites. You can enjoy the exquisite Sonoran seafood dishes such as Camarones Cos-ta Brava (Costa Brava Shrimp), which are shrimp wrapped with bacon and bathed in a sweet apple, honey and red wine sauce. But you can also enjoy the finest of dining experiences from Authentic Mexican, French, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine to good old fashion American food. And when the sun goes down the lights, music and dancing go on. The night life in Puerto Peñasco is as good as it gets! n
Photos courtesy of agustín Pizá46 Negocios i The Lifestyle
by francisco vernis
agustín PizÁin searcH of sustainable golf
mexican architect agustín PizÁ has devoted his Professional life to golf course architecture. either indePendently or in collaboration with golfing legends, he has made his mark as a creator of “imPerfect” and eco-friendly courses.
01
interview agustÍn piZÁ
agustín Pizá does not see a golf course just as somewhere to play one of his favorite sports or as a picturesque spot surrounded by
nature. For him it is more a creative challenge and his life style. When it comes to golf courses he is a true specialist.
He has spent his career building golf courses, such a specialty niche that he had to go to Scot-land, the birthplace of golf, to study the world’s only masters degree in Golf Course Architec-ture at Heriott-Watt University.
Before going, Pizá had already picked up valu-able experience in golf course architecture. He tells us that at the end of his first project, while still a student at the Monterrey Institute of Technol-ogy (Tec de Monterrey), his boss recommended him for a job at the company of world-renowned golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, who now adds his own signature to golf course designs.
“A month and a half later there I was in Los Cabos, working for Jack Nicklaus and within a couple of weeks I was shaking his hand. That was how I began my career in golf course archi-tecture in 1998. I spent the first six years getting my hands dirty in construction work, learning at the front-line with Nicklaus, Tom Fazio and Robert von Hagge”, Pizá tells us in Mexico City just before leaving for Tampico to “sow” the first hole for what will become the first golf course to bear his own signature.
His Scotland years, spent working alongside famous designer Ken Moodie, marked the start of his career’s second phase: professional and independent golf course design, as a consultant for large companies and then, in 2006, setting up his own company.
01 Photomontage for the Project “Puerto Escondido” in Baja California Sur, designed for FONATUR.02 agustín PizÁ with jack nicklaus during
a site visit in Punta Mita II.
02
48 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo archive48 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of agustín Pizá
Since then —while working on his own projects and in collaboration with other golf design and architectural companies— Pizá has developed his own philosophy, a new depar-ture for golf course construction in this part of the world: sustainable architecture, where the course must be in harmony with its surround-ings - warts and all.
Based on this premise, Pizá has worked on projects together with Nicklaus in Punta Mita and in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, with Gary Player in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and inde-pendently in Tampico in Tamaulipas, Loreto in Baja California Sur, Oaxaca and Guaymas, Sonora.
— How different is golf course architec-ture in the Americas compared to Eu-rope?Normally, designs on this side of the Atlantic have to be perfect. Imperfection just isn’t tolerated. For example, at golf courses over here —including Mexico— lake shores must be perfectly delineated and everything totally manicured. It isn’t left in its natural state. If a clump of grass grows, it’s seen as out of place. Courses aren’t allowed any kind of blemish.
That’s all right, but in another sense it’s also not ideal. These days we have to be aware of our environment. It’s too much to ask for your course to be a constant emerald green. Ultimately, it’s a living thing, some-thing organic. It has to get the measles, its glands need to swell up and we as architects must begin to talk about this and create awareness among players.
Players who pay their green fees become owners of the course and don’t accept any kind of blot on the landscape. Therefore superintendents have to over-use fertilizers, pesticides and water. It becomes a vicious circle involving us all. This doesn’t happen in Scotland or the British isles in general.
As an architect I have to communicate these messages to raise awareness among players too. It’s really a question of culture. We have to find the middle ground; I cannot design the most ecological course possible if members are going to demand the grass to be greener than green and if they won’t accept that during hot or cold weather it may have a yellowish hue.
— How have you managed to combine both styles?I was lucky because I spent two years in Scot-land where I learnt to mix the conservative,
eco-friendly and traditional style of the Brit-ish Isles with the exuberance and innovation found here in North America.
I like imperfection, because nature is beau-tifully imperfect. You have to create life. You have to create a micro-system in golf.
— How do you persuade your clients to take the same view?Believing in what I do and talking about it. I don’t necessarily try to convince, instead I try to raise people’s awareness. Once you are aware of something, you become responsible for your actions. If clients have already spoken to me, they then have a level of awareness and can no longer look the other way.
— How do you relate with nature when designing a golf course?Whenever I first come to a virgin plot of land, and we’re talking about at least 60 hectares, I’ve got to think about what is feasible and what is ethical. I’ll take one example, when I went to Costa Rica and I told myself right from the outset: “I don’t want to change this place more than it will allow me to.” I like conversing with the space before entering into it: ask for its permission and create a dialog with it. When I arrived at this place I thought that I couldn’t make an 18-hole course given its topography, water features and trees.
So I spoke to the client and told him that the place was asking to be a Par Three course [shorter] in the more complicated parts to make it more recreational. “This is some-where for people to enjoy this paradise, not
03 view of hole 16 (Par 3) of Club Campestre Tampico, by PizáDesign.
04 with gary Player y john bowden in Costabaja Marina & Resort.
05 in hole 3 of the golf course Punta mita ii, Pizá desgined the Course so players could have a sea sight over a
line of trees instead of cutting them.
04
03
just play golf,” I said. This changed everything and I ran the risk of losing out on the project. But I felt it was my duty.
— Because someone else might come along and agree to do it?Exactly. So they spoke to a well-known company in the United States that told them that yes, they could do it, no problem. The client was still in touch with me because he had taken on board what I had told him. After five visits from this prestigious com-pany, they came to the conclusion that it needed to be a Par Three course and that’s how it stayed. That course is still on hold. It still hasn’t been built.
the Projects: retrosPective and Present
Under Jack Nicklaus Signature• El Dorado Golf Resort, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. • Palmilla Golf Resort, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.• Punta Mita II, Punta Mita, Nayarit.• Mayan Palace Resort, Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit (under construction) .
Under Robert von Hagge Signature• La Herradura GCC, Monterrey, Nuevo León.• Torreón Golf Club, Arizona, US. • Eastwood Golf Club, Florida, US. • Whiskey Springs, Whiskey Springs, US. • Santa Anna GC, Genova, Italy. • RSHECC, Madrid, Spain.
With Ken Moodie — Creative Golf Design• Vicars Cross, Cheshire, UK. • Moortown, Leeds, UK.• Uptown, Chester, UK.• Macclesfield Golf Club, Macclesfield, UK.• Coombe Hill: London, UK.
With other Signatures• Querencia Private GC, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur — Tom Fazio.• Costa Baja, La Paz, Baja California Sur. Project adviser — Gary Player
Signature (under construction). • Los Cafetales, Oaxaca — Andy Dye Design (first stage).
Under Agustín Pizá’s Signature• City Golf 9, Santa Fe, Ciudad de México. His firm designed the course
and the master plan.• Santini Greens, Rosarito, Baja California. His firm designed the course
and the master plan.• Club Campestre Tampico, Tampico, Tamaulipas. His firm designed the
course. Opens December 2009. • Puerto Escondido, Loreto, Baja California Sur. His firm designed the
course and master plan for Mexican Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur). • Riviera Loreto, Loreto, Baja California Sur. His firm designed the master
plan for Mexican Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).• Tangolunda, Huatulco, Oaxaca. His firm designed the full remodel for
Mexican Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).• Punta Miramar, Guaymas, Sonora. His firm designed the course.
05
To a certain extent we should take an ethi-cal approach just like a physician. We operate in nature; if a knife isn’t needed, you shouldn’t use one. You have to be straight with yourself. That’s my starting point. Everything follows on easily from there.
— What is your perspective on the golf industry at the moment? How much has it been affected by the international finan-cial situation?It has definitely been hit. There are hardly any projects going ahead at the moment. But it has also acted as a filter, because as well as experi-enced designers and living legends there are plenty of charlatans at the other end of the spectrum. Unfortunately, in some cases the only requirement to be a golf course designer is to have a client.
— Which are your favorite courses?I’m going to steal Jack Nicklaus’ response: that is like asking a father which one is his favorite child. Obviously there are differences between my own course designs and those in which I have participated, but ultimately I have worked on all of them. All the courses in which I have participated have left their mark on me. Walk-ing with Fazio, Nicklaus or Von Hagge or with Scottish architects is invaluable. I have learnt so much by speaking to all of them and then I have added my personal touch.
— Would you like to try your hand at another kind of architecture?I’m not interested. I’ve had the chance to get involved in the design niche of clubhouses, for example, but I don’t want to become a “Jack of all trades”. I prefer to be a specialist. This im-plies a risk, but I don’t mind. It’s my passion and I’m not worried about going against the flow.
My first “biological baby” is the Tampico golf course, which we changed from a 9-hole to an 18-hole course. It was one of the first projects where the client had total faith in my work. I liked working there because the committee is great. It’s also the second oldest course in Mex-ico, constructed by English oil-workers when they arrived in Tampico 100 years ago.
— Describe your ideal golf course.Imperfect. It would be a place inspired by nature but with its own personality. a place that creates a dialog with its surroundings and gradually seduces the player. Like a fine co-gnac or a good wine, you have to educate the palate. I want to educate palates. n
interview agustÍn piZÁ
50 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos guadaluPe casitllo
interview ian gardner
Ian Gardner arrived in Mexico in the mid 1980s, leaving behind a Scotland depressed by high unemployment brought about by the demise of heavy industry such as steel making, coal min-ing, ship building and car maufacturing.
Bright, young people like Ian began to look further afield for work and, with his gift for languages, he decided to concentrate on finding work abroad, his travels taking him throughout Europe and across the Atlantic Ocean to Mexico.
Apart from his fondness for languages, his other passions were football soccer and, espe-cially, golf. In Mexico he found the perfect loca-tion to indulge in all three. In fact, he had found a country where he felt perfectly at home.
Being a Scot, it was no wonder that Ian took his golfing seriously, Scotland being the home of the sport, but nobody could have expected him to rise to become Director of the Mexican Golf Federation and a member of the Federa-tion’s Rules Committee.
But that was only one of the many amazing things that have happened to Ian since he de-cided to make Mexico his home. His greatest achievement, he will tell you, is his happy mar-riage to a Mexicana and raising a family thou-sands of miles from the country of his birth.
Mexico Is Above Par For Scot
Since he decided to make Mexico his home, Ian Gardner has found in the country exceptional conditions to make his passions a reality. His fondness for languages led him to run an English teaching business, he has been part of Mexican golf evolution, he has two national football soccer teams to support and he is happily raising a family thousands of miles away from the country of his birth.
by graeme stewart
52 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of ian gardner / guadaluPe castillo
Ian, now in his early fifties, became a Mexi-can citizen, speaks Spanish fluently yet retains his strong Scots burr of an accent. He moves comfortably from English speaking residents of Mexico City to the native Spanish-speaking in-habitants of his adopted country.
As well as being a proud Scot, Ian fell in love with Mexico, a love he retains to this day.
–What brought you to Mexico in the first place?Until I discovered English Language Teaching (ELT), my life had been one of negative decisions. I didn’t want to be a doctor, I didn’t want to study business administration and I certainly wasn’t good enough to become a golf pro like my old dad. But I had always got good marks in my French exams so that’s what I studied.
When I graduated, I saw most of my friends in jobs they didn’t like with mortgages and car payments to make and I didn’t want that either. So how was I to flee rainy Scotland and see the world? By teaching English! So I took an ELT
course and, to my astonishment, I loved it. Broad Scottish accent notwithstanding, this was some-thing I could really see myself doing.
I heard that there was lots of work in Mexico City for English teachers so I wrote a few letters, made a couple of solid contacts, borrowed the price of a plane ticket and flew to the New World. My first year in Mexico was a version of the Friends sitcom with four girls and four guys living it up in the Big City. Towards the end of my first year here, I met my wife Mari Carmen and never looked back.
I’ve adapted well to the country and I enjoy living here. I applied for Mexican citizenship in 1990. Now, I vote, pay taxes and suffer the double agony of supporting two national football teams! At least Mexico qualifies for the World Cup!
–Are you still of the same opinion of Mexico?Life anywhere would be full of ups and downs. There is always something to complain about.
Being a Scot, it was no wonder that Ian took his
golfing seriously, Scotland being the home of the
sport, but nobody could have expected him to rise to become Director of the
Mexican Golf Federation and a member of the Federation’s
Rules Committee.
interview ian gardner
But all things considered, the pluses far out-weigh the minuses, especially the weather, the fun-loving natives and the cuisine!
I have many excellent friends in the golfing world and it’s good to belong to a tightly-knit community of golf lovers. There are also good business opportunities here, especially if you have a little imagination.
–How did a Scot land the job of Director of the Mexican Golf Federation and mem-ber of the Rules Committee?I didn’t look for the job. I became active in orga-nized golf back in the early nineties as captain of my club and then was invited to join the board of the Mexico Valley Golf Association as Direc-tor of Rules for junior golf. I became the Chair-man of the Rules Committee of the Federación Mexicana de Golf (FMG) in 1993, and four years later was offered the director’s chair.
I will always be grateful to the FMG for the opportunity to represent Mexico as delegate to the country of my birth –where, by the way, ev-erybody asked surprised: “You’re the Mexican? Where’s your Spanish accent?”– and for nam-ing me as its representative on the USGA [The United States Golf Association] Rules of Golf Committee, which is one of the two committees in the world that discusses and modifies the Rules of Golf and the Rules of Amateur Status.
–What do you enjoy most about playing golf in Mexico?In Mexico City, the distance I can hit the ball! At this altitude, and because of the warm air, you can hit it a mile. The weather is also a major plus. Down at the coast, it can get a bit too hot for me but there are some great courses.
–Your favorite golf courses in Mexico?I’m a traditionalist at heart and I definitely prefer older, more natural designs; courses that respond to and complement the characteristics of the land. I think there is an unfortunate ten-dency for newer courses to be over-designed, difficult to walk, and not very user-friendly.
Among my favorite Mexican courses are the Club de Golf México and the Guadalajara Country Club, which combine natural beauty with challenging golf. I love the personality of “smaller” provincial clubs too like San Carlos in Ecatepec, Estado de México, Villa Rica in Vera-cruz, and Campestre de Puebla.
Also, I’ve always enjoyed the Pierre Marques in Acapulco, which I believe is cur-rently being redesigned. I sincerely hope they don’t spoil it!
–How do these courses compare with the famous courses in Scotland, like St Andrews, Turnberry or Troon?I’ve always felt that links golf in Scotland is much harder from tee to green. The effects of the wind, the variety of unpredictable bounc-es on the fairways and around the greens, as well as the severity of fairway bunkering, all combine to make it a more severe test than the “target” golf we usually play here in Mexi-co. Putting, on the other hand, is more difficult over here where golfers have to read the grain and take different grasses into account.
Golf in Mexico suits a higher ball flight, es-pecially on pitches and wedge shots, whereas the true links golfer often prefers to hit the ball low under the wind, and bump and run it around the greens.
–Is there a different mentality to the Mexican golfer?Golf is a relatively new sport for the majority of golfers in Mexico and this means that, in general, there is not much sensitivity to the traditions and the rules of the game. Unlike golf clubs back home, there are very few clubs in Mexico where you get a sense of tradition just by walking through the front door; there is seldom a role of honour featuring past champions but there is bound to be a hole-in-one wall somewhere.
“I’m a traditionalist at heart and I definitely prefer older, more natural designs; courses that respond to and complement the characteristics of the land.”
–Given the fantastic golfing conditions, and Lorena Ochoa apart, why does Mex-ico not produce more champion golfers?It is too difficult for the average Mexican to play the game. However, let us be clear on one point: golf in Mexico is of the highest quality. The professional tour has attracted many talented young players, often deplet-ing the amateur ranks, and boasts some very fine older players, including former PGA-Tour pros Rafael Alarcón and Esteban Toledo.
The FMG and other junior organizations in Mexico have worked tirelessly to grow the junior game and golf now has more Mexican students on athletic scholarships in the US than any other sport, most noticeably Rober-to Díaz, Juan Pablo Hernández, Alejandra Llaneza and Margarita Ramos.
At the 2007 University Games in Bang-kok, our women, Pamela Ontiveros, Diana Cantú and Liliana Álvarez, brought back team gold medals and individual silver (Cantú), and our men, Roberto Díaz, Julián Valenzuela and Yoshio Yamamoto, won the team silver medal.
We are good, there just aren’t enough of us. –How do you see the future of golf in Mexico?I think golf is changing all over the world and the potential of the Olympic Games to grow the game, especially outside traditional golf-ing countries, is huge and if golf is accepted, we will no doubt see better financing from government and commercial sponsors.
However, in the current economic cli-mate, private clubs are struggling to maintain their membership but if Mexico can make a move towards public golf, we are in with a chance. In the words of the USGA, we must do something “for the good of the game” if golf in Mexico is to develop properly as a competitive sport.
–What are you doing these days?My wife and I have run a small English Lan-guage Teaching operation, Gardner English, in Mexico City since 1990 but my main activ-ity is as an independent financial advisor with Caledonian International Consulting. My brief stint at the helm of the FMG was definitely due to my love of the game and since leaving I have continued to volunteer as a Rules Official and member of Mexico’s National Rules Committee. n
54 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photo courtesy of rivelino
“We stroll down the street and the person ahead of us dumps something on the ground and we say nothing. Then we reach the corner and as we walk to cross the street a driver runs the red light and we repress an expletive. How many of us never report evident violations? How many citizens do not have the means to express their feelings or what aggravates them? Moreover, what could we all do to change this?
Milllions of people around the world go on with their lives as if muted… Every day, every hour, every minute… As if muted to themselves, to their neighbor, to their fellow man across cities, across borders, across continents. If re-leased, these silenced expressions could make a big difference in our lives. The lack of freedom of speech, or worse yet, our reluctance to grant others the opportunity to express their inner feelings has become part of our lives. What would happen if all of this changed?”
Muted stories such as the ones depicted above take place every day in almost every place in the world. Notwithstanding our place in society, we all keep many things to ourselves and perhaps we would be better if we ex-pressed them.
These are the reflections that inspired Mexican artist Rivelino to create the exhibition
breaking the silence through artOur Silences is a monumental sculpture concept and itinerate exhibition by Mexican artist Rivelino that will be displayed in several European cities during 2010
Our Silences, which comprises a total of ten busts measuring 320 centimeters height, 230 centimeters width and 110 centimeters depth, that aim to promote introspection about the importance of freedom of speech.
Created using the lost-wax casting tech-nique, all the sculptures are muted with a plate showing different inscriptions, which are repli-
cated on their chests and backs. The public is to interpret what the sculptures are trying to tell and ultimately what the public itself needs to express.
With Our Silences Rivelino seeks to ad-dress most of the public. This is why the faces are sculpted with human features denoting different races, to allow people from different places to identify themselves with the pieces.
Furthermore, based on the emphatic pur-pose of the exhibition, an effort has been made to make it accessible to the general public. It
The public is to interpret what the sculptures are
trying to tell and ultimately what the public itself needs
to express.
can also be enjoyed by the visually impaired through a Braille plaque placed on the side of each sculpture bearing the inscription on the muting plate.
Our Silences involves all of us and will never go unnoticed. The exhibition stands out due to its monumental size, number of elements and its creative concept conceived for public spaces such as plazas, streets and avenues.
As part of the celebrations of Mexican In-dependence Bicentenary and Mexican Revo-lution Centenary, the exhibition will be held in several cities around Europe.
The exhibition’s first stop in Europe start-ed on November 2009, in Lisbon, Portugal, were it is exhibited in the Plaza del Marqués de Pombal, one of the most emblematic areas in the city.
Considering that the bond between cul-ture and development is closely connected to social dynamics and that it is part of the mechanism that drives economic growth, the exhibition features a series of positive elements for cultural diplomacy. In other words, as an outdoors display the exhibition has a strong impact on urban image as it pro-motes the contact with the local population, artists, art critics, media, and students alike in target countries. n
feature art rivelino
56 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of rivelino
The artistRivelino was born in San José de Gracia, Jalisco, in 1973. He began his career as a self-thought artist in 1993 and later undertook studies in human forms, theory of color, composition, history of art, modern art and Mesoamerican art. He has experimented with materials such as paper, iron, copper, wood and ceramics.
His work is an enchanting intellectual game of sorts. Rivelino’s intellectual abstractions are emotionally and spiritually conceptualized into art forms that blend painting and sculpture. His paintings possess a true tridimensional perspective as the display brushstrokes, but there is no canvas; rather, they are small
murals, fresco paintings dotted with bas-relieves and raised designs, a collage of techniques where images oscillate from emotions to nature, personal relationships to death and human feelings.
The artist uses intelligently different tricks to promote a personal interpretation in his audience. He incorporates a myriad of elements that make his work circumspect, erotic, mysterious and surprising at the same time. Through his work, Rivelino takes us to his personal world to show us his inner sensibility and philosophical endeavors.
His work is part of different art collections in Mexico, US, El Salvador, Germany, Australia, Belgium, Spain, Canada, Argentina, Venezuela, Panama, France and Japan.
Lisbon, PortugalMadrid, SpainBarcelona, SpainBrussels, BelgiumBerlin, GermanyRome, Italy London, UKParis, France
November - December 2009January - February 2010March - April 2010May - June 2010July - August 2010September - October 2010November - December 2010January - February 2011
Supported by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Our Silences will be exhibited in several cities across
Europe.
monumental Pilgrimage
In the beginning, Huichol natives, who inhabited Mexico’s rough west-ern mountains, represented an al-ternate, magical, symbolic and virtu-
al world through organic vessels painted with available natural elements, such as small anthill pebbles, pieces of sea shells, and wooden sticks.
The Huichol would turn these bowls into offerings and use them to ask their gods for favors. These gods were located in many parts of the Huichol’s sacred ter-ritory—in the caves, lakes, hills, and desert plains within what is now known as the states of Jalisco, Zacatecas, Nayarit, and san Luis Potosí.
art HuicHoles
sacred colorsBeADs ALwAys cAUght the eye oF INDIgeNoUs PeoPLe FRom the AmeRIcAs, BUt It wAs the hUIchoL NAtIves, AN INDIgeNoUs ethNIc gRoUP FRom westeRN ceNtRAL mexIco, who tURNeD them INto ARtIstIc Items FoR exPoRt. thIs veNeRABLe woRk Is stILL evoLvINg.
by ricardo ibarra
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58 Negocios i The Lifestyle
The Huichol painted the inside of these vessels to magically ask for ears of corn—their main source of nutrition—; deer for hunting; and peyote plants —also known as the lophophora williamsii, a cactus that al-lowed the Huichol to reach the divine plan-ets of their cosmogony.
However, it was not until the 19th century when European expeditions found them living in the steep cliffs of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, isolated from urban civilizations, that the Huichol found a material that would help them bet-ter interpret their visions and fulfill their sympathetic magic: beads.
This novel material, so attractive because of its colors and many possibilities, helped the Huichol take another step on the road of their artistic expression.
In the hands of the Huichol, beads be-came a deer that was about to jump and eagles ready to fly. They became light-filled peyotes, fluorescent ears of corn, and gleam-ing visions that were induced during Huichol shamanic trances.
The Huichol turned colored beads into bracelets, necklaces, earrings, handbags, pic-tures, and any other piece they could imagine.
Currently, artists such as Santos de la Torre are keeping this tradition alive. Santos
In the hands of the Huichol, beads became a deer that was about to jump and eagles ready to fly. They became light-filled peyotes, fluorescent ears of corn, and gleaming visions that were induced during Huichol shamanic trances. The Huichol turned colored beads into bracelets, necklaces, earrings, handbags, pictures, and any other piece they could imagine.
Photos ricardo iBarra
art HuicHoles
created one of the most popular and repre-sentative items of Huichol beaded artwork. One of his creations, a mural called Pensa-miento y alma huichol that measures 2.4 meters by 3.0 meters, is kept in the caves of the Palais Royal Metro station, just below the prestigious Louvre Museum.
Another prominent artist actively pro-moting Huichol bead art is Mateo Minjares Zavala, the mayor of San Andrés Cohami-ata, a village embedded in Mexico’s western mountain range. Mateo Minjares has all the qualities of a Huichol: he is a musician, arti-san, and politician.
In an interview, he described his first ex-periences with traditional beaded artwork. His first creations using beads as the main component were made on the mountains of his native town, when he was 10 years old. Like many Wixaritari (as the Huichol also call themselves) children, Mateo was first taught this skill by his mother. In these villages, which can be very far from urban centers, women make clothing, work with threads and fabric and teach children these skills. Many work with beads to create crafts but as time goes by, only a few become real artists.
During September and October 2009, Mateo Minjares was part of a delegation that traveled to six European countries. For the first time, in Germany, a group of Huichol na-tives were able to see how one of the most important materials of their work is made. They visited Jablonex, a small bead manu-facturer.
Mateo Minjares remembers his experi-ence: “We had no idea where beads came from [or] where they were made, until we were able to visit the factory. We have been working with beads for many years and we finally saw how they are made.”
Juan Carrillo de la Cruz, a renowned Hui-chol artist representing close to 300 Huichol artists in the delegation, said that this trip was not only a cultural exchange with European communities but was also a trade delegation meeting with potential buyers.
Gabriel Mijares Rivera also traveled to the Old Continent. For him, Huichol bead crafts are necessary to keep the indigenous cosmovision of the Wixarika people, and the trip to Europe was crucial to keep the expression of their tradition alive through art. Art allows the Huichol to concentrate the symbols of their oral memory and their cosmovision.
Huichol art is the materialization of ab-
hunting the hunter
Many years ago lived a boy in the mountains who, every day, carried his bow and his arrow, ready to hunt whatever crossed his path.
One day, the mara’akame (shamans) were discussing the need to find an animal that was willing to offer its blood to the gods.
A long time went by and they couldn’t find their beast. The mara’akame council decided that the boy who carried his bow and arrow would have to be hunted; these knowledgeable men had to hunt the hunter.
Five mara’akame followed the boy through hills and roads. Time went by: one, two, three years. On the fourth year, the mara’akame were about to give up.
Five years after having escaped from the mara’akame, the young hunter crossed paths with two young and beautiful women who convinced the hunter to give up his only arrow. When he did, the five mara’akame appeared and put an arrow through his heart. Right then, when the boy’s blood was spilled, he turned into a deer and the god Tatutsi Kayaumari, an intermediary between men and the gods.
Myth narrated by Julia Martha Robles Carrillo,
Huichol woman from the village of Santa Cata-
rina, Jalisco.
precious metals and stones, such as gold, sil-ver, crystals, even diamonds.
“We have tried to maintain the traditional structure of Wixarika pieces; sometimes we do not even touch them. We only work with the colors and an extra element, such as stones, but our pieces are [still] Huichol. We have achieved a level of sophistication in Huichol de-signs [and] we have helped Huichol art evolve. To me, that means completely turning around this ancestral work,” adds Michel.
Alfonso Delgado, director of Casa Chamán, summarizes the idea in one phrase: “This is jewelry with a contemporary accent but with its original identity.” And he adds:
stract ideas and light-filled concepts that Hu-ichol natives are able to reach during their sacred ceremonies.
“It offends us when we see someone who is not Huichol making crafts like ours, and selling them. We do not want any interme-diaries; we want direct trade and our own market,” explains Mijares.
One Step AheadWhen he started working with beads, Mateo Minjares Zavala used to create simple crafts, such as bracelets with small colored flowers. Now he is a partner in Casa Chamán, a jew-elry company that, according to Gabriela Mi-chel —another partner at the company— has taken beads “one step ahead”.
“The company was born from [an] ad-miration of indigenous cultures, in this case, Huichol people. It was born from a deep love of the land, the natural elements and beads, which are the stars of this project, those magi-cal, colorful beads,” explains Michel.
The main differences between art cre-ated by the Huichol people who live in the mountains and art created by Casa Chamán is that the latter incorporates fine beads with
“We want it to be an innovative project, a new proposal in the market that will strengthen and dignify the work done by [the] Wixarika people, that will add value and increase their market presence. That is why we decided to include not only precious metals and stones, but good design that will enrich the work done by [the] Huichol people.”
Mateo Minjares Zavala, who has invested his hands and his heart in Casa Chamán, explains: “These items we create are sacred to us. We live from this so that it will last for many years. Even if we add crystals, gold, and silver, we are still rescuing and maintain-ing our culture.” n
60 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of eyes that feel
Writer José Saramago wrote Ensaio sobre a ce-gueira (Essay on Blindness) in Portugal in 1995. That same year, across the ocean, US mountain-eer Erik Weihenmayer reached the summit of Mount McKinley, the highest mountain peak in the US. Nothing was an essay in the alpinist’s case: he has been “officially” blind since 1981.
In 1993, at 25 years of age, Weihenmayer had crossed the Batura Glacier in Pakistan, led solely by the desire to prove to himself that he would be the one to impose limits on his life and not the blindness that sentenced him to a life of darkness, at just 13 years of age.
eyes that feelFor a Society Able to See Things Differently
by cristina Ávila-Zesatti
By 2008, Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind man to conquer the seven highest summits in the world, including Mount Everest. Not only has he tested his limits, but he has also become an active speaker and writer who en-courages people with visual disabilities to make their dreams come true.
Most important of all, this 41-year old mountain climber speaks with people “who have normal vision”, in an effort to help us un-derstand that no one with a handicap is less than another. His accomplishments are there to prove it.
Erik Weihenmayer set his sights on Mexico. His goal: to symbolically awaken the “sleep-ing woman” at the summit of the Iztaccíhuatl, which he climbed in November 2009 with a group of blind and visually challenged people from Mexico and the US.
The blind mountain climber and motiva-tor came to Mexico by working hand-in-hand with Eyes that Feel (Ojos que sienten), a non-profit organization that shares his philosophy and works for a society that is able to “see the world of blindness and visual disability through a different light.”
Mexican non-profit organization Eyes that Feel works to break down mental and social barriers that separate the sighted from the blind.
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feedback eyes tHat feel
The world, photographed by the blindGina Badenoch is a professional photographer who had “a vision” three years ago: to create photography workshops for the blind and people with visual disabilities.
This first idea led her to create the Eyes that Feel non-profit organization, whose first mission consists of helping the blind feel as motivated as mountaineer Weihenmayer; that is to say, under-stand that the disease is not a limitation if they truly believe so.
Secondly, Eyes that Feel seeks also —above all— to raise awareness among the sighted, to help us learn to understand the world of the “different-ly-abled” —who are neither lesser nor worse—, and accept that the best way to ensure a better understanding of our two worlds comes from accepting and respecting our mutual differences.
—How can a blind person take photo-graphs? —“That is the million dollar question,” answers Gina Badenoch, founder of Eyes that Feel. “As a photographer, I know that the most important aspect in creating an image is the creative pro-cess which precedes it. The final result is visual —this is true— but you have to use all of your senses to go after the result, which is something blind people or those who are visually impaired do on a daily basis. Sight perceives an image, but the brain actually creates it, and this is the same thing that happens when we read: we create images, even though we do not have them in front of us.”
Eyes that Feel regularly holds photography workshops for the blind, and many of the people that currently lead the workshops are older students who now work with the organization.
However, this is merely the “most visual” aspect of their work, and the core issue is based on what this organization does, which actually goes way beyond that which could be appreci-ated at first sight.
“Our workshops help people with these dif-ferent abilities to regain their confidence, first in themselves and then in their aptitudes to accom-plish their goals. We help them regain their trust in the world and their integration into the world, despite their disease,” says Gina Badenoch.
The organization’s accomplishments are evident, not only in the world of blind people, but also, and overall, in this “other universe”, for those of us who can perceive the world with all of our senses.
Eyes that Feel currently holds workshops in 30 or so large Mexican companies that also donate to support the organization’s activities.
Courses are taught by blind people, and many of these national and international firms, such as Grupo Televisa, Fundación Telmex, British Airways, Fundación Ashoka, and BBVA Ban-comer, among others, have opened their doors to blind or visually impaired individuals.
“We have been able to impact close to 180 visually impaired individuals, but our impact on the general population has touched over one million people who are now aware of the problem and recognize that we are all part of the solution. Besides the workshops, we hold exposi-tions, organize excursions and teach courses. Our key goal is to raise awareness and create communication bridges so we can all learn to ‘see things differently’, says Gina Badenoch.
“An oasis of light in my desert of darkness”
“A brightly shining oasis” is the way Luis Bautista describes the work of Eyes that Feel, after studying at the organization.
The numbers in Mexico and around the world confirm that this change of perspective, this meeting between the blind and the sighted is of the essence. According to the Ministry of Health, blindness is the second most common cause of disability in Mexico, while at least 30% of the population suffers some type of visual impairment.
Glaucoma, the disease which caused Erik Weihenmayer’s blindness, currently con-demns some three million Mexicans who have been diagnosed with the disease to darkness, while it is estimated that another two million suffer the disease unknowingly.
According to statistics provided the by the World Health Organization (WHO), about 314 million individuals are visually impaired worldwide —45 million of them are blind—, and about 87% of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries.
01 exPo accesible teaches how to appreciate art through senses other than sight.
02 PhotograPhy workshoPs for the blind and the visually impaired.
03 ParticiPants in the organization’s workshops learn about confidence and communication.
04 sensibilization workshoPs in companies.05 dinners in the dark allow participants to experi-
ence the world of the blind.
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62 Negocios i The Lifestyle Photos courtesy of eyes that feel
Eyes that Feel has also concentrated its ef-forts outside of Mexico precisely because this is a worldwide problem.
Thanks to an alliance with British organiza-tion Photovoice, which places several vulnera-ble and diverse collectives behind the camera, the initiative founded by Badenoch has now held four photography workshops for the blind in the UK and one in China.
Furthermore, another one of the asso-ciation’s goals, in a coordinated effort with the WHO, is to join the campaign for the preven-tion of these disabilities in light of the fact that
—Are we truly able to see?—“We must acknowledge that sight can also be an impediment because there are times when the sight that allows us to view the world causes us to pass judgment, raise bar-riers and make decisions based on appear-ances […] we organize ‘Dinners in the Dark’ in an attempt to break down these mental barriers. The attendees enter a room perme-ated by vulnerability; a place where they are forced to waken their other senses to discover their surroundings. They have to make an ef-fort to speak, listen, touch, and taste … led, in addition, by the people we normally want to guide. It is they, the blind and the visually im-paired, who are in perfect control of the situa-tion,” confirms Gina Badenoch.
The guests finally experience this oppor-tunity to “open their eyes”, when the lights go on.
“I don’t think we did go blind, I think we are blind. Blind but seeing, blind people who can see, but do not see,” says José
Saramago in his prize-winning novel, Ensaio sobre a cegueira, in which the author explores a fictitious reality where human
beings slowly lose their ability to “see themselves.”
statistics confirm that poverty is one of the key factors that contributes to visual diseases. Ac-cording to the international organization, 85% of all blindness can be prevented if detected and cared for on time.
Mental blindness, the worst type of allMonthly “Dinners in the Dark” are probably one of the most successful activities organized by Eyes that Feel. This is a unique experience in which roles are reversed for one evening as the blind take charge of guiding the sighted through their world of darkness.
“bellas artes”, fabiola Miranda
“...he turned to where he knew the mirror was ... he stretched out his
hands until he touched the glass. He knew that his image was there, watching him, the image could see
him, he could not see the image.”— José Saramago,
Ensaio sobre a cegueira
feedback eyes tHat feel
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“We must acknowledge that sight can also be an impediment because there are times when the sight that allows us to view the world causes us to pass judgment, raise barriers and make decisions based on appearances.”
They acknowledge that perhaps the food, the individuals or the location would have kept them from daring to cross the barrier to taste, speak or to listen to a certain indi-vidual.
Companies, schools, and universities request these “Dinners in the Dark” on an ever-increasing basis.
Thus, the initiative directed by Eyes that Feel is slowly becoming a skillful blind per-son’s guide for society.
Moreover, the organization actually “dis-plays” its work through these events, since they close with exhibitions and auctions of the photographs the students produce. The waiters and guides that work the events be-long to the association, and the guests and companies that attend the dinners are per-sonally able to see where their donations go.
You will see it, when you feel it“I don’t think we did go blind, I think we are blind. Blind but seeing, blind people who can see, but do not see,” says José Saramago in his prize-winning novel Ensaio sobre a ceg-ueira, in which the author explores a ficti-tious reality where human beings slowly lose their ability to “see themselves,” a society in which selfishness and cruelty rear them-selves quite often.
Whereas, Eyes that Feel works with an undeniable reality: the WHO estimates that without proper interventions the number of blind will increase to 75 million by 2020 and, as a result of ongoing prevention programs, only 200 million individuals will suffer some type of visual limitation. A reality that be-hoves us to learn how to break down these barriers.
The organization currently has only six full-time employees who work on this effort to reduce the effects caused by the differ-ent types of blindness that ail our society; ie physical and mental blindness.
It costs Eyes that Feel close to 145,000 usd to run its operations every year and companies and individuals can contribute to the initiative, as the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP) has certified the non-profit organization so it can issue tax-deductible receipts.
Gina Badenoch believes that the organi-zation’s newly created sponsorship program hopes to raise awareness, especially among children, “so they can learn from the esprit de corps at a young age.”
The 29-year old photographer who cre-ated this barrier-breaking initiative, con-fessed that the experience has also changed her vision, as her dream to “train the blind in photography”, which once seemed sense-less and impossible, has not only become a reality but is now recognized both in Mexico and abroad.
“I am a photographer, and know that I click my camera to trigger the shutter when I feel something I want to communicate [...] If they [the blind] are able to do this, they are able to do anything, just as anyone else. It is a matter of what they set out to do, and what we, ‘the others’, allow them to do, by looking at them in a different light,” concludes Badenoch. n
“cosméticos”, eulogio salinas
06 “basura”, Gabriela Pérez07 “juguetes” Axel Villalba
64 Negocios i The LifestyleIN
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WHAT DOES EYES THAT FEEL DO?
www.ojosquesienten.org
WORKSHOPS:
FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH LIMITED RESOURCESA Photography Workshop with the other senses, where the image opens a communication channel between the visible and the invisible.
TRAININGFor individuals interested in becoming part of the Eyes that Feel team.
WINE TASTING IN THE DARKBlind and sighted participants taste three differentwines, in the dark.
DINNERSIN THE DARKThese are three-course dinners served with water and wine. The purpose is to allow participants to experience the world of the blind in a profound, intense and entertaining manner.
IMAGINATION SHOWThe fundamental aspect of this special show consists of not seeing the artist or the musicians, but rather exploring the emotions provided by the music and the different elements, with the other senses.
PHOTOGRAPHIC AUCTIONSPictures taken by the blind are auctioned after each awareness event. Eyes that Feel can also schedule private auctions.
EXPOSITIONSEyes that Feelschedules ongoing itinerant expositions, on a national and international level, as well as documentary exhibitions on a smaller scale.
TO RAISE AWARENESS(COMPANIES, SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES)
Participants use photography as a tool for teams to engage in activities that encourage self-confidence, patience and communication.
