PARTNERSHIP FOR PROSPERITY
REPORT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
AND PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX

Washington, D.C., November 12 - President Vicente Fox and President George W. Bush launched the Partnership for Prosperity in September 2001, to build on the strong and long-standing bonds between Mexico and the United States, to promote economic growth and higher living standards for our countries, particularly for the underserved of Mexico. This partnership is a public and private sector alliance, and represents a new model of cooperation between the United States and Mexico. Through this Partnership, our President has already and will continue to create new opportunities for the citizens of both our countries.

Both the governments of the United States and Mexico are using the Partnership for Prosperity, known by the acronym "P4P," to identify business opportunities in such areas as financial services, housing, investment, physical infrastructure, small-and-medium enterprise development, innovative enterprises, human capital, and corporate citizenship.

At the U.S. - Mexico Binational Commission Annual Meeting in Washington on November 12, the Partnership presented a report that highlights the achievements of 2003, which included:

• An Entrepreneurial Workshop bringing together more than 800 Mexican and U.S. private sector representatives and governmental officials in San Francisco, California (June 9-10, 2003), to discuss business opportunities in the region and launch new ventures in a wide array of sectors.

• The establishment of an automated clearinghouse that reduces the cost and time of cross-border financial transactions, under the aegis of the Sistema de Transferencia Electrónica de Fondos Internacionales /Fed Automated Clearing House International Mexico Service by the Banco de México and the U.S. Federal Reserve System.

• A new competitive and secure remittance system for Mexican migrants in the United States, which launches new financial products and brings more people into the financial system.

• An agreement that gives investment support to Mexico-based private sector projects that focus on education, municipal and state infrastructure, and the environment. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation played a key role in creating this agreement, which was signed by the governments of the United States and Mexico, but is subject to approval by the Mexican Senate.

• The Responsabilidad para la Prosperidad/Good Partner Award program, created by the U.S. and Mexican governments, to recognize the contributions of the private sector in advancing social and economic development in Mexico.

• A $1.4 million grant for Mexican infrastructure project feasibility studies, provided by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and Mexico's Nacional Financiera and its Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes.

• An agreement to expand bilateral cooperation, develop stronger commercial ties, and increase trade between small businesses, negotiated by the Secretaría de Economía, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

• Six cooperation agreements permitting U.S. academic institutions and research centers to grant scholarships to Mexican students, promote faculty interchange, and collaborate in joint research program, with the cooperation of Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología.

• An agreement between the U.S. Peace Corps and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia will allow volunteers to be based in Mexico and work in the fields of information technology, small business development, and technology transfer.

• A cooperative agreement between the Banco Nacional de Obras Publicas and the U.S. Agency for International Development, valued at $500,000, will allow U.S. municipal finance advisor Evensen Dodge to help enable Mexican municipalities to issue bonds in the Mexican capital market.

• The establishment of a partnership between the Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness to share expertise and resources to conduct joint projects focusing on competitiveness and regional economic development.

The full report can be found at www.p4pworks.com.

The Partnership for Prosperity continues to seek new ideas and to enlist additional players to build on the dynamism of the bilateral relationship. Building on these successes, the Partnership plans to convene a second entrepreneurial workshop, hosted by Mexico, in 2004. As in all aspects of the Partnership, the Mexican and U.S. governments will work closely with the private sector to plan, set the goals and implement the conclusions of the workshop.

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