U.S. AND MEXICO SIGN BILATERAL AGREEMENT PAVING WAY FOR FULL OPIC ACTIVITY

SAN FRANCISCO, California, June 9 - The United States and Mexico today concluded a bilateral agreement that would enable the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to offer all its programs and services in Mexico, America's second-largest trading partner. Mexican Secretary of the Economy Fernando Canales and OPIC President and CEO Dr. Peter Watson signed the agreement at a Partnership for Prosperity entrepreneurial workshop.

The agreement must be ratified by the Mexican Chamber of Senators in order to become effective. OPIC has been able to support only U.S. small businesses investing in Mexico since early 2001.

Initially, OPIC intends to focus on projects in the education, municipal infrastructure and environmental sectors in Mexico. Additional opportunities will be explored in the housing and water infrastructure sectors. The agreement will also enable OPIC to work with its sister agencies, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Export Import Bank of the U.S., to provide investment support in Mexico.

"Conclusion of this bilateral agreement between the United States and Mexico represents not only the fulfillment of several principal goals of the Partnership for Prosperity, but the culmination of years of OPIC efforts to strengthen our own ties to Mexico in the name of increasing U.S. investment in America's second-largest trading partner," said Dr. Watson. "The result, I am confident, will help to further unleash the entrepreneurial capacity of Mexican businesses, and consequently bring important developmental benefits to the Mexican people."

Dr. Watson added that significant demand for OPIC support since its U.S. small business program opened in 2001 "suggests that we can increase our activity in Mexico several-fold once all of OPIC's products are activated, involving both U.S. and Mexican companies in new levels of economic growth."

Presidents Bush and Vicente Fox of Mexico established the Partnership for Prosperity in 2001 as a public-private alliance to spur private-sector economic growth throughout Mexico. The partnership draws on the best ideas of U.S. and Mexican economists, businesspeople, development experts, and policymakers to promote U.S. direct investment in Mexico, with special emphasis on small and mid-sized businesses.

OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.

OPIC's political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency's 32-year history, OPIC has supported $145 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate over $11 billion in host-government revenues and create over 680,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $65 billion in U.S. exports and created more than 254,000 American jobs.

* * * * *