A proposal of regional development in Mexico through industrial clusters

This document has the objective to determine and to analyze the economic vocation of the ten main cities in Mexico, it with the purpose to identify areas of opportunity for the implementation of policies of industrial clusters as a measure to increase the productivity in the country.

From the decade of the years 90, Mexico has been involve in an intensive process of commercial liberalization, at the moment has signed 11 commercial agreements with the participation of 43 countries of the world.

Nevertheless the competitiveness has not been reflected with the same intensity in the productive activity and it register an backwardness in the international context, this way while in the year 2003 the country was placed as the number 47 as regards competitiveness, for the year 2007 fell two places and it was located as the 49 in the world.

In this sense the necessity to implement actions that allow to face the globalization phenomenon with a low competitiveness is an urgent task. In Mexico diverse initiatives have been undertaken to consolidates industrial clusters as in the case of the entities like Baja California (wine), Coahuila (automotive), Guanajuato (footwear), Jalisco (electronics) and Queretaro (information technology) with some significant advances.

The industrial clusters, today, represent a strategy to promote the development of an economy in a context of international competition which is based on the coordinating actions of the diverse actors related a specific activity. In Mexico, of the ten most important population centers, five register high levels of competitiveness (Mexico City, León, Coahuila, Baja California and Chihuahua), three a medium level (Jalisco, State of Mexico and Guanajuato) and the rest (San Luis Potosí and Puebla) register a low level of competitiveness. San Luis Potosi, for example, represents an opportunity area to promote actions of industrial cluster in three activities: metal-mechanics, automotive and food industry.

CV

Juan Carlos Neri Guzman was born on 14 October of 1964 in the México City, He is an economist and has made studies for Master Degree in Regional Development, Now he is a professor , researcher in the Polithecnic University of San Luis Potosi where take a doctorate studies with the ORGMASZ Institute of Poland.

His particular expertise fields are the planeation, quality systems, local development, statistical analysis, information systems, evaluating of public politics and the economic topics.

His previous experience was in government in the Planeation Secretary, (1998 to 2003); Environmental Development Secretary (1997) and Technique Secretary (1988 to 1992).