Mexico Official To Arizona Government, Business Leaders: 'You Get It'
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As President Trump pledges to change the way business is done with Mexico by renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, leaders in the Valley are calling for more partnerships.
When the economic development committee for the Maricopa Association of Governments met Tuesday, they welcomed the consul general of Mexico in Phoenix.
“The voice of local governments is more important than ever,” Consul General Claudia Franco Hijuelos said.
Franco listed numerous recent visits between officials in Arizona and Mexico. She told the group of mayors, educators and business leaders, “You get it. You know that free trade is important and you know that immigration is important. And you know most of all that dialogue with Mexico is the basis for the best mutual benefit, to find that mutual benefit, that mutual ground.”
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who has visited Mexico 18 times in the past five years, encouraged other elected officials to share economic information with the people they represent.
“Particularly as it appears that NAFTA discussions are going to be soon on the agenda in Washington D.C. and in Mexico cities and unfortunately I’m of the belief that much of those discussions will be based on misinformation, misperceptions about the realities of the relationship,” he said
Mexico is Arizona’s largest trading partner. The Arizona-Mexico Commission reported that Arizona exports totaled $9.1 billion in 2015, while Mexican exports to Arizona totaled $7.6 billion. Stanton helped open the city’s second trade office in Mexico last week. He invited other Valley leaders to visit and take advantage of the office in Hermosillo, Sonora.
