mexbiznews's blog
Mexico's transition to digital will be speeded up with government subsidies, Calderon reveals
Submitted by mexbiznews on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 5:42amBy Angelina Mejia and Horacio Jiménez
El Universal
In his Informe sent to Congress this week, President Felipe Calderon issued a decree to advance Mexico's transition to digital television.
He said that subsidies will be provided to help digital customers buy digital receivers, devices that are responsible for transforming the current analog signal to digital. The amount of the payments was not revealed but the program is expected to extend from 2011 to 2015.
"Mexico is entering a new era that will allow everyone to have access to 21st Century technology," he said in a televised speech on Thursday.
Calderon said the transition to digital will trigger investment, democratic pluralism, competitiveness and job creation.
Experts consulted by El Universal warned that the program faces "complicated" legal, economic and operational hurdles.
Grounded Mexicana pilots are in demand by other airlines
Submitted by mexbiznews on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 5:08am
CNNExpansion.com
Mexicana pilots are in demand from airlines around the world now that the Mexican airline is seeking bankruptcy protection and has ceased operations, the leader of the pilots union says.
Firms like Rishworth Aviation, PARC Aviation, Emirates Group and others are seeking to hire Mexicana pilots, said union leader Antonio Vargas.
He said a conference is being held this month in which representatives of airlines in England, New Zealand, Ireland, the UAE and Hong Kong will attend to offer contracts to the grounded Mexicana pilots.
www.cnnexpansion.com/negocios/2010/09/02/mexicana-piloto-extranjera-asia-expansio
President Calderon declares in Informe that crackdown on organized crime is working
Submitted by mexbiznews on Thu, 09/02/2010 - 8:25amBy Ken Ellingwood
Los Angeles Times
Fresh off this week's capture of a notorious drug lord, Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared Wednesday that his sustained assault on organized crime and efforts to clean up the police were paying off.
In the president's annual state of the nation report, delivered in writing to Congress, Calderon cited a string of drug kingpins arrested or killed during the last year as evidence of success in his nearly 4-year-old offensive against the cartels.
Although not mentioned specifically in the president's report, the arrest Monday of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, an accused trafficker and hit man known as " Barbie," was another big one.
The annual report, or informe, depicts a nation rebounding from a series of hard knocks in 2009, including an economic tailspin and the H1N1 flu crisis that crimped tourism and commerce.
Calderon touted gains in employment and healthcare and longer-term public works improvements, such as highway construction.
The report, posted on the Internet, leads with a section on security issues in Mexico, where cartel feuding has been mainly responsible for more than 28,000 drug-related deaths since Calderon took office in December 2006.
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-informe-20100902,0,5735105.story
China's growth contined during crisis while Mexico's fell
Submitted by mexbiznews on Thu, 09/02/2010 - 7:14am
El Semanario
The Chinese economy has withstood the global crisis with the global downturn registering only a catarrito -- a small bump -- in its spectacular upward trend, citing the Weekly in its online edition today.
While China's GDP growth reached 10.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008 and fell to a 6.2 percent growth a year later, Mexico's GDP growth fell from 2.6 percent to minus 7.9 percent, or a change in its annual rate of 10.5 percentage points
How did China maintain its explosive growth, while business customers around the world slashed purchase? There are several reasons.
Casa Saba to buy Chilean drugstore chain Fasa in $498 million deal
Submitted by mexbiznews on Wed, 09/01/2010 - 5:54amDow Jones
Mexican pharmaceutical-products distributor Grupo Casa Saba will launch a public tender offer today, Wednesday, to acquire Chilean drug-store operator Farmacias Ahumada, or Fasa, in a deal valued at $498 million, plus debt.
In a filing with the Mexico City bourse, Casa Saba said it received authorization from the Federal Competition Commission, Mexico's antitrust regulator, for the deal.
The Mexican company will offer 1,642 Chilean pesos ($3.26) a share for all 150 million Fasa shares from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, with the condition that more than half of the total shares are tendered.
Casa Saba, which plans to pay for the offer using cash and debt, has financing commitments from HSBC Holdings and Grupo Financiero Banorte's Banco Mercantil del Norte.
The combined company will "become the leading drugstore chain" in Latin America, with about 1,500 stores across Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Peru, and estimated revenue of about $4 billion.
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100831-714007.html
Drug lord's arrest called mark of progress against cartels
Submitted by mexbiznews on Wed, 09/01/2010 - 4:24am
Dallas Morning News
Accused drug cartel kingpin Edgar Valdez Villarreal was presented to the public Tuesday, smirking as he stood before the cameras, a top prize in Mexico's drug war after a 15-month manhunt involving U.S. authorities.
The capture of the Texas-born fugitive, nicknamed "La Barbie," ends a bloody chapter in Mexico's battle against the cartels and could produce important intelligence on them, senior U.S. and Mexican officials say.
But the violence is expected to continue as rival groups scramble to fill leadership voids and grab contested territory.
Two investor groups said to be willing to rescue Mexicana as GAP sues and passengers scramble
Submitted by mexbiznews on Tue, 08/31/2010 - 5:25amFrom La Jornada and Reuters
Two very strong groups of investors are interested in rescuing Mexicana Airlines, Secretary of Communications and Transport Juan Molinar Horcasitas revealed on Monday as the country's airport operators are feeling the pinch from Mexicana and its Click and Link subsidiaries cancelling flights.
At a press conference with Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara, Molinar vowed that Mexicana will fly again if adequate financial, administrative and operational conditions are achieved.
Without revealing the two groups of investors, he said the government will give them legal certainty but no tax incentives.
Airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, or GAP, appears most impacted by Mexicana's suspension because the three airlines generate 17 percent of its revenue. Today, Tuesday, the company initiated legal procedures against Mexicana to recover money it is owed, according to Milenio. Banamex also downgraded GAP shares from buy to hold.
How the drug war is pushing cartels into human trafficking
Submitted by mexbiznews on Tue, 08/31/2010 - 4:13am
The Christian Science Monitor
Most drug trafficking news in Mexico, horrific as it might be, slips out of the public consciousness the following day.
But the massacre of 72 migrants in northern Mexico last week, the worst known mass killing since Felipe Calderón took office in December of 2006 declaring war against organized crime, has sparked debate about the vulnerabilities of migrants traveling through Mexico to the United States.
It also confirmed what the government and analysts have claimed for some time: that criminal gangs are increasingly diversifying their illicit activities.
"Indefinite" suspension of Mexicana operations leaves more questions than answers
Submitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 08/30/2010 - 5:24amEl Financiero
There are more questions than answers concerning Mexicana Airlines "indefinite" suspension.
At least 72 aircraft remain parked at Mexico City's International Airport pending resolution of bankruptcy proceedings in Mexico and the United States as other airlines scramble to pick up Mexicana business.
According to The Dallas Morning News, American Airlines has added an extra round trip between Dallas/Fort Worth and Mexico City.
Meanwhile, it's uncertain if the group of investors, Tenadora K, that stepped in to save Mexicana and its Click and Link subsidiaries will continue talks with the pilots and flight attendants unions in a effort to cut salaries and staff.
If even those parties reach agreement, there is a question of whether Mexicana could resume business. Communications and Transportation Secretary Juan Molinar said it is unclear whether an airline in bankruptcy proceedings can be granted the operating permit that Mexicana would need.
www.elfinanciero.com.mx/ElFinanciero/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm
China's rising wages give Mexico edge, says Flextronics chief
Submitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 08/30/2010 - 4:36am
Bloomberg
China’s rising wages are cutting the country’s cost advantage over other manufacturing centers such as Mexico, according to Flextronics International, the world’s second-largest custom electronics maker.
“As China moves up, up and up and up, for five straight years, it’s been moving up heading towards Mexican pricing,” Flextronics CEO Mike McNamara said in an interview.
Rising wages in China won’t spur an exodus or prompt Flextronics to move all of its production bases in the country, however.
