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Alejandro Ramírez
, executive director of Cinépolis and chairman of the Mexican Businessmen Council (CMN) warns that, should there be hostile politics against the private sector or if financial certainty is jeopardized, there will be a decrease in foreign investment.
In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL, shortly after receiving the Marquee Award 2018 from the National Asociation of Theatre Owners (NATO) , the businessman gave his opinion about Mexico’s situation, its electoral process, the investment climate, the NAFTA renegotiation, and the plans that the company currently leads.
The director of CMN, an organization which gathers leaders from the 50 largest companies in the country, claims that the suspension of the energy reform enacted by President Peña Nieto’s administration will only generate uncertainty in the market, because millions of dollars have already been invested and compromised since the opening of the energy sector in Mexico.
He adds that certain politics, such as the initiative of suspending the New International Airport of Mexico (NAIM) will also generate uncertainty and will make the investors think twice before wagering their money in the country.
The presidential candidate of the coalition Juntos haremos historia (Together We Will Make History), Andrés Manuel López Obrador , has suggested that, should he win the upcoming election, he intends to inspect the contracts for the energy reform and NAFTA thoroughly.
“The key to maintaining the current cash flows of investment in the upcoming years is to have financial certainty over the regulatory environment and the handling of investment,” Ramírez points out.
Ramírez stresses that if public politics promoted by candidates are friendly and stimulate investment, the investors won’t be scared away.
Yesterday, the CMN disclosed a message where it is stated that the conditions of trust and juridic certainty are fundamental for the preservation and promotion of savings, investment, economic growth, and employment. The Council claims that a debate which promotes civic participation and informed voting is fundamentally necessary.
In their message, the Council invites all five presidential candidates to build a better future for Mexico, based on an open and respectful dialogue that joins the wills of the government and the private sector.
Alejandro Ramírez condemns corruption in Mexico, and although he admits that some businessmen have been known to be involved in corruption cases, he asserts that the majority upholds a social and corporate responsibility.
“As for corruption , as the saying goes, it takes two to tango: For there to be an act of corruption, there must be a public server and a businessman; I wouldn’t even go as far as to call these people businessmen, because I think they give us a bad name. Most of us are honest and always trying to behave ethically,” he clarifies.
As with everything else, he says, there are both good and bad businessmen, and the same goes to politicians: “We can’t generalize by saying that all politicians are corrupt, but their name has been soiled by a significant percentage of them. Likewise, only a minority of businessmen colludes with the public sector.”
The CEO of Cinépolis believes that businessmen have to do more in terms of social and corporate responsibility in order to invest and generate more jobs: “We need to make a commitment to behave ethically in our business, to nurture and protect the environment and contribute to social development as well as improving the quality of life for our employees.”
Concerning the renegotiation of NAFTA , he claims that there is a palpable possibility to close the agreement in the next few months, which will be good news for Mexico since the renegotiation has been an uncertainty factor in the electoral process.
With regard to minimum wage , the Mexican businessman and representative at the World Economic Forum acknowledges that the minimum wage in the country has fallen behind, and although there have been increases, these have turned out to be insufficient.
He explains that the minimum wage has to be adjusted above inflation levels in order to revert its unprecedented stagnation; however, he ensures that the percentage of workforce that is paid minimum wage in Mexico is small, “I would even say that not a single company that takes part in the Mexican Businessmen Council pays minimum wage. I don’t pay minimum wage to any of my employees, nor does any of the companies from the CMN, but despite the fact that we always pay above the minimum wage, we are aware that it has fallen behind and has to be amended because it is insufficient.”
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