agustín pizá, In Search of Sustainable Golf

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lR L
ep IANCES
or
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offices abroad
Asia - Pacific
Shanghai Regional Director
ProMéxico Headquarters juan.cante@promexico.gob.mx
+ 52 (55) 544 77070 Offices in: Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai,
promexico@promexico.gob.mx Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and
Tokyo
www.promexico.gob.mx
Beijing
ari.saks@promexico.gob.mx

Hong Kong
cesar.fragozo@promexico.gob.mx

Mumbai
aldo.ruiz@promexico.gob.mx

North America Europe and Shanghai

New York Regional Director
gerardo.patino@promexico.gob.mx
Offices in: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas,
Middle East
Frankfurt Regional Director
francisco.gonzalez@promexico.gob.mx
joel.enriquez@promexico.gob.mx
Seoul
miguel.delvillar@promexico.gob.mx

Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal,
New York, San Francisco, Toronto and
Vancouver
the
Singapore
Offices in: Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt,
francisco.bautista@promexico.gob.mx
London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris,
Stockholm and Switzerland

electronics
Taipei
Atlanta enrique.rosell@promexico.gob.mx
cesar.bueno@promexico.gob.mx Brussels
alejandro.saldivar@promexico.gob.mx

ISSUE
Tokyo
Chicago esau.garza@promexico.gob.mx
miguel.leaman@promexico.gob.mx Dubai
jose.neif@promexico.gob.mx
New Markets
Dallas salomon.sacal@promexico.gob.mx
diana.castaneda@promexico.gob.mx Frankfurt
jimena.ibarra@promexico.gob.mx
Houston
carlos.marron@promexico.gob.mx London
alexandra.haas@promexico.gob.mx Latin America and
Los Angeles
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South America
ximena.caraza@promexico.gob.mx
Offices in: Buenos Aires, Bogotá,
Miami Guatemala, Santiago and Sao Paulo
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Buenos Aires
Montreal hector.zires@promexico.gob.mx
alfonso.mojica@promexico.gob.mx Moscow
leonor.pintado@promexico.gob.mx
Bogotá
New York carlos.edgar@promexico.gob.mx
edmundo.gonzalez@promexico.gob.mx Paris
dolores.beistegui@promexico.gob.mx
Guatemala
San Francisco ignacio.elias@promexico.gob.mx
maria.granados@promexico.gob.mx Stockholm

Toronto
nicole.felix@promexico.gob.mx
Santiago Video
Games
emilio.lopez@promexico.gob.mx
jose.peral@promexico.gob.mx Switzerland
patricia.moreno@promexico.gob.mx
xIi- 2009

Sao Paulo
Vancouver “Made in Mexico,”
juan.pintoribeiro@promexico.gob.mx
carlos.cacho@promexico.gob.mx a Serious Bet
 offices abroad
ProMéxico Headquarters
+ 52 (55) 544 77070
promexico@promexico.gob.mx
www.promexico.gob.mx
North America
New York Regional Director
gerardo.patino@promexico.gob.mx
Offices in: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas,
Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal,
New York, San Francisco, Toronto and
Vancouver
Atlanta
cesar.bueno@promexico.gob.mx
Chicago
miguel.leaman@promexico.gob.mx
Dallas
diana.castaneda@promexico.gob.mx
Houston
carlos.marron@promexico.gob.mx
Los Angeles
mario.juarez@promexico.gob.mx
Miami
jose.fernandez@promexico.gob.mx Milan
Montreal
alfonso.mojica@promexico.gob.mx
New York
edmundo.gonzalez@promexico.gob.mx
San Francisco
maria.granados@promexico.gob.mx
Toronto
jose.peral@promexico.gob.mx
Vancouver
carlos.cacho@promexico.gob.mx
Europe and
Middle East
Frankfurt Regional Director
francisco.gonzalez@promexico.gob.mx
Offices in: Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt,
London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris,
Stockholm and Switzerland
Brussels
alejandro.saldivar@promexico.gob.mx
Dubai
jose.neif@promexico.gob.mx
Frankfurt
jimena.ibarra@promexico.gob.mx
London
alexandra.haas@promexico.gob.mx
Madrid
ximena.caraza@promexico.gob.mx
claudia.esteves@promexico.gob.mx
Moscow
leonor.pintado@promexico.gob.mx
Paris
dolores.beistegui@promexico.gob.mx
Stockholm
nicole.felix@promexico.gob.mx
Switzerland
patricia.moreno@promexico.gob.mx
Asia - Pacific
Shanghai Regional Director
juan.cante@promexico.gob.mx
Offices in: Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai,
Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and
Tokyo
Beijing
ari.saks@promexico.gob.mx
Hong Kong
cesar.fragozo@promexico.gob.mx
Mumbai
aldo.ruiz@promexico.gob.mx
Shanghai
joel.enriquez@promexico.gob.mx
Seoul
miguel.delvillar@promexico.gob.mx
Singapore
francisco.bautista@promexico.gob.mx
Taipei
enrique.rosell@promexico.gob.mx
Tokyo
esau.garza@promexico.gob.mx
New Markets
salomon.sacal@promexico.gob.mx
Latin America and
South America
Offices in: Buenos Aires, Bogotá,
Guatemala, Santiago and Sao Paulo
Buenos Aires
hector.zires@promexico.gob.mx
Bogotá
carlos.edgar@promexico.gob.mx
Guatemala
ignacio.elias@promexico.gob.mx
Santiago
emilio.lopez@promexico.gob.mx
Sao Paulo
juan.pintoribeiro@promexico.gob.mx
2 Negocios

Contents
16
Load it Up,
Plug it In
and Walk
Away
Mexico is at the forefront
of the production of domestic
electric appliances. Economic
forecasts for this particular
area of production are good
to excellent.

From the CEO 6

Briefs 8
Business Tips Human capital in mexico 14
Mexico’s Partner intel designs the future from mexico 32
Mexico’s Partner juego de talento: video games “made in

34
22
MExico,” a serious bet

Product snake & eagle: Leading players of their own

Tv technology 36
manufActuring: Special Report a space for high tech businesses 38
the electronics Figures 40
edge

Electronics,
26
a Winning Formula
In 2010 the electronics industry
will be switching to a new high-tech
cluster in Mexico.
CHIAPAS
MEANS
QUALITY
“Chiapas México Original” is a protected
designation of origin and a guarantee of the
highest quality. The use of this seal is granted
to goods and services that meet strict quality
standards.

From food and crafts to tourism and travel-

related services, quality is what you can find
in Chiapas.

Meet Chiapas, meet Mexico

Government of the State of Chiapas

Ministry of Economy

www.economiachiapas.gob.mx
www.chiapastrade.com.mx
4 Negocios

ProMéxico
Bruno Ferrari
CEO
 
Ricardo Rojo
Image and Communications Director
 
Sebastián Escalante
Managing Coordinator
sebastian.escalante@promexico.gob.mx

Miguel Ángel Samayoa

Advertising and Suscriptions
negocios@promexico.gob.mx

Fernanda Luna
Copy Editing

taller méxico
Alejandro Serratos
Publisher
a.serratos@tallermexico.com

Felipe Zúñiga

46
Editor in Chief
felipe@tallermexico.com

Interview Orlando Santamaria

Marketing Manager

Agustín
orlando@tallermexico.com

PizÁ
Pilar Jiménez Molgado
Design Director
pilar@tallermexico.com
In Search of
Sustainable Golf Jorge Silva
Design
jorge@tallermexico.com

Dalia Urzua Orozco

Design
dalia@tallermexico.com

The lifestyle Contents Paloma López

Production
paloma@tallermexico.com

Vanessa Serratos
Design Assistant
vanessa@tallermexico.com

54 Piso de ediciones
Vanesa Robles
Art Senior Writer
Rivelino vanesarobles@gmail.com

Breaking Silence Karla Juárez

Sandra Roblagui
Through Art Lucila Valtierra
Mauricio Zabalgoitia
Staff Writers

Translation
Mely Nelson
Juan Manuel Romero

42 The Lifestyle Briefs 57 Art PROOF READING

Graeme Stewart
sacred colors,
44 Destination the evolving art contributors
puerto peñasco, of huichol María Cristina Rosas, Graeme Stewart,
Alfredo Azcárate, Sol Fortoul, Jesús
a heavenly bay in sonora Estrada Cortés, Cristina Ávila-Zessati,
60 Feedback Francisco Vernis, Ricardo Ibarra,
50 Interview eyes that feel, Oldemar
ian gardner, for a society able to This is an editorial project for ProMéxico
a scot in mexico see things differently by Taller México & Piso de Ediciones.

Download the PDF version

ProMéxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of of Negocios ProMéxico at:
their economic solvency. Title certificate of lawfulness 14459. Text certificate of lawfulness 12032. Number of Title Reserve 04-2009-012714564800-102.
Postal Registry PP09-0044. Responsible editor: Sebastián Escalante. Printing: Cía. Impresora El Universal, S.A. de C.V. Distribution: ProMéxico Camino
negocios.promexico.gob.mx
a Sta Teresa 1679, México D.F., 01900. Phone: +52 (55) 5447 7000. Negocios is an open space where diverse opinions can be expressed. The institution
might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the responsibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when
it states otherwise. Although this magazine verifies all the information printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions,
inaccuracies or mistakes. December, 2009.
Mexico has everything to becoMe a key
supplier to the world’s it Market:
• Plenty of highly qualified professionals in the IT Industry. Mexico is the
Americas’ Spanish-speaking country with the highest rating in human
resources, according to the A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index
2009.
• 23 IT clusters in 20 states. Over 60% of Mexican states have productive
capacity in IT
• Business Monitor estimates that the IT services and BPOs market
will grow 10% annually during the period 2009-2013, while
• the software market will grow 9%in the same period.
From the CEO.

I
n spite of the economic and financial hardships that the world experienced
in 2009, 2010 will bring encouraging growth perspectives, particularly in
areas that have recently proven to be dynamic and in which Mexico is be-
coming one of the world’s leading players.

Among these areas are the electric-electronic and technology industries,

which have grown exponentially during the last years and now face promis-
ing development perspectives. For more than four decades, Mexico has estab-
lished itself as one of the world’s leading players in this area. Today, the coun-
try is one of the main electric-electronic manufacturing centers in America
and it is renowned as a reliable global business development partner.

Mexico has a strategic geographic location, highly skilled human resourc-

es, processes that comply with the highest international quality standards as
well as government promotion policies and programs that allow it to leverage
every opportunity in the electric-electronic industry.

Our country has developed a solid production capacity in this industry,

which enjoys worldwide recognition because of the quality of its products and
is currently supported by a clear global trend towards competitiveness. That
is why Mexico’s electric-electronic sector focuses on new courses: technologi-
cal research and development.

Mexico offers countless opportunities to both companies that manufacture

components and inputs for the electric-electronic industry and businesses
that focus on developing new technologies. We invite you to explore them.

Welcome to Mexico

Bruno Ferrari
ProMéxico CEO
8 Negocios Photos archive / courtesy of siemens

INFRASTRUCTURE 

Increased
Investment
in Railway
Infrastructure
Over 182 million usd were invested in railway
infrastructure by the public and private sec-
tors from January to June 2009, 18% more in
real terms than the investment made during
the same period in 2008.

www.sct.gob.mx

METALLURGY

Golden Opportunity
The Chinese company Golden Dragon has
landed in Mexico, opening its first manu-
facturing plant in the state of Coahuila with
an initial investment of 100 million usd.
Built over an area of 200,000 square
meters (50 acres) in the city of Monclova,
the plant is the largest investment ever
made by a Chinese company in Mexico.
In this factory, Golden Dragon will pro-
duce high-tech copper tubes for air-condi-
tioning systems, with an initial annual pro-
duction capacity of 60,000 tons for the com-
pany to supply orders from North America.
Golden Dragon was founded in 1987 in
the city of Xinxiang, with operations in the
United States, Japan, Hong Kong and Europe
and over 10,000 employees. It recorded sales
of more than 2 billion usd in 2008.
www.gdcopper.com

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Producing
from
Mexico
With an estimated investment of 150 mil-
lion usd, in early 2010 the multinational
Siemens will be arriving at the Francisco
I. Madero municipal district in the state of
Coahuila, where it will manufacture com-
ponents to be used in its Kansas City plant
that caters to the wind energy industry.

w1.siemens.com
 briefs.
INFRASTRUCTURE

A Profitable Decision
Ten years after starting operations in Mexico, the South Korean multinational
Samsung Engineering has been awarded public contracts worth 944 million
usd for infrastructure projects. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Samsung
Engineering focused on Pemex auctions in Mexico. The company is currently
awaiting the outcome of three auctions to supply processing plants for a Pemex
refinery in Minatitlán, Veracruz, installations for a gas terminal for the Federal
Electricity Commission (CFE) in Colima and water treatment plants for the
National Water Commission (Conagua) in different regions of Mexico.
www.samsungengineering.co.kr

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Clean Investment
Mexico will boast its third wind farm,
with a new 70-turbine project in the state
of Tamaulipas that will generate 161 MW.
This project intends to supply 43 munici-
palities with energy produced from re-
newable sources. The wind farm will be
built by Siemens Energy Wind Power and
RES Americas, in coordination with Mexi-
can company GSEER SOE, representing a
combined investment of 328 million usd.
It will be located in the municipal dis-
trict of Los Vergeles. A 100 km transmis-
sion line will be needed to carry the ener-
gy generated, and this will be the property
of the consortium.
In another project, the Danish company
Vestas won an order of 102 MW turbines
for the Oaxaca 1 project, sited at Juchitán de
Zaragoza, Oaxaca. The order is for 51 V80
2.0MW wind turbines and the project is ex-
pected to be concluded in December 2010.
www.energy.siemens.com /
www.res-americas.com / www.vestas.com
10 Negocios Photos archive / courtesy of Bombardier

ELECTRONICS 

Honeywell
Hobbs Moves
to Mexico
Honeywell Hobbs, manufacturer of con-
trols, switches and electronic sensors,
plans to close its two manufacturing
plants in Illinois to consolidate its produc-
tion in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

www.honeywell.com

IT

Strategic Partner
The Mexican subsidiary of Getronics, one
of the world’s leading providers of Infor-
mation and Communication Technology
services and solutions, has become the
first partner in emerging markets to ob-
tain the ATP of the Data Center Unified
Computing System of Cisco Systems.
With the new ATP, Getronics México
will integrate Data Center services using
the Cisco Unified Computing Systems ar-
chitecture to consolidate storage, comput-
ing and networking in a business unit of the
company called Data Center 3.0, bringing
together experts in infrastructure architec-
ture, business consultancy and ICT solu-
tions.
www.getronics.com

AEROSPACE

Bombardier
Prepares for
Take-off
The aerospace company Bombardier con-
tinues its investment projects in the state of
Querétaro where it expects to invest 250 mil-
lion usd in the construction of a plant to pro-
duce the fuselage of its new business Learjet
85 aircraft.

www.bombardier.com.mx
 briefs.
FOOD

Tortillas in
Australia

T
he Mexican consortium Gruma, pacity of 37 thousand tons. This new plant
the world’s largest producer of is expected to generate annual sales of be-
corn flour, opened a new plant in tween 45 million and 50 million usd.

Photo carraol
Melbourne with an investment of
60 million usd and an annual production ca- www.gruma.com

TOURISM

New City
Express Hotel
The City Express hotel chain inaugurated its
latest hotel in Mexico City, centrally located
by the emblematic Ángel de la Independencia
monument on Paseo de la Reforma, with an in-
vestment of 18 million usd. This new hotel has
141 rooms, a breakfast restaurant, terrace, tele-
vision lounge, gymnasium, business center and
a meeting room. With this opening, the chain
now has 43 hotels throughout Mexico. The
chain aims to open twelve more hotels in 2010.

www.cityexpress.com.mx

PHARMACEUTICAL

Pfizer Grows
in Mexico
Pfizer expects to finish
2009 with sales of more
than 1.1 billion usd in
Mexico, a similar figure
to that of 2008, staking
a 9.2% market share
after its acquisition of its
competitor Wyeth.
www.pfizer.com.mx
12 Negocios Photos ARCHIVE

AGRICULTURE

100%
Mexican
Before the end of 2009, the Yucatán Peninsula will be the proud owner of a designa-
tion of origin for the habanero chili, the world’s first “quality seal” to be awarded to a
spicy chili pepper.

www.cofemermir.gob.mx

HOME APPLIANCES

Cold Expansion
Whirlpool México home appliance company
will invest 55 million usd in expanding its
SUPSA refrigerator plant in Apodaca, Nuevo
León. The investment will be spent on devel-
oping technologies, purchasing equipment,
expanding production lines and building
over 7,000 square meters (1.7 acres) of pro-
ductive plant area.

www.whirlpool.com.mx

FOOD
Louis Dreyfus Commodities Group set up a

Coffee Group coffee mill and deposit in Perote, Veracruz.

This is the Group’s first investment in Mexico

Invests in and is valued at over 3.4 million usd. Mexico

is the world’s sixth-largest coffee-producing

Mexico country, according to figures provided by the

International Coffee Organization (ICO).

www.ldcommodities.com
 briefs.
CONSTRUCTION

CIASA to Install
Plants in Mexico

C
onstrucción Inteligente de América
(CIASA) will install over 10 plants
in Mexico to manufacture envi-
ronmentally-friendly construction
materials over the next three years, with an
investment of over 100 million usd.
The US construction company based in
California manufactures materials using the
“Innovida” technology and its first two plants
in Mexico will be located in Estado de México
and Jalisco, with an initial investment of more
than 35 million usd.
www.innovida.com

FOOD

World’s Top Egg Consuming Nation

Mexico’s National Poultry Institute (INA) reported that Mexico is the world’s
largest consumer of eggs per capita. In 2008, the average consumption was 21.7
kilos per person per year, and by the end of 2009 this figure is expected to rise to
21.9 kilos per person. Mexico is also the world’s sixth-largest producer of eggs. In
2008, it produced 2 million 306,000 tons of this product and by the end of 2009
the total production is expected to rise by 2%.
www.institutonacionalavicola.org.mx
14 Negocios ILLUSTRATION PILIMAR

Human capital
in Mexico
BY MARÍA CRISTINA ROSAS*

The importance of human capital for a

country’s economy is undeniable. Mexico
knows it and is making extraordinary
efforts to increase its educational level,
providing investors with an attractive
workforce of highly qualified and competitive
professionals.

We often point out the importance of natural
resources as one of the pillars of a nation’s de-
velopment. However, Japan —a country with a
small territory and few natural resources— is
one of the world’s most developed economies
thanks to its population. Japanese people have
been the force behind the Land of the Rising
Sun’s success, which started when the country
was rebuilt after World War II. With examples
like Japan, we can undoubtedly say that a coun-
try’s most important resource is its people.
People are what add value to production,
and this value increases as the workforce
skills improve. Products will have a higher value
added if the workforce that manufactures them
has better skills and knowledge. Furthermore, a
more skilled workforce allows a country to trans-
form its comparative advantages (for example,
through its natural resources) into competitive
advantages.
According to the human development rates
of the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP), Mexico is in the 53rd place among
countries with high human development (HHD).
These rates measure not only economic growth
but also quality of life and social welfare. It is im-
portant to note that other
countries that are considered
as leaders of the global economy,
such as Brazil, China and India, are in the 75th,
92nd and 134th place, respectively and that only
Brazil is among countries with HHD [China and
India are classified as countries with medium
human development (MHD)]. This means that
Mexico offers a better quality of life and expe-
riences a higher development rate than these
countries.
Human capital brings important advantages
to a country’s economy. First, a company that

Mexico is a good option
for businesses that
require human capital
for their manufacturing
activities and that
value paying higher
salaries to experienced
workers.
has skilled workers
may increase the ef-
ficiency of its systems and
its production processes while
it reduces its production costs.
This leads to improved productiv-
ity and sensitizes the staff regarding
the importance of closing ranks to
improve the company’s performance
and to ensure its market presence. Fur-
thermore, skilled workers contribute to in-
novation. This is where the concept of “human
capital” becomes clear, especially since compa-
nies rely on their human resources to develop
their production processes. That is why human
resources are indeed “capital” that is crucial for a
company to achieve its growth goals.
Mexico’s Center of Research for Develop-
ment (CIDAC) recently published the results of
its first survey on human capital in Mexico. The
survey is based on the premise that an educated
population can have a positive effect on a coun-
try’s economic growth and improve society’s
quality of life. Unfortunately, due to issues with
the survey’s methodology, while it does address
level of specialization, it focuses only on two
variables (knowledge of English and computer
skills), ignoring, for example, the all-important
subject of educational level. According to the
survey, in urban areas, 35% of the surveyed
people responded that they have some knowl-
edge of English, while 53% stated that they have
used a computer at some point in their life. To
compensate for the study’s reduced spectrum,
CIDAC publishes a very encouraging fact: 75%
of people who reported having extracurricular
training participated in learning activities dur-
ing the last year. This means that these individu-
als are interested in further developing their
skills to improve their working conditions and
increase their salaries.
In another survey on the quality of educa-
tion, CIDAC found that 57% of respondents
think that the quality of education in Mexico
is good or very good and that one of every ten
individuals thinks it is very good.
CIDAC has done other studies that provide
information regarding the best-paid jobs in
Mexico City, considering the trends among peo-
ple who decide to complete their undergradu-
ate studies. According to the study, some of the
best-paid professions are aeronautic, naval and
transportation engineering; naval and aircraft
pilots; ocean sciences; extraction, metallurgic
and energy engineering; biochemical engineer-
ing; topographic, hydrographic, geologic and
geodesic engineering; followed by medicine,
management, law, accounting and finances and
then by computer and systems engineering.
This is a very interesting study because
respondents think that medicine and law are
part of what is usually seen as “successful”
professions in terms of salaries, while in real-
ity, the market favors, as it was previously sug-
gested, engineering. This should not be seen as
negative, it means that we have a wide base of
law and medicine professionals and these are
important professions for national and foreign
companies. Furthermore, while there are fewer
individuals who select engineering as a profes-
sion, the country’s economic dynamics and
the global economic conditions contribute to a
higher demand for these type of professionals.
This explains the wide salary gap between engi-
neering and other professions. A good example
of this is aeronautic engineering.
Mercer Consulting, a human resources
business tips
firm, affirms that Mexico is a country with
qualified human capital. As a country with
an emerging economy, it has a growing num-
ber of professionals that specialize in areas that
are required by today’s global economy. On
this matter, Mercer found that half of direct
foreign investment (DFI) in Mexico goes to the
manufacturing industry. Therefore, Mexico is
a good option for businesses that require hu-
man capital for their manufacturing activities
and that value paying higher salaries to expe-
rienced workers.
Workers’ skills must also be seen through
the prevailing culture because it affects busi-
nesses significantly and it may bring larger
benefits. For example, Mexican culture favors
team or group work where common goals
and objectives are established.
In Mexico, workers who are between
25 and 29 years old have the highest post-
secondary education levels (25% of the work-
force), while the 45 to 49 group is significant
in terms of production (they represent 20% of
the workforce). This fact places Mexico above
countries such as Indonesia, where the per-
centages are considerably lower (8% and 7%,
respectively) in each of these segments.
In the last few years, Mexico has con-
centrated its efforts on increasing its human
capital reserve. Investment in education rose
between 1995 and 2004, and it was the highest
increase as a percentage of the Gross Domes-
tic Product (GDP) among the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) countries. Furthermore, investment
in education represents over 20% of the pub-
lic expenditure, which is twice the average
for OECD members. Also, the increase in ex-
penditure per student is higher than OECD’s
average.
Nonetheless, more expenditure is not the
only way to improve education. How these
resources are used and managed is crucial.
In fact, productivity in the education sector of
OECD countries has not increased as much
as productivity in other areas. That is why it is
vital to note that investments in education are
necessary but these investments must be well
applied and the results must be evaluated in
order to reach more productive and efficient
solutions. n
* Professor and researcher in the Political and So-
cial Sciences Faculty, National Autonomous Uni-
versity of Mexico (UNAM) .
16 Negocios photo courtesy of whirlpool

Load it Up, Plug it In
and Walk Away
By GRAEME STEWART
Mexico is at the forefront of the production of domestic electric
appliances. Economic forecasts for this particular area of production
are good to excellent.
Readers of a certain vintage will remember
black and white television and the days before
microwave ovens when pots and pans were
the only way to cook and heat food.
Some, and they must surely now be of retire-
ment age and certainly from northern climes,
will remember how we managed before every
house boasted a refrigerator, the groceries be-
ing placed in a scullery or parlour –something
like cool rooms–, to keep them fresh.
Or perhaps you can remember mother
and grandmother squeezing clothes through a
wringer after a handwash in the sink.
It all seems so ridiculously Stone Age now
as we take our Space Age technology in house-
hold appliances for granted. Plasma and LCD
TVs, ice makers, powerful microwave ovens
and well advertised grills have made life so
much easier.
Happily, Mexico is at the forefront of the
production of domestic electric appliances, or
white goods as they are commonly known, and
electric products manufactured in this coun-
try are recognized for their quality and sold
around the world.
While it would be folly to ignore the dam-
aging effect the world economic downturn has
had on every industrial sector, the good news
for Mexican white goods manufacturing com-
report home appliances industry
panies is that economic forecasts for their par-
ticular area of production are good to excellent.
The respected Euromonitor International
says this of Mexican white goods produc-
tion: “Growth until 2013 will slow but remain
positive, underpinned by Mexican consumers’
growing demand for more technologically ad-
vanced electrical appliances. While increased
access to credit and new home construction
will most certainly spur volume sales across all
economic classes, higher income earners will
be drawn to more sophisticated technology in
categories such as hair care appliances, refrig-
erators, laundering appliances, air treatment
products, microwaves and irons.”
In addition, states Euromonitor, niche prod-
ucts that promote convenience, like dishwash-
ers and washer dryers, will strengthen the in-
dustry and help offset slowing growth due to
inflation, commodity price increases and the
global economic slowdown.
“Multinational companies, such as LG,
Samsung and Whirlpool, as well as national
firms like Mabe, will lead their respective sec-
tors in innovation with more diverse product
portfolios,” concludes Euromonitor’s report.
There are a total of 78 white goods manu-
facturing plants in Mexico, all well distributed
among the states. The industry generates
about 46 thousand direct jobs and 140 thou-
sand indirect jobs.
Products made in Mexico include micro-
wave ovens, coffee makers, juice extractors,
dishwashers, air conditioning vacuum cleaners,
plasma televisions, blenders, refrigerators, mix-
ers, washers, dryers and irons.
Baja California can boast such companies
as, among others, Sanyo E&E, Sharp Electronics
México, Infinity Magna and Panasonic Electric
Works Mexicana.
Jalisco has Ventiladores Copacabana and
Jabil Circuit de México and San Luis Potosí Lei-
ser, Mabe and Mabe Sanyo Compressors.
Guanajuato has Whirlpool, Mabe, GSEB
Mexicana and Vistar and Queretaro Daewoo
Electronics Home Appliances, Mabe, Samsung
Electronics México, Applica Manufacturing
and Servilamina Summit Mexicana.
Chihuahua is home to Electrolux de México,
Juver Industrial, Honeywell Manufacturas de
México and Jabil Circuit de Chihuahua, among
others. Nuevo León has LG, Oasis Latinoameri-
ca and Plexus Electronics.
Estado de México has factories belonging
to LG, Philips, Sunbeam and Appleton and
the DF has BSH Electrodomésticos, Indus-
trias Man de México, Kim Teck and Hamilton
Beach/Proctor.
18 Negocios
Such has been the proliferation of white goods
manufacturing in Mexico that if we were to look into
homes in the US, Mexico or Canada, we would find that
most of their electrical appliances –washer, dryer, range,
refrigerator, vacuum cleaner and microwave oven– were
made in Mexico.
photos courtesy of whirlpool
And so it goes on as the giant US manufac-
turers continue to look south to Mexico as a
production base.
Only recently, Whirpool announced it
was transferring production of refrigerators
from Michigan to Ramos Arizpe, in Coahuila,
where some 80 million usd would be used to
expand the company’s production facility and
build a new refrigeration production plant in
the northern town.
Laura Champine, an analyst with Cowen
& Co., said: “Given the industry’s downturn,
Whirlpool had to move production to larger,
newer, more efficient plants. These happen to
be in Mexico for the refrigeration category.”
Whirlpool is the world’s leading manu-
facturer and marketer of home appliances.
The company employs 68,000 at nearly 50
manufacturing sites and technology research
centers and markets products in more than
170 countries.
So why Mexico? Manufacturers are
unanimous when they say that Mexico’s
skilled workforce, strategic location, large
suppliers and supply chains and logistics
easiness are the main reasons for locating in
the country.
A spokeswoman for San Antonio, Texas,
based Friedrich Air Conditioning, which
has a large manufacturing plant in Monte-
rrey, said the city was selected because of
its skilled, stable workforce, strong supplier
base and strategic location close to the San
Antonio headquarters.
Such has been the proliferation of white
goods manufacturing in Mexico that if we
were to look into homes in the US, Mexico
or Canada, we would find that most of their
electrical appliances –washer, dryer, range,
refrigerator, vacuum cleaner and microwave
oven– were made in Mexico.
For most companies, North America rep-
resents an attractive share of the domestic
electrical appliance market. Mexico, the US
and Canada represent 27% of over 47.4 bil-
lion products that LG sold in 2007. The com-
pany’s three plants in Mexico supply 90%
of LG products sold in Mexico and 80% of
those sold in the US. LG also manufactures
for Latin America, which represents 10% of
the company’s total sales worldwide.
Efrén Fregoso Vázquez, a financial expert
at Mexico City’s Anahuac University North, ex-
plains the US was Mexico’s main customer in
the home appliance market although Mexico
was currently seeking to strengthen relation-
ships with Central and South America.

He said: “Foreign investment in the domes-
tic appliance sector of Mexico during 2007,
2008 and the first semester of 2009 is led by
five countries –US, Korea, Japan, United King-
dom and Spain. Over that same period they
have, respectively, invested 315.3million usd,
200.1 million usd, 5.6 million usd, 0.8 million
usd and 0.3 million usd. As a whole, over the
last five years they have invested, approximate-
ly, 53.1 million usd in 2005, 120.6 million usd in
2006, 98.0 million usd in 2007, 300.4 million
usd in 2008 and, in the first half of 2009, 124.7
million usd.”
“I believe that the opening of facilities by
both the Federal and State governments, and
making them available to foreign investors, as
well as Mexico’s stable economy and free trade
agreements, have helped this sector to flour-
ish,” he adds.
There are some states that received more
foreign investment than others in this sector,
Fregoso explains. For example, Nuevo León
received in 2008 205.7 million usd and in
January to June of 2009 it has received 20.5
million usd. In the same periods, Estado de
México received 10.7 million usd and 61.4
million usd, Distrito Federal 32.8 million usd
and 14.9 million usd, Sonora 21.8 million usd
and 7.7million usd, Baja California 16.8 mil-
lion usd and 16.1 million usd, Chihuahua 10.2
million usd and 2.2 million usd and Tamauli-
pas 2.4 million usd and 0.9 million usd.
report home appliances industry
So why Mexico? Manufacturers are unanimous when they
say that Mexico’s skilled workforce, strategic location, large
suppliers and supply chains and logistics easiness are the
main reasons for locating in the country.
Foreign investors are attracted to Mexico
for several reasons, apart from the facilities
made available by Federal and State govern-
ments. One of them is our skilled workforce.
Companies look for a workforce that has the
ability to manufacture equipment to the re-
quired standards. Another aspect is geograph-
ic location in relation to the United States and
Latin America. Home appliance clusters in
the states of Nuevo León, Coahuila, Querétaro
and San Luis Potosí are important elements of
competition that have benefitted companies.
Home appliance clusters have provided com-
panies with advantages that have made them
very competitive. First, companies are located
in the same geographic areas, allowing them to
group as a sector and operate among themselves.
These same sites also incorporate suppliers, aux-
iliary industries, recycling and training institu-
tions and many other services, substantially im-
proving their competitiveness.
Really, there is no better location in the
Americas for inexpensive labor, proximity to the
huge US market and organization. It is difficult
for other countries in the Americas to compete.
The only two who perhaps could, are the US and
Brazil and we can see already that US companies
are turning in their droves to establish manufac-
turing sites in Mexico.
It must also be remembered that the main
distribution channels have contributed to the
success of the home electrical appliance indus-
try in Mexico. Appliances are now sold in su-
permarkets, department stores and wholesale
furniture shops. There are also many financing
and credit programs that allow consumers to
buy home appliances at fixed prices or at favor-
able interest rates.
In spite of the global economic crisis, this sec-
tor will keep more or less stable in the first se-
mester of 2010. I hope that in the second quarter
of 2010 we will see a growth in exports of 3 to 4%.
That will be thanks to the excellent quality of the
electric domestics manufactured in Mexico.”
Yes, we have come a long way since the
“Stone Age” and many an old granny must
look in wonder as her grandchildren load up
the dishwasher or washer dryer. How she
would have loved such appliances back in her
younger days. n
20 Negocios infographic oldemar

Home Appliances 78
Industry in Mexico Manufacturing
Plants

Chihuahua
Electrolux de México
Electrolux Home-Products
Juver Industrial
Digital Appliance Controls
Dometic MX
Honeywell Manufacturas
IMW de México
Jabil Circuit de Chihuahua
Plexus Electrónica
Chihuahua
9
Nuevo León
LG Electronic Monterrey
Mabe
Industrias Acros Whirlpool Industrias
Starion México Acros Whirlpool
Carrier México Mabe3
Oasis Latinoamérica GSEB Mexicana
Panasonic Home Appliances Vistar
York Aire
Criotec
1
Texas
9 Instruments
Aguascalientes
Estado de México
LG Electronics México Ventiladores 2 4
Copacabana
Koblenz Eléctrica
Calentadores Magamex
Jabil Circuit
Gillete de México (Braun) de México Jalisco Guanajuato
Industrias Técnicas Mexicanas (Lenisco)
Philips Mexicana
Sunbeam Mexicana1
Turmix de México PA C I F I C O C E A N
Appleton Electric

1 Sunbeam, Osterizer, Oster and Mr. Cofee 2 Bosch and Continental 3 T-Fal, Krups, Moulinex, Romenta Major appliances Minor appliances Suppliers
 report home appliances industry

24 32
Major Minor
appliances
22
Suppliers
appliances

U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A Tamaulipas
Maytag Mexico Appliance Products
Tutco de México
Black & Decker de Reynosa
Grupo Marshall
Industrias Rheem
Sunbeam Oster
Matamoros
Kimco
Wiegand

6
Distrito Federal
BSH Electrodomésticos
Hamilton Beach/Proctor–Silex de México
Tamaulipas Industrias Man de México
Timco
Nuevo León
Kim Teck
GULF OF MEXICO Nulec Industrias

2 Coahuila
Leiser WC Wood
Mabe Grupo Industrial Saltillo (Calorex, Cinsa)
Hamilton Beach Proctor Silex
San Luis Potosí Mabe Sanyo
Compressors Sunbeam Oster de Acuña

Electrodomésticos Aparatos Eléctricos Acuña

Latinoamericanos
Querétaro 2 Taurus Mexicana 5
2 Querétaro
Gestar
Electrodomésticos Daewoo Electronics
Tlaxcala
Industrias Mabe
Puebla Acros Whirlpool Samsung Electronics México
Estado
de México Applica Manufacturing
Servilamina Summit Mexicana

Source: ProMéxico
22 Negocios photo courtesy of sony

TV Manufacturing:
The Electronics Edge
By ALFREDO AZCÁRATE VARELA Mexican
TV Exports
After creating thousands of jobs and bringing millions of dollars in (millions of usd)
economic activity generated by their operations, TV manufacturing
2000 5,744.42
firms operating in Baja California suffered the worldwide financial 2001 6,244.80
crisis but Government officials and industrial leaders consider that in 2002 6,700.28
2010 the market demand will grow again. 2003 6,413.36
2004 7,693.12
One of the industrial sectors that expanded in Mexico’s share of international TV imports 2005 10,318.37
Mexico due to the North American Free Trade in the USA went from 40.6% in 1990 to 63.5% 2006 16,641.68
Agreement (NAFTA) was electronics and TV in 1996, above Malaysia, Japan and Thailand, 2007 21,762.31
manufacturing which reached unexpected high mainly due to the changes on TV set production 2008 22,612.17
levels. The TV production in Mexico was 1.7 mil- in the US, first with Asian plants setting up in the 2009* 11,088.56
lion in 1987 and grew to 25 million in 1998 with US and then with a trend to relocate plants to the *January – August
an ever-growing pace that reached a peak of al- Northern region of Mexico. Baja California was Source: Banco de México
most 35 million TVs in 2003. the state to receive most benefit from this.

In the mid 80s most American TV manu-
facturers disappeared because of their Asian
and European transnational competitors.
Some examples are: Thomson, a French
corporation which bought all General Elec-
tric and RCA plants and was itself later pur-
chased by a Chinese company; Phillips from
the Netherlands bought Sylvania and Mag-
navox; Japan’s Matsushita acquired Quasar
and Korean LG electronics bought Zenith.
Thus, the worldwide television industry
split into two main branches: European and
Asian manufacturers both with operations in
the US. Asian operations in America grew so
fast that started a TV cluster or vertical manu-
facturing integration in Tijuana due to its close-
ness to Long Beach port facilities.Throughout
the 90s and the early years of the 21st century,
these TV manufacturing operations became
bigger and stronger in northern Mexico, cre-
ating thousands of jobs in Baja California. The
expectation for many local small enterprises
was that they would become a supplier for one
of these firms operating in Baja California.
These plants started attracting their suppli-
ers to be closer to them, to satisfy the plants’
demands, so industrial parks hosting different
maquila operations became industrial “clus-
ter” locations, with different firms coming to
Baja California, creating jobs and transferring
technology.
These parks were production centers
where all the TV manufacturing components
were made in separate plants and then incor-
porated into the process in the main plant, so
they could have better industrial input prices
and “Just In Time” deliveries.
An example is the Tijuana operation
of Sony where the cluster includes foreign
supplier Tijuana operations, comprising
screens, chassis, print circuits, deflection
yolk, tuners and plastic components, among
others, while local suppliers were able to
deliver plastic bags, plastic and wooden cabi-
nets, uniforms, reparation molds and some
plastic components.
When the “clustering” process began
there were Mexican suppliers who upgraded
their operations to fulfill different firm re-
quirements and started doing business with
these Asian operations, therefore becoming
part of the cluster.
The TV manufacturing cluster “splen-
dor” establelized. Even though it had ups and
downs, it is one of the biggest employment
sources in Baja California and, in its heyday,
special report tv manufacturing
Television manufacturing is
going through a transition
phase and, according to
expectations from the
public and private sectors
for 2010, TV manufacturing
operations will grow, as
well as many other clusters
related to digital TV and
monitors.
had almost 25,000 jobs. The world crisis low-
ered this crucial economic activity but it didn’t
obliterate it.
Recovery Signals
The problem of plants closing in Baja Cali-
fornia has almost finished according to Gov-
ernor Guadalupe Osuna, who said there are
investment retention strategies being set by
the state’s Ministry of Economic Development
and that electronic and aerospace operations
such as Skyworks will soon announce new im-
portant investments. He considered that eco-
nomic recovery had already started as 2009
had overcome a cautious foreign investment
forecast of about one billion usd, adding up, as
of September 2009, to 1.089 billion usd, taking
into consideration national and international
investment in the state.
According to the Minister of Economic De-
velopment of Baja California, Alejandro Mun-
garay, October 2008 was an extremely difficult
month for manufacturing plants operating in
Baja California, as well as for the rest of the
world, but as of first quarter of 2009, things
started to improve a bit, at least in Mexico.
Transition Phase
Consumer world trends have evolved with
modernization process on the TV cluster. This
industry is going through a restructuring pro-
cess due to legal standardization of the digital
television signal for the US which has yielded a
big demand for digital televisions.
Baja California has witnessed this concen-
tration process regarding TV manufactur-
ing and some companies being absorbed by
Taiwanese enterprises which are now leaving
behind processes based on restructuring and
reorienting their distribution channels to Cen-
tral and South American markets as well as
the exporting Californian market.
In Sony’s case, they closed their plants in
Mexicali, Kansas and Pittsburgh and relocated
all in Tijuana, thanks to the availability of tech-
nical resources and trained personnel other
enterprises had left behind, stressing once
again the high technical level of Baja Califor-
nia’s workforce and industrial park facilities.
The relocation of Sony created about 1,500
jobs in Tijuana, then it merged with Fox-
com, creating an enterprise with more than
600,000 employees worldwide. They also
opened 1,000 new job positions in Tijuana, so
there were job positions closed in Mexicali but
many others opened in Tijuana.
Another example is LG Electronics from
Korea, with a huge TV manufacturing opera-
tion that started more than fifteen years ago
and now has left Baja California. Mungaray
explained that LG manufactured cell phones
as well as televisions in Mexicali, when their
analysts determined it wasn’t profitable to
continue the cell phone operation they closed
the plant and moved their plasma screen op-
eration to an ongoing project in Reynosa, Tam-
24 Negocios
Consumer world trends have evolved
with modernization process on the TV
cluster. This industry is going through
a restructuring process due to legal
standardization of digital television
signal for the US which has yielded a big
demand for digital televisions.
photos courtesy of sony
aulipas, another northern Mexican state, so
most of LG investment in Baja remained in
Mexico.
Kyowa, a Japanese supplier for Sony,
closed its plant almost completely but this
allowed the growth of another enterprise of
plastic injection operations.
Yet another example is Data Products
which was able to double its staff by using
trained employees from companies that had
closed or cut their operations in Mexicali. So
once again Baja California is growing stron-
ger after surviving the 2008 world financial
crisis.
Javier Martínez Luna, President of the
Tijuana Maquila Industry Association said
“Tijuana has benefited in the electronics
cluster because there was a TV signal switch
from analog to digital, so this brought along a
commercial boom. TV manufacturing oper-
ations have broadened operations, creating
approximately 2,530 direct job positions.”
“Estimations are of 8,000 to 10,000 di-
rect jobs in Baja California TV manufacture
operations, with names such as Sharp, Sony
and Sanyo. With some Korean operations
and Taiwan enterprises starting to arrive,
it is difficult to estimate the total television
production in Tijuana but only one firm will
manufacture a grand total of one million TV
sets this year and expectations are as high
as 4 million TV sets in 2010,” said Martínez
Luna.
According to Arturo Lara, President of the
Mexicali Maquila Industry Association, “The
electronics sector is very ‘aggressive’, mainly
the TV manufacturing branch. An example is
Sony. It left Mexicali and part of it was sold to
another firm, seeking more economic manu-
facturing to achieve bigger corporative profit
margins. LG also left but Mitsubishi stayed,
manufacturing 40 to 82 inch LCD televisions
and plasma screens with an output of approx-
imately 30,000 TV sets a month, and accord-
ing to the recovery process pace this figure
could be much bigger in 2010.”
“We are recovering from the losses stem-
ming from the international financial cri-
sis and the plants that were to leave have
already gone and the ones that stayed will
remain for a stable period of time. As a mat-
ter of fact, we have hit rock bottom and, in a
technical sense, recession in the US is almost
over. We hope that as of February the tech-
nical layoffs will end and in March or April
most of the plants will be working at full ca-
pacity,” concluded Lara.
 special report tv manufacturing

The TV manufacturing
cluster “splendor”
establelized. Even though
it had ups and downs,
it is one of the biggest
employment sources in
Baja California and, in
its heyday, had almost
25,000 jobs.

Television manufacturing is going through

a transition phase and, according to expec-
tations from the public and private sectors
for 2010, TV manufacturing operations will
grow, as well as many other clusters related to
digital TV and monitors, such as medical de-
vices, aerospace, computers and automotive,
among others.
The transition phase that resulted from the
crisis might become another blessing for Baja
California and the television cluster might rise
again and soar higher in the sky of the future. n
26 Negocios photos archive

Electronics,
a Winning
Formula
BY SOL FORTOUL

In 2010 the electronics industry
will be switching to a new high-
tech cluster in Mexico. Alliances
are being forged between
emerging clusters all across the
country, fostering projects to
realize Mexico’s vision for itself
as an international bridge and a
strong hand for Latin America.
It is the newest member of Mexico’s industrial
family, and the flexibility of its productive capac-
ity makes it a sturdy partner at times of interna-
tional crisis. In 2010, the electronics and technol-
ogy industry, comprising around 3,000 business
units, will seek to consolidate Mexico’s emerging
clusters and form international alliances in the
fields of design, production and services.
With exports worth 69.74 billion usd in
2008, the electronics industry expects to end
2009 on a positive note, with modest increases
in manufacturing levels of between 2 and 3%
and a notable increase in segments such as
multimedia and custom-designed services, that
have posted 30% increases in productivity.
In 2010, the electronics industry will con-
solidate alliances between individual clusters
and map out a national high-tech cluster as the
engine for project leadership in Latin America.
Mexico is now the control center for the essen-
tial operations of international enterprises. HP
controls parts of its financial system from here,
while IBM’s plant located in Jalisco handles pro-
curement and supplies for Latin America.
“The outlook for 2010 is promising. We are
confident, because the sector continues ex-
panding in new segments that are growing at
a healthy rate. Manufacturing is still on the up,
this year we will see a 2% growth, and multi-
media has a higher growth rate. However we
cannot compare both results, as a 2% growth
rate in manufacturing represents a strong
performance in the current financial context”,
explains Ricardo Gómez, an executive at the
National Chamber of the Electronics, Telecom-
munications and Information Technology In-
dustry (Canieti).
Cover Feature Electronics Industry
Timeline
w
1950
The first manufacturing plants for the
technological development of electron-
ics for audio, video and product assem-
bly are installed along Mexico’s north-
ern border.
1967
Mexico’s first intelligent cluster is
formed, initially boosted by the pres-
ence of companies such as Motorola and
IBM, in Jalisco’s “Silicon Valley”.
1985
The development of the software indus-
try sows its seeds in the electronics sec-
tor, marking a radical new perception of
the industry, which had focused exclu-
sively on manufacturing processes until
that point.
1990
Mexico becomes the international man-
ufacturing procurement center for CEM
and its supporting companies. The ar-
rival of Asian headquarters leads to an
important growth in higher-complexity
assembly plants.
2000
The electronics industry is forced to
adapt following the international crisis
and cost-competition in Asia.
2002
Flexibility in manufacturing production
lines ensures the survival of internation-
al electronics companies with a presence
in Mexico, and the migration towards
the design of higher added-value prod-
ucts becomes the only alternative.
2003
Product design gathers momentum and
a new business niche is born for the sec-
tor: services.
2009
Medical and aerospace systems and
products are developed, increasing the
sector’s level of complexity and placing
Mexico in a prime position as a leading
business location for multinational cor-
porations working in Latin America.
28 Negocios photo archive

With a network of
over 350,000 jobs, the
electronics industry
took root in Mexico 50
years ago. Ever since, the
industry has managed to
reinvent itself in order
to handle state-of-the-
art products with its
competitive advantages
over the Asian cluster,
its main manufacturing
competitor.
Numbers speak for themselves: elec-
tronics manufacturing departments which
produce items such as modular circuits for
telephony equipment, processing units, com-
puter equipment, telephone switching appa-
ratus or laptop computers (PCs) all maintain
modest growth rates, with higher increases
in the multimedia and design segments.
With a network of over 350,000 jobs
and a predominantly female workforce the
electronics industry took root in Mexico 50
years ago with the arrival of companies such
as Motorola. Ever since, the industry has
managed to reinvent itself in order to handle
state-of-the-art products with its competitive
advantages over the Asian cluster, its main
manufacturing competitor.

A Strong Image
The most advanced audiovisual products
such as plasma screens and systems for video
and sound is the cluster generating the highest
manufacturing output in Mexico. The plants
are mostly located along the border with the
US, the world’s largest consumer market.
The large expanse of these manufactur-
ing plants convert many of these companies
veritable industrial parks, as their premises
include services such as clinics, child nurser-
ies, canteens and sports facilities.
A map produced by the Mexican Minis-
try of Economy marking the location of the
most representative industries shows that
around 61% of the audio and video elec-
tronic industries are located in the Tijuana
and Mexicali cluster. In Baja California the

sound and image are crystal clear, with com-
panies such as Samsung, Sony, Sanyo, JVC
and Pioneer. It is followed by Ciudad Juárez
with 26% of companies, with the remainder
spread out between cities such as Monterrey
and Reynosa.
Chip by Chip
The manufacture of components and prod-
ucts makes the electronic sector one of Mex-
ico’s industrial sectors with the widest scope.
Over the past decade, the industry has
made significant progress and products now
include everything from systems that can be
used for brain-scanning as well as 3D anima-
tions, or for financial system planning and
multinational corporations’ strategic work.
Mexico has an estimated 3,000 com-
panies in the electronics industry: 2,000
specialize in information technologies, 500
in manufacturing and the rest in industry-
related activities.
For high value-added manufacturing, the
Jalisco cluster offers clear advantages when
compared with other development nodes in
Mexico and even Latin America. As well as
generating 2,000 new jobs in 2009 and over
17 billion usd in exports, this cluster of com-
panies such as IBM, Flextronics, Sanmina,
Jaibil and other software giants invested
some 300 million usd over the past year.
Other Mexican states such as Estado de
México, have kept their focus on mobile tele-
phony with the presence of companies such
as Ericsson and Pantech.
“Jalisco is an important cluster in terms
of the technological complexity that it can
develop. The Tijuana-Mexicali corridor is
also important for Mexico’s electronic in-
dustry. Interesting examples can also be
found elsewhere in places such as Merida
for collaborative IT projects as well as cities
with a technological vocation such as Aguas-
calientes, León, Colima, Tepic, Morelia and
Guadalajara. Adding all these cities together,
we have a bridge with nine airports and four
maritime ports”, says Ricardo Gómez.
Mexico’s electronics industry provides
many examples of formulae for continuous
improvement, with five decades’ worth of
experience with multinational manufactur-
ing companies and 24 years of technology
applied to software development. Its advan-
tages in the area of electronic design add an
exclusive bonus for Latin America: Leader-
ship. n
Cover Feature Electronics Industry
In 2010, the electronics industry will consolidate alliances
between individual clusters and map out a national high-tech
cluster as the engine for project leadership in Latin America.
Mexico is now the control center for the essential operations
of international enterprises.
A Multimedia Lake
Mexican multimedia companies are recording robust annual growth rates
between 30% and 100%, taking full advantage of the opportunities available to
them.
Multimedia has been the fastest-growing technology sector in recent years, due
to the large pool of talent in creativity and program design, including animation
and other movie-related technologies. It is at the heart of the electronics industry,
with annual growth rates between 30% and 100%, according to a survey
undertaken with companies in the sector.
“The growth in multimedia and digital filming has been key for Mexico’s
electronic and technological sectors. This has been a strong trend for some
years and now we can make highly-complex productions”, say executives from
Más Fusión, a multimedia company that has widened its horizons to handle
international productions.
Hundreds of companies have found that multimedia offers a number of
advantages for growth, making it attractive in comparison to the more modest
levels of growth seen in other sectors including the electronics manufacturing
industry itself.
A Smart Park
The cloudy pale blue-sky contrasts with the pink tower that signals an
innovative development for Mexico’s software and multimedia industry – a
“smart city” built over 35 acres on the banks of Lake Chapala in Jalisco. Chapala
Multimedia Park is one of the strategic projects supported by the National
Council on Science and Technology (Conacyt), involving an investment of over 7
million usd in its first phase.
“The added value encourages us to develop another industry for animation,
video games, visual effects for movies and for other areas such as multimedia
simulation. The project has been under development for four years with
developments such as Creanimax, bringing together key talent. But it was
two years ago that we took the decision to create a physical space for these
companies with a multimedia park”, says Ricardo Gómez, the driving force
behind this project.
The area is located on the bypass between Chapala and Ajijic and was developed
with funding from the three levels of Mexican government (federal, state and
municipal) and from the private sector. “To detonate the development of Chapala
Multimedia Park we visited locations in the United States, Canada, Argentina and
Spain to see what was needed, and based on what we learned we drew up the
project for Conacyt and it was classified as a strategic project”, explains Gómez.
The first phase of the park, which has been operating since December 2009,
will provide space for around 300 people and boasts a digital cinema forum,
professional audio studios and all the necessary technology for animation and
video game production.
30 Negocios illustration oldemar

Electronics Industry in Mexico

Audio & Video Telecommunications Photo & Printing Automotive Home Appliances Computers

Major Firms
Baja California
Delta
Display Orion
Hitachi
Ichia
JVC
King Cord Mex
LG Chihuahua
Matsushita
Sonora Toshiba
Merry Tech
Mitsubishi Philips Thomson
Baja California Thomson
Pioneer
Samsung Kenwood
Sanyo Asus
Sharp Keytronics
Sony Tatung Coahuila
Thomson Lite on Enlight
Wistron Foxconn
BenQ Honeywell
Kodak ECMM
Delphi Elcoteq
Amphenol Jail
ADI Systems SMTC
Philips Delphi
Kyocera Elamex
Rectificadores Inernacionales Plexus
Vigobyte Altec
Coums
Bose Aguascalientes
Skyworks
Panasonic

Aguascalientes Jalisco
White Westinghouse PA C I F I C O C E A N
Xerox
Siemens
Flextronics
Volex
Texas Instruments
 Cover Feature Electronics Industry

Jalisco
IBM
HP
Hitachi
NEC
Lucent Technologies
Electronic Contract Manufacturing Other industries Kodak
Siemens
MTI Electronics
U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A Solectron
Flextronics
Jabil Circuit
Tamaulipas SCI Sanmina
Philips ECMM
Sony Benchmark
Jabil Technicolor
Celestica Universal Scientific
Nokia Motorola
Lucent Technologies Cumex
Fujitsu
Condura
Estado de México
Ericsson
Delnosa
Alcatel
Delco
Pantech
Matsushita
Scientific Atlanta
Tamaulipas Delphi
Olimpia
Keytronics
Nuevo León AMP
Tyco
Sony

Querétaro
Clarion
Siemens

GULF OF MEXICO Sonora

Alcatel
Motorola
Volex
Molex
AMO
Amphenol

Nuevo León
Querétaro Pioneer
Kodak
Estado de México SCI – Sanmina
Celestica
Elcoteq
Morelos AFL
Nippon Denso
Axa Yazaki

NEC
Source: ProMéxico
32 Negocios
Intel Designs
the Future
from Mexico
The future is being written by a
group of 400 Mexican engineers
at Intel’s Design Center in
Guadalajara, where a significant
amount of the technology that
will be launched during the next
ten years is researched, designed
and tested.
BY JESÚS ESTRADA CORTES
A significant amount of the technology that
Intel will launch for the global market during
the next decade is researched, designed and
validated by a group of nearly 400 Mexican
engineers at the Guadalajara Design Center
(GDC), a facility established in 2000 by Intel
in the western state of Jalisco.
The history of the center reflects the tal-
ent potential of Mexican “mind labor”, which
has propelled Mexico’s “Silicon Valley”, a title
earned by Jalisco’s technology industry clus-
ter thanks to its wide array of services which
cover from simple assemblies and product
manufacturing to maintaining complex de-
sign, innovation and development projects.
Jesús Palomino, General Manager of
GDC describes the evolution of the center
since its opening in October 2000 “with a
focus on the telecommunications industry.”
Chips were designed, tests were performed
“and we provided support and developed
products with other teams in the US; we
worked with a staff of 30 to 40 people until
2002.”
At the end of 2002, the telecom industry
was affected by the economic downturn that
came after the “dot com” bubble burst or the
Photos courtesy of intel
internet-based company crisis. When sales
expectations changed, “we decided to focus
on another area, on all server platforms.
From that moment on, new growth opportu-
nities emerged,” Palomino recalls.
That is when GDC began to restructure.
Some integrated circuit test operations were
refocused to work with servers and the site
began building a new infrastructure.
Design and validation
“We began to set up laboratories, because al-
though we already had labs for telecom circuit
testing, server-type platform tests required
larger equipment and space. We set up 8,000
sq feet of laboratories and began to bring new
projects, more tasks and opportunities,” ex-
plains Palomino.
At the same time, the center’s staff also began
to expand and became more specialized. Al-
though the focus of this second stage was server
platform validation, “a wide array of new options
opened inside the center. We began with com-
patibility validation to make sure that all operat-
ing systems would execute properly on the new
servers,” Palomino recalls. Hardware and video
card applications were also designed.

“Alter that we passed on to system-type
validation. Then we added electric-level vali-
dation for all interfaces and communication
between the processor, chip set or computer.”
This type of validation deals with commu-
nication between these two circuits and “we
are now talking about quite a few gigahertz,
the signal quality must be analyzed as well as
temperature variations and voltage changes,
we analyze all these and make sure that the
signal quality continues to be adequate,” notes
Palomino.
The success in validation processes allowed
the center to attract more responsibilities, such
as keeping a group of engineers “that designs
a complete computer to test future processors
and chip sets. We have two groups that design
complete computer platforms […] in order for
the platform to be ready before the new pro-
cessor or chip set is launched.”
Furthermore, integrated circuit design and
development was assigned to the center to test
the technology with the chip sets that will be
launched in the market.
Research and development
The positive outcome attracted research and
development groups to Guadalajara. A group of
platform specialists was created, researching ev-
erything from power transmission to tempera-
ture control. This was at the end of 2005.
Subsequently, another group was created
to research wireless connection architecture
that will be available in five to
such as Wi-Fi or Wi-Max. These are Intel’s
only research and development groups in
Latin America.
More recently, a group that designs BIOS
was created. This is the most basic software
that runs on a computer, for Intel platforms.
Today the center has groups that design cir-
cuits, platforms and packages, and perform the
electrical validation process for products that
will be launched in the market in three years.
There are also research and development
groups for the technology that will be available
in five to ten years.
“The third group is dedicated to platforms
that can be successful in emerging coun-
tries,” explained Palomino. The challenge
here is to understand what type of platforms
can be placed in the market to support edu-
cation in schools. That is how Class Mate PC
Today the center has
groups that design circuits,
platforms, packages and
perform the electrical
validation process for
products that will be
launched in the market in
three years. There are also
research and development
groups for the technology
ten years.
mexico’s partner intel
was created: the personal computer that In-
tel launched to support children’s education
in emerging countries. The concept of this
product was conceived from Guadalajara
jointly with China and India and the testing
was performed at GDC.
Writing the future
Among the nearly 400 engineers that work
at the center, 53% have a bachelor’s or engi-
neering degree, 33% have master’s degrees,
almost 7% have doctor’s degrees and the rest
are technicians.
For the future, “we face a great opportu-
nity. After this economic crisis, enterprises
have to stretch their finances, continue to in-
novate, continue with the product road map
and place new products in the market in or-
der to compete.”
Palomino considers that “we can offer a
good solution of adequate talent at suitable
costs” with technical and management lead-
ership development, adequate infrastruc-
ture, and the support in Jalisco’s ‘ecosystem’
thanks to the synergy between universities,
industries and the government, “we have a
big chance to attract more high technology
projects” to the country.
“We are at a transition point where not
only large transnational corporations, but
also the small and medium-sized US com-
panies will need alliances with Mexican en-
terprises […] to carry out their projects with
quality, on a timely basis, with innovation and
suitable costs.”
Palomino considers that Mexico’s strengths
include its geographical proximity to the US, as
well as easy and fast communication and trans-
portation between both countries.
Other advantages are the competitive cost
of Mexican engineering or “mind labor”, with
a lower staff rotation rate than other countries,
which encourages work group growth, acceler-
ates maturity and attracts more roles and duties.
He also mentioned the great availabil-
ity of talent. “There are universities all over
Mexico that are producing good quality tal-
ent,” therefore company training is quick
and the learning curves are short. Finally, he
mentioned the support offered by state and
federal governments, which “have aided in
attracting projects.” n
34 Negocios illustration oldemar

Video Games
“Made in Mexico,”
A Serious Bet
BY CRISTINA ÁVILA-ZESATTI

The Mexican market for video games is the largest in Latin America and the country moves forward to
consolidating an industry with creations of its own. Juego de Talento (Talent Game) is an entrepreneurial
venture with an innovative and propositive business model with the objective of promoting purely
Mexican video game production. The challenge is to actively integrate Mexico to one of the most buoyant
industries of our times, which foresees sales of 45 billion usd during the course of the next two years.

Global economic crisis? For the video game in-
dustry this concept merely represent another
of its animated fictions due to the fact that the
figures sound absolutely real.
According to the International Develop-
ment Group (IDG), a company that identifies
the fastest growing social and economic sec-
tors, by 2011 the global video game market will
reach revenues as fantastic as its creations: 45
billion usd.
Mexico’s role in this 3D story is worth mil-
lions and is significant mainly for the produc-
ers. In 2011, the video game industry in Latin
America will surpass those of Canada, Italy and
Australia. Mexico is the leading consumer of the
region, where 50% of the video games are sold.
According to an Americas News Intelligence re-
port, Mexico has a market of 15 million players
that generates annual sales of 670 million usd.
The manufacturers expect an income of 1 billion
usd by 2010.
We are ready to “go to the next stage of the
game.” Mexico is beginning to participate in
another section of the industry: the develop-
ment of its own video games. The bids are high
and the game is undoubtedly serious.
Turning the Game into Business
The initial development stages of the industry
are precisely what Gabriel Grinberg has trans-
formed into the strength of his business strate-
gy. As the saying goes, a good player never loses
if he knows how to recognize the signs in time.
Grinberg is the creator of Juego de Talento
(Talent Game), a company which main goal is
to develop the “Made in Mexico” video game
industry with a relatively fast-paced growth
rate.
“The fact that countries with a much small-
er market have a much larger video game in-
dustry is unconceivable to me,” remarks the
President of Juego de Talento.
It is a fact that the consumers of Venezuela,
Central America, Chile and Colombia barely
represent 5% of the total regional market; nev-
ertheless, the video game industries of these
countries are ahead in production compared
to Mexico, which in realistic terms, is barely
beginning to participate in one of the most
promising sectors of the global economy.
In this scenario, Juego de Talento is not
merely an enterprise. It is a business model
conceived in 2007 by Gabriel Grinberg with a
focus not only on the present but also on the
short-term future.
The strategy has various stages, most of
them simultaneous, to promote the Mexican
video game industry: an annual contest to iden-
tify young talents, an incubator for new enter-
prises and the certified training of these talents
in the process of creating new companies.
“The idea is to initially generate the critical
mass in order to incorporate these talents to the
industry, therefore gradually increasing not only
the number of developers, but also the quality.
This is the reason why training is important and
an integral part of our plan,” explains Grinberg.
The first contest announcement for Mexican
video game developers was made in 2008 with
 mexico’s partner juego de talento

a response that even surprised the organizers: ization, when various participants interact in culture, music, sports, and various other topics.
104 projects were received from young develop- front of a challenging screen. “Juego de Talento’s annual contest always
ers from all over the country, who were not over The myth that video games are “for chil- has a theme, because we want to promote edu-
30 years old. Juego de Talento identified the most dren”, and created to penetrate in fantasy cation and be propositive. We must understand
talented, awarded 6 teams and added a total of worlds, has practically disappeared. In many that today’s youth is hyper textual and very
10 groups to the incubator, which will enter the countries developers have taken advantage skilled in surfing the web. These traits represent
market as formal businesses this year. of this situation to create various programs an advantage and not an obstacle if they are
In 2009, the second announcement proved dealing with society, environment awareness, steered correctly. Video games can offer a posi-
that this business model is positively changing tive contribution to education of future genera-
the rules of the game in the Mexican industry. tions,” Grinberg notes.
A project theme related to Mexican history An Enterprise that This is the reason why, Juego de Talento has
was proposed –taking advantage of the soon- decided to walk hand in hand with the Mexican
to-be-celebrated Mexican Independence Bi-
Gives Birth to Other Independence Bicentennial celebrations. In
centennial– the response was overwhelming: Enterprises fact, the 2010 National Celebrations Organizing
over 400 teams, with larger and better quality Committee is sponsoring the company because
projects than those of 2008; to the point that the • Juego de Talento’s incubator offers as Grinberg says, “they are interested in teach-
President of Juego de Talento estimates that the specialized counseling regarding ing Mexican history in a way that would be fun
number of incubated enterprises could easily all technical aspects related to and most of all, alluring for young people.”
double. video game development, as well
as on business topics such as Randomness is “Out of the Game”
The Game is a Serious Issue business plan development, how Gabriel Grinberg used to be an IT consultant.
If video game detractors argue that they pro- to create a financial program, and As a businessman today, he knows that right
duce negative reactions such as inhibition, in- the steps that need to be taken in choices should be pursued while mistakes must
activity, lack of formal training, and even men- order to establish an enterprise. be avoided.
tal disorders, its defenders –among which Ga- • Additionally, the physical working Juego de Talento is a small company. Nev-
briel Grinberg stands– state that today young space is provided for the team ertheless, it expects to grow as the incubating
people interact differently with technology. during the product incubation projects become productive. By 2010, Grinberg
Recent studies prove that many players im- period, as well as the technological expects to have at least 30 of these new develop-
prove their neuro-kinetic abilities and visual infrastructure for prototype ments. Furthermore, he is aware that one of the
reflexes, in addition to a new type of social- development. key elements of any industry’s growth is human
capital development, thus the importance of
specialized trainers. This year, Juego de Talento
Companies and projects in the incubation launched its first specialized video game devel-
phase through Juego de Talento: opment diploma course, jointly with the Sor
Juana Cloister University: a five-month course
Company Project that will allow students to immerse in the differ-
ent stages of video game project development.
1000 1000 D.C. In 2010, more aggressive strategies will be
Entretenimiento Action game based on the Bible. used based on facts that have nothing to do with
Digital fiction, on the contrary, facts that are very real.
Juego de Talento will open branches in at least
Dream Builder Gilgamech 8 states of the country, to insure that its ‘talent
Online strategy video game that depicts the hunting’ efforts are as broad as possible.
epic history of a battle. In the meantime, while expecting gradual
results from the incubator as well as from the
Y Pix-T Art Microbus Driver expert training endeavors, Gabriel Grinberg’s
An adaptation of the Taxi Driver (1999) game company will maintain its current income seg-
based on the film of the same name, with a mentation. Juego de Talento currently handles
Mexican touch. an approximate investment of 1.5 million usd,
40% of which was made by the three business
• The teams formed in the incubator go through a four-month development partners while 60% came from sponsors The
period. short-term goal is to reach self-sustainability,
• So far the cost of the most expensive project supported by Juego de Talento is once its business model has been consolidated
4 million usd. and the first enterprises emerge from the pres-
• The cost of some most successful video games in the market today vary ent incubation stage. n
between 15 and 30 million usd.
www.juegodetalento.com 
36 Negocios photos courtesy of snake & eagle

Leading
Players of
Their Own
Technology
Snake & Eagle is one of the
Mexican enterprises that have
penetrated the videogame
market. The company has
chosen to create its own
technology, which is comparable
to the one used by the large
international enterprises that
trust Mexican talent.
BY FRANCISCO VERNIS

Snake & Eagle is one of the main Mexican de-

velopers and “publishers” of videogames; the
first to create a game for PlayStation and to reach
the Russian market, accomplishments attained
mainly due to its most basic commitment: the
development of its own technology.
The bizarre story of this 100% Mexican
company began in 1995. David Sánchez Na-
varro, founder and President of the firm, ex-
celled in computer knowledge as an engineer
since the 80’s, when he designed programs
and applications in 3D for civil engineering.
After the construction industry downturn
in 1995, he began to produce videogame 3D
animation as a subcontractor, using similar
elements to those that applied for large engin-
eering projects. That is how Snake & Eagle was
born, with the main objective of serving the
United States market outsourcers.
Sánchez Navarro began developing his own 2005 we reached the same level of practically Snake & Eagle launched the first videogame, An-
technology and the launching of Windows 95 any technology in the world. There isn’t any- trophos, in 2002, which was distributed together
paved the way for the process. He had to begin thing that we cannot match or do better than with a comic in Mexican newsstands and other
from scratch since there were no applications any company in the US, Russia or Great Brit- points of sale in the US.
that ran on the new operating system, and this ain,” remarks Sánchez Navarro, who changed Three years later, with a much more com-
narrowed the gap between Mexico and the the business suit he wore as an engineer for a plex technology, Snake & Eagle produced the
United States. T-shirt, which identifies him as a member of second part of Antrophos, which caught the
“In 1996 I began to program in Mexico as I the rest of his team. eye of the Russian market where a total of
did for all the large US companies. All the pre- With a more mature technology, Snake & Ea- 60,150 games were distributed.
vious codes were discarded, they were useless, gle began developing its own videogames and af- “The only way to produce profit is to de-
new ones had to be created from scratch. By ter the company Linaje Editorial was established, velop your own technology, and the first five

years are the most difficult. Once you have
passed that stage and you have an efficient
technology, development is simpler, due to the
fact that technological updates are less expen-
sive and new developers join a more compact
cluster, which shortens the distance with those
who have more advanced technologies,” com-
ments Sánchez Navarro as he speaks about the
obstacles in his business.
In the US, sale and distribution of Antrop-
hos was done directly through Linaje Editorial,
which was in charge of promotion and distri-
bution. This was an excellent introductory let-
ter for negotiations with Sony in order to place
one of their videogames on the PlayStation
platform.
Lucha is a game similar to Street Fighter,
but with Mexican scenes and fighters. The bat-
tles take place in Mexico City’s Zócalo Square,
in subway stations, or even at the Chamber of
Deputies. Furthermore, the game has live al-
ternative Mexican band music.
“I have always said that videogames carry an
enormous cultural burden; if you play a Japa-
nese game, you are in pagodas, with samurais,
with Japanese antiques, you are practically
playing in Japanese. If you play a British game,
such as Fable, you are playing with completely
British elements such as wizards, giants, and
elves, thus you are experiencing the British cul-
ture. In the US they have a very peculiar glimpse
on life: between weapons, gunshots and sex you
are playing a US culture game,” explains Sán-
chez Navarro.
It was a difficult task for Lucha to reach Sony,
but the Mexican enterprise was successful. Lu-
cha generated another phenomenon: the inclu-
sion of independent bands promoted the birth
of a third company, Snake & Eagle Music, to rep-
resent these bands. Therefore, the enterprise
has various business units: Snake & Eagle Tech-
nology, which produces the simulators; Snake &
Eagle Studios, which develops the videogames;
and Snake & Eagle Music.
 
The Technology Market
Despite the fact that the company focuses on
videogames, the development of the required
technology has opened other markets, such
as the production of simulators for other
Mexican companies and organizations, mainly
public, such as the Mexico City subway system,
the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), the
Mexican Oil Company (Pemex), and the Uni-
versity of Guanajuato, among others.
“Simulators exist thanks to the videogame
industry; they require more development and
product snake & eagle
complexity. Simulators are based on math- For Snake & Eagle the simulators represent
ematical equations and on a controlled virtual the work that allows them to cover everyday
reality but videogames call for artificial intelli- expenses, leaving time for research and devel-
gence, a collision atmosphere and system, real opment of videogame technology: each title
visual systems, reflections on water, soil, par- requires approximately four years of work be-
ticles that generate dust, smoke, fire, special tween the technological conception, the con-
effects. You have to create an attractive story, ceptualization and the detailed development.
have total control over the character,” explains The company has a permanent staff of 22
Sánchez Navarro. employees, which can increase up to 50 dur-
The advantages of a company that has a spe- ing high workflow periods, commented Sán-
cifically designed technology seem evident. Nev- chez Navarro, who claims that the success
ertheless, the engineer admits that some sectors of his enterprise lies on his team, thanks to
are still a bit reluctant towards technology. their ability to learn and eagerness in keep-
“The need for your own technology is not evi- ing up with the pace of innovation.
dent until you have it and you develop it. When “The enterprise has survived thanks to
an advanced simulator is installed, for CFE for its people, who have withstood the lack of
instance, it’s very easy to understand because it is resources for the passion of technological
produced entirely in Mexico, with our own tech- development and videogames, maintaining
nology, with the nature, language and ideology of the workflow and constantly learning. These
Mexican people. Even if the staff is not familiar people have taken the company to its current
with the technology, it is very simple to operate, position of technological leadership,” adds its
they catch on quickly,” notes Sánchez Navarro. President. n
Snake & Eagle: A 100% Mexican Team
• Alejandro Hernández Trigueros. IPN (National Polytechnic Institute)
Communications and Electronics Engineering graduate; UNAM (National
Autonomous University of Mexico) Science and Engineering Professor,
experienced in systems design and development since 1997. In 2004 he joined
the staff and is dedicated to 3D modeling and programming.
• Moisés Cano García. Graphic designer, with a background in magazine design
and printing systems. He joined the team in 2001 and is in charge of animation,
modeling and texturizing characters and videogame atmospheres and
simulators.
• Miriam Raquel Gamero Arenas. Graphic designer and illustrator, experienced
in text and magazine design and illustration. She is part of the staff since 2007
and is in charge of texturizing videogame characters and atmospheres. She also
provides support for design and concepts.
• Luis Cepeda Castillo. Sor Juana Cloister University Audiovisual Communications
graduate, with a background in electronic (radio and TV) and digital (internet)
media. He joined the company in 2003 to provide assistance in videogame sound
design; he is responsible for all music production.
• Juan Luis Ruiz Beltrán. Level Designer, animator and modeler. He became part of
the team in 2001, and is responsible for videogame and simulator 3D modeling.
• Alejandro Soto Serafín. UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
Computer Engineering graduate, experienced in 3D visualization system
development. Joined the staff in 2006 as a programmer.
• Benigno Fernández Aarún. UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
3D Modeling graduate, with experience in character modeling and animation. He
became part of the company in 2006; and is in charge of modeling characters,
atmospheres and other elements for videogames and simulators.
• David Sánchez Navarro. UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
Civil Engineering graduate, Science Professor for Surrey University, England.
Experienced in system analysis and application for engineering, biotechnology
projects, animation development and production for CD-ROM. He founded
Snake & Eagle in 1998.
38 Negocios photos courtesy of silicon border

A Space for the country for manufacturing high technolo-

gy products while allowing research to develop
processes, design, fabrication and testing able
High Tech to compete with Asian operations and costs,”
says Hill.
Furthermore, the concept of the park is
based on recent international experience.
With a strategy based on the growth of ICT,
Ireland surpassed a situation of relative back-
wardness and became the country with the

Businesses Thus, Silicon Border has a goal of attract-

ing investment from leading hi-tech players in
the world and will generate more than 50,000
second highest per capita income in the Euro-
pean Union. Other interesting cases are those
of Korea, Scandinavia and India.
jobs, mostly engineering and technical level Why Baja California? According to Oc-
Located on the border between during the development process, estimated to tavio Garza Fernández, President of Silicon
California and Baja California, take between 15 and 20 years. Border, the Mexicali Valley and Silicon Bor-
Silicon Border, a project for der is ideal for these types of projects. The
Best Practices and the Mexican Model Park has the most advanced state-of-the-art
the scientific and technological
The Silicon Border project is based on the infrastructure, a Leeds certified water pu-
industry in Mexico, will host concept of Hsinchu science park in Taiwan, rification and recycling waste treatment
companies with a high content operating since 1980 with great success. This plant, and highly reliable energy sources.
of technological innovation and will have an area of 2,000 hectares, of which Additionally, the Valley has a very favor-
promises to become an attractive the first 200 have been totally developed with able geographical location, a long career in
an investment of over 60 million usd. the electronics industry and manufacturing,
business model for the high
Silicon Border is designed, built and oper- and excellent schools for higher education.
technology major players in the ated by executives from the semiconductor in- “The Autonomous University of Baja Califor-
world. dustry who have been involved in technology nia, will be located inside the park with a 25
transfer to Asia over the past 3 decades. hectares campus for specialized engineering
Silicon Border is one of the first Mexican in-
dustrial parks 100% focused on Science, Tech-
nology and Renewable Energy projects. It is
located in Mexicali, just across the border with
the US in an area supplied with water from the
Colorado River and a major electrical sub-sta-
tion supplied by three separate power plants.
The park aims to become an ideal location
for alternative energy projects such as Solar
and Wind farms. It is also a great location to
establish processes for high-tech manufactur-
ing, which are characterized by intensive use
of water and electricity, “such as solar panel
industry, semiconductors, biotechnology, nan- 01 02
otechnology, medical, plasma technology ‘dis-
play devices’, among other sectors that are the
future of high technology,” says Daniel J. Hill,
CEO and founder of the project.
For eight years, Hill has been an enthusi-
astic promoter of the creation of this park as
a competitive alternative to Asia. “The vision
in creating this high-tech industrial complex
on the US-Mexico border is to provide Mexico
with an infrastructure that enables high-tech
companies anywhere in the world to move
manufacturing operations to the country and
exploit its competitive advantages such as geo-
graphical location, human capital, research, 01 map of Silicon Border
legal and tax benefits, intellectual property, 02 water treatment settling pond
03 view of the main entrance to the park
international treaties and logistics provided by 03 04 aerial view of the first phase of Silicon Border
 special feature silicon border

01

04

ics, Information Technology, Aerospace, Bio-

Silicon Border seeks to create an “ecosystem” favorable for technology, Automotive and Energy. These
the insertion of the talent of Mexican scientists and research are “mega clusters” which seek stronger in-
tegration noy only with the US but also with
centers within the value chain of production projects and the other regions of the world and within the
development of regional clusters of high technology related to country.
This strategy opens a great opportunity
companies to be established in the park. to strengthen research and development ac-
tivities related to the high tech industry and
technologies in renewable energies semicon- the park, allowing in addition, collaboration Silicon Border is a clear example.
ductors, laboratories and incubators. Also with research centers in other countries like The project aims to attract world-class
Mexicali has such excellent Universities as Germany, Spain, Taiwan, Japan and China. companies in those sectors that currently
CETYS and the Technological Institute of Silicon Border aims to become a “satellite have the highest annual growth rates in the
Mexicali, among others. We will also like to city, sustainable, focused on the development world.
have Conacyt (National Council for Science and application of science and knowledge”, Silicon Border provides first class infra-
and Technology) in the park,” explains Garza with a proper climate to further develop re- structure to meet the strict requirements
Fernandez, “so that the activity of industries search projects and the creation of high tech- of high-tech industries in a sustainable and
of the highest level of technology can be com- nology in a collaborative environment which ecological environment. The park offers a
plemented by Mexican research centers and facilitates the linkage between industry and unique position to companies engaged in
international resources for development of research institutes, universities and techni- manufacturing operations as well as to those
new products.” cal schools. oriented to design and renewable energy
It is perhaps here where lies the novelty generation.
of the model proposed by Silicon Border. It Key Element The Park is located on the North Corri-
seeks to create an “ecosystem” favorable for Silicon Border is inserted into a broader dor Silicon Market that will have sustained
the insertion of the talent of Mexican scien- strategy. Since 2002, government and pro- growth for 20 years. It is estimated that at the
tists and research centers within the value ductive sectors in Baja California have time of its maturity the park will house more
chain of production projects and the devel- prompted a clustering strategy to strength- than 40 high-tech companies. n
opment of regional clusters of high technol- en some of the most important sectors of the
ogy related to companies to be established in economy in the region, including: Electron- www.siliconborder.com
40 Negocios Infographics oldemar

Negocios figures Electric Industry

(Includes Home Appliances)
Electronics Industry

Electric & Electronics

Industry in Mexico
991,335
330,445 69,741

211,647 634,941 850 777

21,124 751
535

Employment Employment Industrial Exports Foreign Direct Investment

Direct Jobs Indirect Jobs Plants (Millions Of USD) (Millions Of USD)

Mexican
Electronics Industry
Foreign Investment
(Millions Of USD)

535
551
794 999 904 689 751
723 729
Industrial
Plants 700
632 690

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

69,741

39,032 44,783 46,856 56,398 64,637

Exports
(Millions Of USD) Source: ProMéxico with data from the Ministry of Economy.
The lifestyle
Sonora’s
Puerto
T h e Complete Guide of the Mexican Way of L i fe Peñasco
p. 44

Interview

agustín pizá
In Search of
Sustainable Golf
6
p. 46
Photo Courtesy of Agustín Pizá
42 Negocios i The Lifestyle
CITY
Guanajuato
celebrates
the Bicentenary
The state of Guanajuato advances in the con-
struction of the Bicentennial Expo Park (Expo
Parque Bicentenario). Located in the city
of Guanajuato, the Bicentennial Expo Park
encompasses more than 245 acres and will
include exhibitions and photographs that will
transport visitors into the past and allow them
to reflect on the future of our environment.
This expo is set to be open from July 10th
through November 20th, 2010.
A grand opening is planned to take place
on July 10th, 2010. The Park’s celebrations will
CULTURE
History Digitalized
As part of Mexico’s celebrations for the
Bicentenary of its Independence and
the Centenary of its Revolution, the
Mexican Government has launched a
digital library with more than 450 titles.
last for four months featuring artistic, gourmet
tastings and folkloric events with the participa-
tion of 10 countries.
In addition, a stellar event will be celebrated
on September 15th, 2010, with the traditional In-
dependence Day Grito (shout) and the presence
of popular artists. Finally, commemorating the
100 years of the Mexican Revolution, an extraor-
dinary celebration will mark its finale on Novem-
ber 20th, 2010.
Guanajuato is known for its splendid monu-
ments and buildings that make up an architec-
tural landscape full of culture and history. Its
colonial constructions have been kept intact for
hundreds of years and the city is known for its
cultural and artistic lifestyle.
www.bicentenarioguanajuato.gob.mx
The Bicentenary Digital Library is an on-
line collection of digitalized books referring
to different scenes of Mexican Independence
and Mexican Revolution, as well as literary
pieces in which the spirit of both events is
portrayed.
Many of these pieces are not available
now, either because publishing houses ran
out of stock or because they are antique or
photos archive
TECHNOLOGY
Exploring
Mexico
Through the
Web
Internet users can explore the streets of eight
Mexican cities through the application Street
View from Google. Mexico is the first Latin
American country where the company has
launched this application that allows users to
explore the world through images.
Street View was first launched in May 2007.
At the time, coverage was limited to just five
US cities.
The feature provides users 360° horizontal
and 290o vertical panoramic street level views
within Google Maps. Google collects these im-
ages using special cameras and equipment that
capture and match images to a specific loca-
tion using GPS devices. Once the images are
captured, they are “sewn” together to create a
360o panorama.
www.google.com
unique editions. Readers are allowed to
read each one of these books and “feel”
the color, typography and even the texture
it had when first published, with a plus:
the book is always available as readers
can save it in their computer or mobile
devices.
www.bicentenario.gob.mx/bdbic

ECOLOGY
Mexico City’s
Metrobus Awarded
T
he Mexico City Metrobus received
the 2009 Roy Family Award for
Environmental Partnership from
the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University. The
Mexico City Metrobus is a Bus Rapid Transit
(BRT) system that has significantly reduced
air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
in the world’s second largest city. This award
is presented bi-annually and recognizes
an outstanding public-private partnership
project that enhances environmental qual-
ity through the use of novel and creative ap-
proaches. The Mexico City Metrobus, which
carries 450,000 passengers per day, is the re-
sult of a successful collaboration among sev-
eral public and private institutions including
the Government of Mexico City, EMBARQ
(The World Resources Institute Center for
Sustainable Transport) and CEIBA (a Mexi-
The Lifestyle briefs
can NGO). Support includes funding from
the Shell Foundation, Caterpillar Founda-
tion, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
and the World Bank.
By introducing buses that operate on
clean-burning ultra low sulfur diesel fuel
and convincing many commuters to leave
their cars at home, the Metrobus system
has reduced carbon dioxide emissions from
Mexico City traffic by an estimated 80,000
tons per year. In addition, due to the expan-
sion of the system, a total of 839 polluting
mini-buses have been permanently removed
from the roads. New Metrobus corridors are
planned and will expand the system to ten
corridors by 2012.
The Metrobus system is part of Mexico
City’s Climate Action Plan, which is focused
on making Mexico City one of the most
environmentally-conscious and sustainable
cities in the world. The 15-year plan is de-
signed to reduce transportation-related
emissions; conserve public lands through
major reforestation projects; encourage
businesses to adopt sustainable environ-
mental practices; invest in critical envi-
ronmental infrastructure such as water
management systems and recycling cen-
ters and implement reforms regarding
the disposal of solid waste.
Mexico City, which is an active member
of C40 Cities-Climate Leadership Group, a
group of world cities promoting action and
cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, is investing more than 1 billion
usd on environmental-related infrastruc-
ture and implementing sustainable envi-
ronmental programs and practices.
www.metrobus.df.gob.mx
44 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Puerto Peñasco,
a Heavenly Bay in Sonora
Puerto Peñasco, on the northwest coast of the Sea of Cortés,
in the state of Sonora, offers a perfect combination of natural
beauty, excellent tourism facilities and well-developed ecological
programs. Puerto Peñasco is becoming one of beach lovers
favorite destinations in Mexico.
Puerto Peñasco or Rocky Point, as it is alter-
natively known among many of its English-
speaking visitors, was formerly known for its
large fishing fleet. In fact, it started as a fishing
village in the 1930s and gradually developed
into one of the major shrimp producing areas
in the Sea of Cortés.
Luckily for those who enjoy relaxing in
warm and clear beaches, Puerto Peñasco has
gradually left behind its commercial fishing vo-
cation, and is now completely open to the sight
of tourists from all around the world.
During the Prohibition era in the US, John-
ny Stone, a US businessman, visited Puerto
photos COURTESY OF puerto peñasco
Peñasco. Realizing the potential of this village
to attract wealthy Americans to vacation and
fishing, Stone built the town’s first hotel, drilled
a well, and opened for business.
But it was not until years later that Puerto
Peñasco was discovered as an alternative for
retirement and vacation. Nowadays the resort
is growing rapidly: there are several beach ho-
tels, more and more beach condominiums and
many beachfront RV parks. Finding a place to
stay in Puerto Peñasco has never been easier.
This heavenly bay in the state of Sonora is
located in the municipality of Puerto Peñasco,
which borders with San Luis Río Colorado,

Sonoyta and Caborca, in Sonora, and Arizona
in the US. It is a little over 60 miles from the
US border, which makes it a popular drive
destination by visitors from the US, as they
can drive there in as little as 3 and a half hours
from Phoenix, Arizona.
There is so much to do in Puerto Peñasco. It
is a popular fishing destination due to the wide
variety of species that inhabit the bay, such as
yellowtail, sea bass, corbina, sierra, mahi mahi
and sailfish. Fishing is definitively a favorite with
numerous charter companies that offer not
only local fishing, but trips to far away islands in
the Sea of Cortés for snorkeling and scuba div-
ing. You can also participate in various fishing
tournaments during breeding season.
Isla San Jorge is a close island and a bird
watchers dream come true with many rare
species of birds. Off the coast of this rocky is-
land you can also spot a wide array of marine
species, including sea lions —the island is home
for one of the largest sea lion colonies in the
world—, dolphins and even whales, as there are
many pods in the area.
Puerto Peñasco has some of the very best
beaches, the water is warm and clear, the tides
are quite large and the swimming and snorkel-
ing are excellent. Step on the beach and at your
service are jet skis, banana boat rides, kayak-
ing, parasailing, volleyball, horse back riding
and more.
In the environs of the bay of Puerto Peñasco
you’ll find vast natural areas like the Pinacate Bio-
sphere Reserve and the Gran Desierto de Altar,
52 kilometers north of the bay.
Visitors head to these places to do research
on native animal species such as the mule deer
and the bighorn sheep, while others go to enjoy
various outdoor recreational activities, including
sandboarding, mountain climbing and hunting.
In this region you can observe desert and vol-
canic ecosystems, the latter of which is marked
with maar craters, which take form when mol-
ten lava interacts with groundwater, forcing
steam to the surface.
If you’d like to explore the surrounding areas,
you can head out from Puerto Peñasco to the
Caborca, Atil and Pitiquito missions and visit
other missions founded by legendary Friar Eu-
sebio Kino.
Caborca is known for its important agricul-
destination puerto peñasco
tural activity and the beautiful architecture of
the Templo de la Purísima Concepción, a mission
built at the end of the 18th century, which is a
structure supported using a pedestal or inverted
pyramid form.
In Pitiquito you can visit the Templo de San
Diego, built in the 19th century. This edifice has
an austere façade with a doorway flanked by col-
umns and a frieze adorned with plant motifs.
The Atil Mission was founded by Jesuit Friar
Jacobo Sedelmayer in 1751. This mission still has
its nave intact and you’ll see the remains of its
original adobe walls.
But if your vacation is all about rest and relax-
ation and baking in the sun, you can easily find a
quiet spot to read a book, have a spa treatment
or watch an amazing sunset and lounge to your
hearts content.
La Spa de Peñasco, located in the Sonoran
Spa Resort, offers professional treatments aimed
to help you relax, improve your overall well being
and maintain your beauty.
When you return to the port, you can sit
down to a delicious fish or seafood dinner. Puerto
Peñasco is well known for it’s fresh daily catch of
a wide variety of seafood, delicious shrimp being
one of it’s favorites. You can enjoy the exquisite
Sonoran seafood dishes such as Camarones Cos-
ta Brava (Costa Brava Shrimp), which are shrimp
wrapped with bacon and bathed in a sweet apple,
honey and red wine sauce. But you can also enjoy
the finest of dining experiences from Authentic
Mexican, French, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese
cuisine to good old fashion American food. And
when the sun goes down the lights, music and
dancing go on. The night life in Puerto Peñasco is
as good as it gets! n
46 Negocios i The Lifestyle photos Courtesy of agustín pizá

01

Agustín Pizá
In Search of Sustainable Golf
BY FRANCISCO VERNIS

Mexican architect Agustín Pizá has devoted his

professional life to golf course architecture. Either
independently or in collaboration with golfing legends,
he has made his mark as a creator of “imperfect” and eco-
friendly courses.
 interview agustín pizá

A
gustín Pizá does not see a golf
course just as somewhere to play
one of his favorite sports or as a
picturesque spot surrounded by
nature. For him it is more a creative challenge
and his life style. When it comes to golf courses
he is a true specialist.
He has spent his career building golf courses,
such a specialty niche that he had to go to Scot-
land, the birthplace of golf, to study the world’s
only masters degree in Golf Course Architec-
ture at Heriott-Watt University.
Before going, Pizá had already picked up valu-
able experience in golf course architecture. He
tells us that at the end of his first project, while still
a student at the Monterrey Institute of Technol-
ogy (Tec de Monterrey), his boss recommended
him for a job at the company of world-renowned
golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, who now adds his
own signature to golf course designs.
“A month and a half later there I was in Los
Cabos, working for Jack Nicklaus and within a
couple of weeks I was shaking his hand. That
was how I began my career in golf course archi-
tecture in 1998. I spent the first six years getting
my hands dirty in construction work, learning
at the front-line with Nicklaus, Tom Fazio and
Robert von Hagge”, Pizá tells us in Mexico City
just before leaving for Tampico to “sow” the first
hole for what will become the first golf course to
bear his own signature.
His Scotland years, spent working alongside
famous designer Ken Moodie, marked the start
of his career’s second phase: professional and
independent golf course design, as a consultant
for large companies and then, in 2006, setting
up his own company.

02

01 photomontage for the project “Puerto

Escondido” in Baja California Sur, designed for FONATUR.
02 Agustín Pizá with Jack Nicklaus during
a site visit in Punta Mita II.
48 Negociosi iThe
48 Negocios TheLifestyle
Lifestyle
Since then —while working on his own
projects and in collaboration with other golf
design and architectural companies— Pizá has
developed his own philosophy, a new depar-
ture for golf course construction in this part of
the world: sustainable architecture, where the
course must be in harmony with its surround-
ings - warts and all.
Based on this premise, Pizá has worked
on projects together with Nicklaus in Punta
Mita and in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, with Gary
Player in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and inde-
pendently in Tampico in Tamaulipas, Loreto
in Baja California Sur, Oaxaca and Guaymas,
Sonora.
— How different is golf course architec-
ture in the Americas compared to Eu-
rope?
Normally, designs on this side of the Atlantic
have to be perfect. Imperfection just isn’t
tolerated. For example, at golf courses over
here —including Mexico— lake shores must be
perfectly delineated and everything totally
manicured. It isn’t left in its natural state. If a
clump of grass grows, it’s seen as out of place.
Courses aren’t allowed any kind of blemish.
That’s all right, but in another sense it’s
also not ideal. These days we have to be
aware of our environment. It’s too much to
ask for your course to be a constant emerald
green. Ultimately, it’s a living thing, some-
thing organic. It has to get the measles, its
glands need to swell up and we as architects
must begin to talk about this and create
awareness among players.
Players who pay their green fees become
owners of the course and don’t accept any
kind of blot on the landscape. Therefore
superintendents have to over-use fertilizers,
pesticides and water. It becomes a vicious
circle involving us all. This doesn’t happen in
Scotland or the British isles in general.
As an architect I have to communicate
these messages to raise awareness among
players too. It’s really a question of culture.
We have to find the middle ground; I cannot
design the most ecological course possible if
members are going to demand the grass to be
greener than green and if they won’t accept
that during hot or cold weather it may have a
yellowish hue.
— How have you managed to combine
both styles?
I was lucky because I spent two years in Scot-
land where I learnt to mix the conservative,
eco-friendly and traditional style of the Brit-
ish Isles with the exuberance and innovation
found here in North America.
I like imperfection, because nature is beau-
tifully imperfect. You have to create life. You
have to create a micro-system in golf.
— How do you persuade your clients to
take the same view?
Believing in what I do and talking about it.
I don’t necessarily try to convince, instead I
try to raise people’s awareness. Once you are
aware of something, you become responsible
for your actions. If clients have already spoken
to me, they then have a level of awareness and
can no longer look the other way.
— How do you relate with nature when
designing a golf course?
Whenever I first come to a virgin plot of land,
and we’re talking about at least 60 hectares,
I’ve got to think about what is feasible and
what is ethical. I’ll take one example, when
I went to Costa Rica and I told myself right
from the outset: “I don’t want to change this
place more than it will allow me to.” I like
conversing with the space before entering into
it: ask for its permission and create a dialog
with it. When I arrived at this place I thought
that I couldn’t make an 18-hole course given
its topography, water features and trees.
So I spoke to the client and told him that
the place was asking to be a Par Three course
[shorter] in the more complicated parts to
make it more recreational. “This is some-
where for people to enjoy this paradise, not
photos Courtesy of
photo
agustín
archive
pizá
03
04
03 View of hole 16 (Par 3)
of Club Campestre Tampico, by PizáDesign.
04 with Gary Player y John Bowden
in Costabaja Marina & Resort.
05 in hole 3 of the golf course Punta Mita II,
Pizá desgined the Course so players could have a sea sight over a
line of trees instead of cutting them.
just play golf,” I said. This changed everything
and I ran the risk of losing out on the project.
But I felt it was my duty.
— Because someone else might come along
and agree to do it?
Exactly. So they spoke to a well-known
company in the United States that told them
that yes, they could do it, no problem. The
client was still in touch with me because he
had taken on board what I had told him.
After five visits from this prestigious com-
pany, they came to the conclusion that it
needed to be a Par Three course and that’s
how it stayed. That course is still on hold. It
still hasn’t been built.

To a certain extent we should take an ethi-
cal approach just like a physician. We operate
in nature; if a knife isn’t needed, you shouldn’t
use one. You have to be straight with yourself.
That’s my starting point. Everything follows
on easily from there.
— What is your perspective on the golf
industry at the moment? How much has it
been affected by the international finan-
cial situation?
It has definitely been hit. There are hardly any
projects going ahead at the moment. But it has
also acted as a filter, because as well as experi-
enced designers and living legends there are
plenty of charlatans at the other end of the
spectrum. Unfortunately, in some cases the
only requirement to be a golf course designer
is to have a client.
— Which are your favorite courses?
I’m going to steal Jack Nicklaus’ response: that
is like asking a father which one is his favorite
child. Obviously there are differences between
my own course designs and those in which I
have participated, but ultimately I have worked
on all of them. All the courses in which I have
participated have left their mark on me. Walk-
ing with Fazio, Nicklaus or Von Hagge or with
Scottish architects is invaluable. I have learnt
so much by speaking to all of them and then I
have added my personal touch.
— Would you like to try your hand at
another kind of architecture?
I’m not interested. I’ve had the chance to get
involved in the design niche of clubhouses, for
example, but I don’t want to become a “Jack of
all trades”. I prefer to be a specialist. This im-
plies a risk, but I don’t mind. It’s my passion and
I’m not worried about going against the flow.
My first “biological baby” is the Tampico golf
course, which we changed from a 9-hole to an
18-hole course. It was one of the first projects
where the client had total faith in my work. I
liked working there because the committee is
great. It’s also the second oldest course in Mex-
ico, constructed by English oil-workers when
they arrived in Tampico 100 years ago.
— Describe your ideal golf course.
Imperfect. It would be a place inspired by
nature but with its own personality. a place
that creates a dialog with its surroundings and
gradually seduces the player. Like a fine co-
gnac or a good wine, you have to educate the
palate. I want to educate palates. n
interview agustín pizá
The projects:
retrospective and present
Under Jack Nicklaus Signature
• El Dorado Golf Resort, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.
• Palmilla Golf Resort, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.
• Punta Mita II, Punta Mita, Nayarit.
• Mayan Palace Resort, Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit (under construction)­.
Under Robert von Hagge Signature
• La Herradura GCC, Monterrey, Nuevo León.
• Torreón Golf Club, Arizona, US.
• Eastwood Golf Club, Florida, US.
• Whiskey Springs, Whiskey Springs, US.
• Santa Anna GC, Genova, Italy.
• RSHECC, Madrid, Spain.
With Ken Moodie — Creative Golf Design
• Vicars Cross, Cheshire, UK.
• Moortown, Leeds, UK.
• Uptown, Chester, UK.
• Macclesfield Golf Club, Macclesfield, UK.
• Coombe Hill: London, UK.
With other Signatures
• Querencia Private GC, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur — Tom Fazio.
• Costa Baja, La Paz, Baja California Sur. Project adviser — Gary Player
Signature (under construction).
• Los Cafetales, Oaxaca — Andy Dye Design (first stage).
Under Agustín Pizá’s Signature
• City Golf 9, Santa Fe, Ciudad de México. His firm designed the course
and the master plan.
• Santini Greens, Rosarito, Baja California. His firm designed the course
and the master plan.
• Club Campestre Tampico, Tampico, Tamaulipas. His firm designed the
course. Opens December 2009.
• Puerto Escondido, Loreto, Baja California Sur. His firm designed the
course and master plan for Mexican Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).
• Riviera Loreto, Loreto, Baja California Sur. His firm designed the master
plan for Mexican Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).
• Tangolunda, Huatulco, Oaxaca. His firm designed the full remodel for
Mexican Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur).
• Punta Miramar, Guaymas, Sonora. His firm designed the course.
05
50 Negocios i The Lifestyle photos guadalupe casitllo
 Interview ian gardner

Mexico Is
Above Par
For Scot
BY GRAEME STEWART

Since he decided to make

Mexico his home, Ian
Gardner has found in
the country exceptional
conditions to make his
passions a reality. His
fondness for languages led
him to run an English teaching
business, he has been part
of Mexican golf evolution,
he has two national football
soccer teams to support and
he is happily raising a family
thousands of miles away from
the country of his birth.

Ian Gardner arrived in Mexico in the mid 1980s,

leaving behind a Scotland depressed by high
unemployment brought about by the demise of
heavy industry such as steel making, coal min-
ing, ship building and car maufacturing.
Bright, young people like Ian began to
look further afield for work and, with his gift
for languages, he decided to concentrate on
finding work abroad, his travels taking him
throughout Europe and across the Atlantic
Ocean to Mexico.
Apart from his fondness for languages, his
other passions were football soccer and, espe-
cially, golf. In Mexico he found the perfect loca-
tion to indulge in all three. In fact, he had found
a country where he felt perfectly at home.
Being a Scot, it was no wonder that Ian took
his golfing seriously, Scotland being the home
of the sport, but nobody could have expected
him to rise to become Director of the Mexican
Golf Federation and a member of the Federa-
tion’s Rules Committee.
But that was only one of the many amazing
things that have happened to Ian since he de-
cided to make Mexico his home. His greatest
achievement, he will tell you, is his happy mar-
riage to a Mexicana and raising a family thou-
sands of miles from the country of his birth.
52 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Being a Scot, it was no
wonder that Ian took his
golfing seriously, Scotland
being the home of the
sport, but nobody could
have expected him to rise
to become Director of the
Mexican Golf Federation and
a member of the Federation’s
Rules Committee.
photos Courtesy of ian gardner / guadalupe castillo
Ian, now in his early fifties, became a Mexi-
can citizen, speaks Spanish fluently yet retains
his strong Scots burr of an accent. He moves
comfortably from English speaking residents of
Mexico City to the native Spanish-speaking in-
habitants of his adopted country.
As well as being a proud Scot, Ian fell in love
with Mexico, a love he retains to this day.
–What brought you to Mexico in the first
place?
Until I discovered English Language Teaching
(ELT), my life had been one of negative decisions.
I didn’t want to be a doctor, I didn’t want to study
business administration and I certainly wasn’t
good enough to become a golf pro like my old
dad. But I had always got good marks in my
French exams so that’s what I studied.
When I graduated, I saw most of my friends
in jobs they didn’t like with mortgages and car
payments to make and I didn’t want that either.
So how was I to flee rainy Scotland and see the
world? By teaching English! So I took an ELT
course and, to my astonishment, I loved it. Broad
Scottish accent notwithstanding, this was some-
thing I could really see myself doing.
I heard that there was lots of work in
Mexico City for English teachers so I wrote a
few letters, made a couple of solid contacts,
borrowed the price of a plane ticket and flew
to the New World. My first year in Mexico
was a version of the Friends sitcom with four
girls and four guys living it up in the Big City.
Towards the end of my first year here, I met
my wife Mari Carmen and never looked back.
I’ve adapted well to the country and I enjoy
living here. I applied for Mexican citizenship
in 1990. Now, I vote, pay taxes and suffer the
double agony of supporting two national
football teams! At least Mexico qualifies for
the World Cup!
–Are you still of the same opinion of
Mexico?
Life anywhere would be full of ups and downs.
There is always something to complain about.

But all things considered, the pluses far out-
weigh the minuses, especially the weather, the
fun-loving natives and the cuisine!
I have many excellent friends in the golfing
world and it’s good to belong to a tightly-knit
community of golf lovers. There are also good
business opportunities here, especially if you
have a little imagination.
–How did a Scot land the job of Director
of the Mexican Golf Federation and mem-
ber of the Rules Committee?
I didn’t look for the job. I became active in orga-
nized golf back in the early nineties as captain of
my club and then was invited to join the board
of the Mexico Valley Golf Association as Direc-
tor of Rules for junior golf. I became the Chair-
man of the Rules Committee of the Federación
Mexicana de Golf (FMG) in 1993, and four years
later was offered the director’s chair.
I will always be grateful to the FMG for the
opportunity to represent Mexico as delegate to
the country of my birth –where, by the way, ev-
erybody asked surprised: “You’re the Mexican?
Where’s your Spanish accent?”– and for nam-
ing me as its representative on the USGA [The
United States Golf Association] Rules of Golf
Committee, which is one of the two committees
in the world that discusses and modifies the
Rules of Golf and the Rules of Amateur Status.
–What do you enjoy most about playing
golf in Mexico?
In Mexico City, the distance I can hit the ball! At
this altitude, and because of the warm air, you
can hit it a mile. The weather is also a major
plus. Down at the coast, it can get a bit too hot
for me but there are some great courses.
–Your favorite golf courses in Mexico?
I’m a traditionalist at heart and I definitely
prefer older, more natural designs; courses that
respond to and complement the characteristics
of the land. I think there is an unfortunate ten-
dency for newer courses to be over-designed,
difficult to walk, and not very user-friendly.
Among my favorite Mexican courses are
the Club de Golf México and the Guadalajara
Country Club, which combine natural beauty
with challenging golf. I love the personality of
“smaller” provincial clubs too like San Carlos in
Ecatepec, Estado de México, Villa Rica in Vera-
cruz, and Campestre de Puebla.
Also, I’ve always enjoyed the Pierre
Marques in Acapulco, which I believe is cur-
rently being redesigned. I sincerely hope they
don’t spoil it!
–How do these courses compare with
the famous courses in Scotland, like St
Andrews, Turnberry or Troon?
I’ve always felt that links golf in Scotland is
much harder from tee to green. The effects of
the wind, the variety of unpredictable bounc-
es on the fairways and around the greens, as
well as the severity of fairway bunkering, all
combine to make it a more severe test than
the “target” golf we usually play here in Mexi-
co. Putting, on the other hand, is more difficult
over here where golfers have to read the grain
and take different grasses into account.
Golf in Mexico suits a higher ball flight, es-
pecially on pitches and wedge shots, whereas
the true links golfer often prefers to hit the
ball low under the wind, and bump and run it
around the greens.
“I’m a traditionalist at
heart and I definitely prefer
older, more natural designs;
courses that respond
to and complement the
characteristics of the land.”
–Is there a different mentality to the
Mexican golfer?
Golf is a relatively new sport for the majority
of golfers in Mexico and this means that, in
general, there is not much sensitivity to the
traditions and the rules of the game. Unlike
golf clubs back home, there are very few clubs
in Mexico where you get a sense of tradition
just by walking through the front door; there
is seldom a role of honour featuring past
champions but there is bound to be a hole-in-
one wall somewhere.
Interview ian gardner
–Given the fantastic golfing conditions,
and Lorena Ochoa apart, why does Mex-
ico not produce more champion golfers?
It is too difficult for the average Mexican to
play the game. However, let us be clear on
one point: golf in Mexico is of the highest
quality. The professional tour has attracted
many talented young players, often deplet-
ing the amateur ranks, and boasts some
very fine older players, including former
PGA-Tour pros Rafael Alarcón and Esteban
Toledo.
The FMG and other junior organizations
in Mexico have worked tirelessly to grow the
junior game and golf now has more Mexican
students on athletic scholarships in the US
than any other sport, most noticeably Rober-
to Díaz, Juan Pablo Hernández, Alejandra
Llaneza and Margarita Ramos.
At the 2007 University Games in Bang-
kok, our women, Pamela Ontiveros, Diana
Cantú and Liliana Álvarez, brought back
team gold medals and individual silver
(Cantú), and our men, Roberto Díaz, Julián
Valenzuela and Yoshio Yamamoto, won the
team silver medal.
We are good, there just aren’t enough of
us.
–How do you see the future of golf in
Mexico?
I think golf is changing all over the world and
the potential of the Olympic Games to grow
the game, especially outside traditional golf-
ing countries, is huge and if golf is accepted,
we will no doubt see better financing from
government and commercial sponsors.
However, in the current economic cli-
mate, private clubs are struggling to maintain
their membership but if Mexico can make
a move towards public golf, we are in with a
chance. In the words of the USGA, we must
do something “for the good of the game” if
golf in Mexico is to develop properly as a
competitive sport.
–What are you doing these days?
My wife and I have run a small English Lan-
guage Teaching operation, Gardner English,
in Mexico City since 1990 but my main activ-
ity is as an independent financial advisor
with Caledonian International Consulting.
My brief stint at the helm of the FMG was
definitely due to my love of the game and
since leaving I have continued to volunteer
as a Rules Official and member of Mexico’s
National Rules Committee. n
54 Negocios i The Lifestyle photo courtesy of rivelino

Breaking
The Silence
Through Art
Our Silences is a monumental sculpture concept and itinerate
exhibition by Mexican artist Rivelino that will be displayed in
several European cities during 2010
“We stroll down the street and the person
ahead of us dumps something on the ground
and we say nothing. Then we reach the corner
and as we walk to cross the street a driver runs
the red light and we repress an expletive. How
many of us never report evident violations?
How many citizens do not have the means
to express their feelings or what aggravates
them? Moreover, what could we all do to
change this?
Milllions of people around the world go on
with their lives as if muted… Every day, every
hour, every minute… As if muted to themselves,
to their neighbor, to their fellow man across
cities, across borders, across continents. If re-
leased, these silenced expressions could make a
big difference in our lives. The lack of freedom
of speech, or worse yet, our reluctance to grant
others the opportunity to express their inner
feelings has become part of our lives. What
would happen if all of this changed?”
Muted stories such as the ones depicted
above take place every day in almost every
place in the world. Notwithstanding our place
in society, we all keep many things to ourselves
and perhaps we would be better if we ex-
pressed them.
These are the reflections that inspired
Mexican artist Rivelino to create the exhibition
Our Silences, which comprises a total of ten
busts measuring 320 centimeters height, 230
centimeters width and 110 centimeters depth,
that aim to promote introspection about the
importance of freedom of speech.
Created using the lost-wax casting tech-
nique, all the sculptures are muted with a plate
showing different inscriptions, which are repli-
The public is to interpret
what the sculptures are
trying to tell and ultimately
what the public itself needs
to express.
cated on their chests and backs. The public is
to interpret what the sculptures are trying to
tell and ultimately what the public itself needs
to express.
With Our Silences Rivelino seeks to ad-
dress most of the public. This is why the faces
are sculpted with human features denoting
different races, to allow people from different
places to identify themselves with the pieces.
Furthermore, based on the emphatic pur-
pose of the exhibition, an effort has been made
to make it accessible to the general public. It
feature art rivelino
can also be enjoyed by the visually impaired
through a Braille plaque placed on the side of
each sculpture bearing the inscription on the
muting plate.
Our Silences involves all of us and will never
go unnoticed. The exhibition stands out due to
its monumental size, number of elements and
its creative concept conceived for public spaces
such as plazas, streets and avenues.
As part of the celebrations of Mexican In-
dependence Bicentenary and Mexican Revo-
lution Centenary, the exhibition will be held in
several cities around Europe.
The exhibition’s first stop in Europe start-
ed on November 2009, in Lisbon, Portugal,
were it is exhibited in the Plaza del Marqués
de Pombal, one of the most emblematic areas
in the city.
Considering that the bond between cul-
ture and development is closely connected
to social dynamics and that it is part of the
mechanism that drives economic growth,
the exhibition features a series of positive
elements for cultural diplomacy. In other
words, as an outdoors display the exhibition
has a strong impact on urban image as it pro-
motes the contact with the local population,
artists, art critics, media, and students alike
in target countries. n
56 Negocios i The Lifestyle photos courtesy of rivelino

The artist murals, fresco paintings dotted with

Rivelino was born in San José de
Gracia, Jalisco, in 1973. He began
his career as a self-thought artist in
1993 and later undertook studies
in human forms, theory of color,
composition, history of art, modern
art and Mesoamerican art. He has
experimented with materials such
as paper, iron, copper, wood and
ceramics.
His work is an enchanting
intellectual game of sorts.
Rivelino’s intellectual abstractions
are emotionally and spiritually
conceptualized into art forms
that blend painting and sculpture.
His paintings possess a true
tridimensional perspective as the
display brushstrokes, but there is
no canvas; rather, they are small
bas-relieves and raised designs, a
collage of techniques where images
oscillate from emotions to nature,
personal relationships to death and
human feelings.
The artist uses intelligently
different tricks to promote a personal
interpretation in his audience. He
incorporates a myriad of elements
that make his work circumspect,
erotic, mysterious and surprising at
the same time. Through his work,
Rivelino takes us to his personal world
to show us his inner sensibility and
philosophical endeavors.
His work is part of different art
collections in Mexico, US, El Salvador,
Germany, Australia, Belgium, Spain,
Canada, Argentina, Venezuela,
Panama, France and Japan.

Monumental Pilgrimage
Supported by the Mexican Lisbon, Portugal
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Madrid, Spain
Our Silences will be exhibited Barcelona, Spain
in several cities across Brussels, Belgium
Europe. Berlin, Germany
Rome, Italy
London, UK
Paris, France
November - December 2009
January - February 2010
March - April 2010
May - June 2010
July - August 2010
September - October 2010
November - December 2010
January - February 2011

Sacred
Colors
BY RICARDO IBARRA
Beads always caught the eye of indigenous
people from the Americas, but it was the
Huichol natives, an indigenous ethnic group
from western central Mexico, who turned
Photo Ricardo Ibarra
them into artistic items for export. This
venerable work is still evolving.
art huicholes
I
n the beginning, Huichol natives,
who inhabited Mexico’s rough west-
ern mountains, represented an al-
ternate, magical, symbolic and virtu-
al world through organic vessels painted
with available natural elements, such as
small anthill pebbles, pieces of sea shells,
and wooden sticks.
The Huichol would turn these bowls
into offerings and use them to ask their
gods for favors. These gods were located
in many parts of the Huichol’s sacred ter-
ritory—in the caves, lakes, hills, and desert
plains within what is now known as the
states of Jalisco, Zacatecas, Nayarit, and
San Luis Potosí.
58 Negocios i The Lifestyle
The Huichol painted the inside of these
vessels to magically ask for ears of corn—
their main source of nutrition—; deer for
hunting; and peyote plants —also known as
the lophophora williamsii, a cactus that al-
lowed the Huichol to reach the divine plan-
ets of their cosmogony.
However, it was not until the 19th century
when European expeditions found them
living in the steep cliffs of Mexico’s Sierra
Madre Occidental mountain range, isolated
from urban civilizations, that the Huichol
found a material that would help them bet-
ter interpret their visions and fulfill their
sympathetic magic: beads.
photos ricardo ibarra
In the hands of the
Huichol, beads became
a deer that was about to
jump and eagles ready
to fly. They became
light-filled peyotes,
fluorescent ears of corn,
and gleaming visions
that were induced
during Huichol shamanic
trances. The Huichol
turned colored beads
into bracelets, necklaces,
earrings, handbags,
pictures, and any other
piece they could imagine.
This novel material, so attractive because
of its colors and many possibilities, helped
the Huichol take another step on the road of
their artistic expression.
In the hands of the Huichol, beads be-
came a deer that was about to jump and
eagles ready to fly. They became light-filled
peyotes, fluorescent ears of corn, and gleam-
ing visions that were induced during Huichol
shamanic trances.
The Huichol turned colored beads into
bracelets, necklaces, earrings, handbags, pic-
tures, and any other piece they could imagine.
Currently, artists such as Santos de la
Torre are keeping this tradition alive. Santos

created one of the most popular and repre-
sentative items of Huichol beaded artwork.
One of his creations, a mural called Pensa-
miento y alma huichol that measures 2.4
meters by 3.0 meters, is kept in the caves of
the Palais Royal Metro station, just below the
prestigious Louvre Museum.
Another prominent artist actively pro-
moting Huichol bead art is Mateo Minjares
Zavala, the mayor of San Andrés Cohami-
ata, a village embedded in Mexico’s western
mountain range. Mateo Minjares has all the
qualities of a Huichol: he is a musician, arti-
san, and politician.
In an interview, he described his first ex-
periences with traditional beaded artwork.
His first creations using beads as the main
component were made on the mountains of
his native town, when he was 10 years old.
Like many Wixaritari (as the Huichol also call
themselves) children, Mateo was first taught
this skill by his mother. In these villages, which
can be very far from urban centers, women
make clothing, work with threads and fabric
and teach children these skills. Many work
with beads to create crafts but as time goes by,
only a few become real artists.
During September and October 2009,
Mateo Minjares was part of a delegation that
traveled to six European countries. For the
first time, in Germany, a group of Huichol na-
tives were able to see how one of the most
important materials of their work is made.
They visited Jablonex, a small bead manu-
facturer.
Mateo Minjares remembers his experi-
ence: “We had no idea where beads came
from [or] where they were made, until we
were able to visit the factory. We have been
working with beads for many years and we
finally saw how they are made.”
Juan Carrillo de la Cruz, a renowned Hui-
chol artist representing close to 300 Huichol
artists in the delegation, said that this trip was
not only a cultural exchange with European
communities but was also a trade delegation
meeting with potential buyers.
Gabriel Mijares Rivera also traveled to
the Old Continent. For him, Huichol bead
crafts are necessary to keep the indigenous
cosmovision of the Wixarika people, and
the trip to Europe was crucial to keep the
expression of their tradition alive through
art. Art allows the Huichol to concentrate
the symbols of their oral memory and their
cosmovision.
Huichol art is the materialization of ab-
stract ideas and light-filled concepts that Hu-
ichol natives are able to reach during their
sacred ceremonies.
“It offends us when we see someone who
is not Huichol making crafts like ours, and
selling them. We do not want any interme-
diaries; we want direct trade and our own
market,” explains Mijares.
One Step Ahead
When he started working with beads, Mateo
Minjares Zavala used to create simple crafts,
such as bracelets with small colored flowers.
Now he is a partner in Casa Chamán, a jew-
elry company that, according to Gabriela Mi-
chel —another partner at the company— has
taken beads “one step ahead”.
“The company was born from [an] ad-
miration of indigenous cultures, in this case,
Huichol people. It was born from a deep love
of the land, the natural elements and beads,
which are the stars of this project, those magi-
cal, colorful beads,” explains Michel.
The main differences between art cre-
ated by the Huichol people who live in the
mountains and art created by Casa Chamán
is that the latter incorporates fine beads with
precious metals and stones, such as gold, sil-
ver, crystals, even diamonds.
“We have tried to maintain the traditional
structure of Wixarika pieces; sometimes we
do not even touch them. We only work with
the colors and an extra element, such as stones,
but our pieces are [still] Huichol. We have
achieved a level of sophistication in Huichol de-
signs [and] we have helped Huichol art evolve.
To me, that means completely turning around
this ancestral work,” adds Michel.
Alfonso Delgado, director of Casa
Chamán, summarizes the idea in one phrase:
“This is jewelry with a contemporary accent
but with its original identity.” And he adds:
art huicholes
Hunting the Hunter
Many years ago lived a boy in the
mountains who, every day, carried
his bow and his arrow, ready to
hunt whatever crossed his path.
One day, the mara’akame
(shamans) were discussing the
need to find an animal that was
willing to offer its blood to the
gods.
A long time went by and they
couldn’t find their beast. The
mara’akame council decided that
the boy who carried his bow and
arrow would have to be hunted;
these knowledgeable men had to
hunt the hunter.
Five mara’akame followed the
boy through hills and roads. Time
went by: one, two, three years. On
the fourth year, the mara’akame
were about to give up.
Five years after having escaped
from the mara’akame, the young
hunter crossed paths with two
young and beautiful women who
convinced the hunter to give up
his only arrow. When he did, the
five mara’akame appeared and
put an arrow through his heart.
Right then, when the boy’s blood
was spilled, he turned into a deer
and the god Tatutsi Kayaumari, an
intermediary between men and
the gods.
Myth narrated by Julia Martha Robles Carrillo,
Huichol woman from the village of Santa Cata-
rina, Jalisco.
“We want it to be an innovative project, a new
proposal in the market that will strengthen
and dignify the work done by [the] Wixarika
people, that will add value and increase their
market presence. That is why we decided to
include not only precious metals and stones,
but good design that will enrich the work
done by [the] Huichol people.”
Mateo Minjares Zavala, who has invested
his hands and his heart in Casa Chamán,
explains: “These items we create are sacred
to us. We live from this so that it will last for
many years. Even if we add crystals, gold,
and silver, we are still rescuing and maintain-
ing our culture.” n
60 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Eyes that feel
For a Society Able to See Things Differently
Mexican non-profit organization Eyes that Feel
works to break down mental and social barriers that
separate the sighted from the blind.
By CRISTINA ÁVILA-ZESATTI
Writer José Saramago wrote Ensaio sobre a ce-
gueira (Essay on Blindness) in Portugal in 1995.
That same year, across the ocean, US mountain-
eer Erik Weihenmayer reached the summit of
Mount McKinley, the highest mountain peak
in the US. Nothing was an essay in the alpinist’s
case: he has been “officially” blind since 1981.
In 1993, at 25 years of age, Weihenmayer
had crossed the Batura Glacier in Pakistan, led
solely by the desire to prove to himself that he
would be the one to impose limits on his life and
not the blindness that sentenced him to a life of
darkness, at just 13 years of age.
By 2008, Erik Weihenmayer became the
first blind man to conquer the seven highest
summits in the world, including Mount Everest.
Not only has he tested his limits, but he has also
become an active speaker and writer who en-
courages people with visual disabilities to make
their dreams come true.
Most important of all, this 41-year old
mountain climber speaks with people “who
have normal vision”, in an effort to help us un-
derstand that no one with a handicap is less
than another. His accomplishments are there
to prove it.
photos courtesy of eyes that feel
01
Erik Weihenmayer set his sights on Mexico.
His goal: to symbolically awaken the “sleep-
ing woman” at the summit of the Iztaccíhuatl,
which he climbed in November 2009 with a
group of blind and visually challenged people
from Mexico and the US.
The blind mountain climber and motiva-
tor came to Mexico by working hand-in-hand
with Eyes that Feel (Ojos que sienten), a non-
profit organization that shares his philosophy
and works for a society that is able to “see
the world of blindness and visual disability
through a different light.”

The world, photographed by the blind
Gina Badenoch is a professional photographer
who had “a vision” three years ago: to create
photography workshops for the blind and people
with visual disabilities.
This first idea led her to create the Eyes that
Feel non-profit organization, whose first mission
consists of helping the blind feel as motivated as
mountaineer Weihenmayer; that is to say, under-
stand that the disease is not a limitation if they
truly believe so.
Secondly, Eyes that Feel seeks also —above all—
to raise awareness among the sighted, to help us
learn to understand the world of the “different-
ly-abled” —who are neither lesser nor worse—,
and accept that the best way to ensure a better
understanding of our two worlds comes from
accepting and respecting our mutual differences.
—How can a blind person take photo-
graphs?
—“That is the million dollar question,” answers
Gina Badenoch, founder of Eyes that Feel. “As a
photographer, I know that the most important
aspect in creating an image is the creative pro-
cess which precedes it. The final result is visual
—this is true— but you have to use all of your
senses to go after the result, which is something
blind people or those who are visually impaired
do on a daily basis. Sight perceives an image, but
the brain actually creates it, and this is the same
thing that happens when we read: we create
images, even though we do not have them in
front of us.”
Eyes that Feel regularly holds photography
workshops for the blind, and many of the people
that currently lead the workshops are older
students who now work with the organization.
However, this is merely the “most visual”
aspect of their work, and the core issue is based
on what this organization does, which actually
goes way beyond that which could be appreci-
ated at first sight.
“Our workshops help people with these dif-
ferent abilities to regain their confidence, first in
themselves and then in their aptitudes to accom-
plish their goals. We help them regain their trust
in the world and their integration into the world,
despite their disease,” says Gina Badenoch.
The organization’s accomplishments are
evident, not only in the world of blind people,
but also, and overall, in this “other universe”, for
those of us who can perceive the world with all
of our senses.
Eyes that Feel currently holds workshops
in 30 or so large Mexican companies that also
donate to support the organization’s activities.
feedback eyes that feel
02 03
Courses are taught by blind people, and many
of these national and international firms, such
as Grupo Televisa, Fundación Telmex, British
Airways, Fundación Ashoka, and BBVA Ban-
comer, among others, have opened their doors
to blind or visually impaired individuals.
“We have been able to impact close to 180
visually impaired individuals, but our impact
on the general population has touched over
one million people who are now aware of the
problem and recognize that we are all part of the
solution. Besides the workshops, we hold exposi-
tions, organize excursions and teach courses.
Our key goal is to raise awareness and create
communication bridges so we can all learn to 04
‘see things differently’, says Gina Badenoch.
“An oasis of light
in my desert of darkness”
“A brightly shining oasis” is the way Luis
Bautista describes the work of Eyes that Feel,
after studying at the organization.
The numbers in Mexico and around the
world confirm that this change of perspective,
this meeting between the blind and the sighted
is of the essence. According to the Ministry of
Health, blindness is the second most common
cause of disability in Mexico, while at least 30%
of the population suffers some type of visual
impairment.
Glaucoma, the disease which caused Erik 05
Weihenmayer’s blindness, currently con-
demns some three million Mexicans who have
been diagnosed with the disease to darkness,
while it is estimated that another two million
suffer the disease unknowingly.
According to statistics provided the by the 01 eXPO ACCESIBLE teaches how to appreciate art
World Health Organization (WHO), about through senses other than sight.
02 photography workshops for the blind
314 million individuals are visually impaired and the visually impaired.
03 participants in the organization’s workshops learn
worldwide —45 million of them are blind—, and about confidence and communication.
about 87% of the world’s visually impaired live 04 sensibilization workshops in companies.
05 dinners in the dark allow participants to experi-
in developing countries. ence the world of the blind.
62 Negocios i The Lifestyle photos courtesy of eyes that feel

“bellas artes”,
Fabiola Miranda

“...he turned to where he knew the

mirror was ... he stretched out his
hands until he touched the glass.
He knew that his image was there,
watching him, the image could see
him, he could not see the image.”
— José Saramago,
Ensaio sobre a cegueira

“I don’t think we did go blind, I think we are blind. Blind but

—Are we truly able to see?
seeing, blind people who can see, but do not see,” says José —“We must acknowledge that sight can also
Saramago in his prize-winning novel, Ensaio sobre a cegueira, be an impediment because there are times
when the sight that allows us to view the
in which the author explores a fictitious reality where human world causes us to pass judgment, raise bar-
beings slowly lose their ability to “see themselves.” riers and make decisions based on appear-
ances […] we organize ‘Dinners in the Dark’
Eyes that Feel has also concentrated its ef- statistics confirm that poverty is one of the key in an attempt to break down these mental
forts outside of Mexico precisely because this factors that contributes to visual diseases. Ac- barriers. The attendees enter a room perme-
is a worldwide problem. cording to the international organization, 85% ated by vulnerability; a place where they are
Thanks to an alliance with British organiza- of all blindness can be prevented if detected forced to waken their other senses to discover
tion Photovoice, which places several vulnera- and cared for on time. their surroundings. They have to make an ef-
ble and diverse collectives behind the camera, fort to speak, listen, touch, and taste … led, in
the initiative founded by Badenoch has now Mental blindness, the worst type of all addition, by the people we normally want to
held four photography workshops for the blind Monthly “Dinners in the Dark” are probably guide. It is they, the blind and the visually im-
in the UK and one in China. one of the most successful activities organized paired, who are in perfect control of the situa-
Furthermore, another one of the asso- by Eyes that Feel. This is a unique experience tion,” confirms Gina Badenoch.
ciation’s goals, in a coordinated effort with the in which roles are reversed for one evening The guests finally experience this oppor-
WHO, is to join the campaign for the preven- as the blind take charge of guiding the sighted tunity to “open their eyes”, when the lights
tion of these disabilities in light of the fact that through their world of darkness. go on.
 FEEDBACK eyes that feel

They acknowledge that perhaps the food,
the individuals or the location would have
kept them from daring to cross the barrier
to taste, speak or to listen to a certain indi-
vidual.
Companies, schools, and universities
request these “Dinners in the Dark” on an
ever-increasing basis.
Thus, the initiative directed by Eyes that
Feel is slowly becoming a skillful blind per-
son’s guide for society.
Moreover, the organization actually “dis-
plays” its work through these events, since
they close with exhibitions and auctions of
the photographs the students produce. The
waiters and guides that work the events be-
long to the association, and the guests and
companies that attend the dinners are per-
sonally able to see where their donations go.
“We must acknowledge that sight can also be an impediment
because there are times when the sight that allows us to view
the world causes us to pass judgment, raise barriers and
make decisions based on appearances.”
The 29-year old photographer who cre- “I am a photographer, and know that I click
ated this barrier-breaking initiative, con- my camera to trigger the shutter when I feel
fessed that the experience has also changed something I want to communicate [...] If they
her vision, as her dream to “train the blind [the blind] are able to do this, they are able to
in photography”, which once seemed sense- do anything, just as anyone else. It is a matter
less and impossible, has not only become a of what they set out to do, and what we, ‘the
reality but is now recognized both in Mexico others’, allow them to do, by looking at them
and abroad. in a different light,” concludes Badenoch. n
“cosméticos”,
Eulogio Salinas

You will see it, when you feel it

“I don’t think we did go blind, I think we are
blind. Blind but seeing, blind people who can
see, but do not see,” says José Saramago in
his prize-winning novel Ensaio sobre a ceg-
ueira, in which the author explores a ficti-
tious reality where human beings slowly lose
their ability to “see themselves,” a society in
which selfishness and cruelty rear them-
selves quite often.
Whereas, Eyes that Feel works with an
undeniable reality: the WHO estimates that
without proper interventions the number of
blind will increase to 75 million by 2020 and,
as a result of ongoing prevention programs,
only 200 million individuals will suffer some
type of visual limitation. A reality that be-
hoves us to learn how to break down these
barriers.
The organization currently has only six
full-time employees who work on this effort
to reduce the effects caused by the differ-
ent types of blindness that ail our society; ie
physical and mental blindness.
It costs Eyes that Feel close to 145,000
usd to run its operations every year and

companies and individuals can contribute

to the initiative, as the Ministry of Finance
and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda
y Crédito Público, SHCP) has certified the
non-profit organization so it can issue tax-
deductible receipts.
Gina Badenoch believes that the organi-
zation’s newly created sponsorship program
hopes to raise awareness, especially among 06 07
children, “so they can learn from the esprit
06 “basura”, Gabriela Pérez
de corps at a young age.” 07 “juguetes” Axel Villalba
 64 Negocios i The Lifestyle

WHAT DOES EYES THAT FEEL DO?

WORKSHOPS:
FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH TO RAISE AWARENESS TRAINING
(COMPANIES, SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES) For individuals
LIMITED RESOURCES
Participants use photography as a tool interested in
A Photography Workshop with the
for teams to engage in activities that becoming part
other senses, where the image opens
encourage self-confidence, patience of the Eyes that
a communication channel between
and communication. Feel team.
the visible and the invisible.

WINE TASTING DINNERS IMAGINATION PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPOSITIONS

IN THE DARK IN THE DARK SHOW AUCTIONS Eyes that Feel
Blind and sighted These are three-course The fundamental Pictures taken by the schedules ongoing
participants taste dinners served with aspect of this special blind are auctioned itinerant expositions,
three different water and wine. The show consists of not after each awareness on a national and
wines, in the dark. purpose is to allow seeing the artist or the event. Eyes that Feel international level, as
participants to musicians, but rather can also schedule well as documentary
experience the world exploring the emotions private auctions. exhibitions on a
of the blind in a provided by the music smaller scale.
profound, intense and and the different
entertaining manner. elements, with the
other senses.
infographic oldemar

www.ojosquesienten.org