Hamer encourages RGV to participate in North Capital Forum. It’s being held in Mexico City in October.

MCALLEN, Texas – The president of the Texas Association of Business (TAB) says it is crucial the Rio Grande Valley participates in a conference being held in Mexico City in October that coincides with the inauguration of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum.

Glenn Hamer promoted the event during a panel discussion at the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Future of the Latino Economic Impact in the U.S. & Texas.” The event was held at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton in McAllen. Hamer was joined on the panel by TAB Chairman Massey Villarreal and Ramiro Cavazos, president/CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The moderator was Julian Alvarez, senior vice president and director of business development for Lone Star National Bank.

The three-day conference Hamer referenced was the North Capital Forum. It is being hosted by the U.S.-Mexico Foundation and runs October 2-4.

“It’s very important for this region that right off the jump a very good relationship is established with the next president of Mexico,” Hamer said.

“We’re going to be leading players leading this effort with David Zapata in our office, who’s from Eagle Pass, and we’re going to do a massive trip to Mexico City around the inaugural, which is October 1, around a premier event that brings together thought leaders in Canada, the United States and Mexico to advance the North American economic region.”

“And that’s our friend, Enrique Perez with the US Mexico Foundation. It’s called the North Capital Forum. But it’s very important that the RGV shows up in a major, major way.”

Hamer says the business community in Texas and the RGV has a great opportunity to create a great relationship with Sheinbaum, something that did not happen with the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“AMLO, as the current president is known, did everything to… there’s no other way to put it… I’m trying to be as diplomatic as possible… did not engage with the business community,” Hamer said.

“So far, President-elect Sheinbaum is doing the exact opposite. She just had a major event with the leading Mexican business groups including the ones that the Texas Association of Business – thanks to our international division chair Rolando Pablos, the former Texas secretary of state – (is associated with). We’ve signed an MOU with a number of these different Mexican business organizations. And we are committed to establishing a good relationship with Dr. Sheinbaum. I believe it’s very, very important to the to the economy of the RGV.”

Cavazos, of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, agreed with Hamer’s analysis of Sheinbaum.

“I’m very impressed with the president-elect. She is a scientist. She’s the first woman president, so Mexico beat the United States in electing a first Latina or female president. She went to graduate school at UC Berkeley, so she understands how this nation works,” Cavazos said.

“Education is the great equalizer and she will understand the importance of of education for economic development, and she’s a secular Jew. So, she understands all faiths, all religions, and she speaks perfect English. Better than some of the folks I went to high school with. So, I’m very impressed.”

Cavozos said his organization had a trade mission to Mexico City a year ago and set up an office there.

“We met with both of the candidates at the time, but what impresses me about her is that I believe she’s going to build her own path. She is pro-economic development,” Cavazos said.

“And I agree with the work that tab is doing to open those doors immediately. We look forward to to being there for the inauguration.”

Strength of the Region

In an earlier question, moderator Alvarez asked Cavazos about the economic vitality of the South Texas region. He responded:

“People see the area between Austin, San Antonio all the way down to Monterrey and Saltillo… some economists believe that it is the number one spot for economic development in the world right now.

When you consider the approval of the USMCA, the fact that Texas’ largest trading partner is Mexico and now it’s the U.S.’s largest trading partner. Glenn said it well, they’re not only our economic partner; they’re our friends, they’re our family, they’re our neighbors and they’re our allies and who better than to work with someone right next to you than someone across the world is trying to beat you up every day on the military side.”

Hamer was asked a similar question.

“Well, the industries of tomorrow are locating here in the RGV. The one obvious one is what’s going on with SpaceX and on the space side of things,” Hamer said. “If you think about the skills that are that are required, the engineering skills, the mechanical skills, it’s pretty awesome.”

In addition to SpaceX, Hamer referenced the nearshoring phenomenon.

“You think of logistics. You think of the fact that Mexico now is our top trading partner. Canada’s two. And China’s three. Anyone upset that China’s slipped to number three? Anyone upset that Mexico is now number one? Our friend, our neighbor and ally?” Hamer asked.

“So, you think about nearshoring. It there’s one area that both parties can agree on, it may only be one area, is that China is the top economic and security threat to the United States of America. So, how do we combat that? We combat that by building a stronger economy, nearshoring and reshoring.”

Hamer then ran through the numbers.

“Eighty one percent of the goods that cross from Mexico into the United States, about $450 billion, pass through Texas, and this area of the state has more ports of entry than any other area.”

Hidden gem

For his part, TAB’s Villarreal said the RGV needs to promote itself better.

“Now you got SpaceX and things that are moving down here. But we have to figure out how to attract the Rio Grande Valley to site selectors who are looking out across the country and saying, hey, I got a new client in Chicago,” Villarreal said.

“They’re tired of the taxation. California has a $30 billion deficit and they’re charging more taxes that they’re leaving. And the Rio Grande Valley is a perfect place to host corporations, right? To come down here because of the big workforce, the cost of living is not as high as New York or California. But I think I think we need more promotion out of the Valley.”

Villarreal recommended having 20 shovel-ready sites for site selectors to visit on a Familiarization (Fam) Tour. He predicted the site selectors would say: “Wow, we didn’t know South Texas had this.”

Villarreal lives in Houston. He said Houston does not wait for inward investment. “We don’t wait for people. We’re traveling around the world promoting Houston for trade and (like the RGV) we have great institutions as well.”

Villarreal added: “I think this (the RGV) is the greatest gem hidden in Texas, a lot of land available, great workforce. I think just promotion and then work with Senator Cornyn’s office, Senator Cruz’s office, on some of the infrastructure things that we will need to connect, and the power grid. I think we’ll be good to go.”

Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of the remarks of Cavazos, Hamer, and Massey at the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event:

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