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Conference Agenda:
(subject to change)

Thursday, May 25th

• 12:00pm
  Depart to Chihuahua City on chartered bus from the New Mexico Border Authority parking area (box-lunch served during travel) Please make sure you have your travel visas approved and paid for before boarding this bus (visa fees are about $20).
• 6:00
  Arrive in Chihuahua City and check-into at Westin Soberano Hotel
• 6:30 - 6:50
  Welcoming remarks by the State of Chihuahua Secretariat of Industrial Development, Alejandro Cano
• 6:50 - 7:00
  Remarks by Chihuahua City Mayor, Juan Blanco
• 7:00 - 7:20
  "Santa Teresa Industrial Development Overview" - Claude Billings, Verde Realty
• 7:20 - 7:30
  Comments by Jay Kleberg, Bi-National Warehousing Services
• 7:30 - 8:00
  "Overview of the Maquiladora Industry" - John Christman, CIEMEX-WEFA
• 8:00
  Board bus to depart to Chihuahua's State Capitol building for a cocktail reception with:
  Alejandro Cano, State of Chihuahua Secretariat of Industrial Development
  Eric Griego, New Mexico Economic Development Department
• 10:45
  Return to Westin Soberano Hotel.

Friday, May 26th

• 8:30 - 10:00am
  COPARMEX breakfast with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Chihuahua Governor Jose Reyes Baeza
• 10:00 - 10:30
  Break (NAFTA Institute and B2B participants go to their respective rooms)
• 10:30 - 11:00
  "Overview of New Mexico-Chihuahua Border Crossing Infrastructure" - Jaime Campos, Executive Director, NM Border Authority
• 11:00 - 11:30
  "US-Mexico Contractual Considerations" - Jorge Ruiz, Baker and McKenzie
• 11:30 - 12:00pm
  "Clearing Shipments through US and Mexican Customs" - Gilberto Arias, Arias Logistics
• 12:00 - 12:30
  "Cultural aspects of doing business between Mexico and the US" - Armando Martinez and Peter Ibarbo, International Business Accelerator
• 12:30 - 1:00
  "Overview of the Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory (BNSL)" - Paul Maxwell, Executive Director, BNSL
• 1:00 - 2:00
  Lunch and Keynote Address:
  Comments By: Fernando Castro, CEDEP (Maquiladora Supplier Development Center of Chihuahua)
  • 1:10 - 1:40
    Keynote Address:
    The Advantages of Operating a Foreign Company in Chihuahua
  • 1:40 - 2:00
    Closure
• 2:00 - 2:30
  Check-out from Westin Soberano Hotel and depart to Santa Teresa
• 7:30 - 8:30
  Arrive in Jeronimo/Santa Teresa and cancel travel visas
• 8:30 - 9:00
  Arrive in Santa Teresa NM Border Authority Parking lot

*Note: for those participating only in the B2B sessions, these will commence immediately after the breakfast at the appropriate room in the Hotel Soberano.

Interest on behalf of New Mexico and Chihuahua businesses in exploring commercial opportunities are on the rise. In my experience, having lived on the New Mexico-Chihuahua border region for many years, I have never witnessed such strong efforts between the two states in fostering economic, cultural, educational and political relationships. In fact, there are numerous programs on both sides of the border promoting economic relationships between New Mexico and Chihuahua.

For example, in New Mexico there are programs and institutions such as the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s Office of Mexican Affairs and Trade, the City of Albuquerque’s Trade Office, the New Mexico-Chihuahua Commission, New Mexico Small Business Development Center’s International Business Accelerator program, and New Mexico’s institutions of higher education. In Chihuahua there are programs such as PYMEXPORTA (Chihuahua’s trade division), CANACINTRA (Chihuahua’s Chamber of Industry), COPARMEX (Chihuahua’s Business Association), CEDEP (Chihuahua’s Maquila Supplier Development Program) and other Chihuahua economic development offices, all working together to promote economic development in the border region.

While these relationships take place on a macro-level between political and business leaders, small businesses are also exploring trade opportunities. Small business relationships between New Mexico and Chihuahua can make a significant difference in helping improve our economic status.

Over a year ago, I was approached by Gila Woodnet, (GWN) a non-profit, small-diameter timber research and development organization from Santa Clara, New Mexico. GWN, whose goal is to restore forests and revitalize rural communities, encountered a problem of moving large inventories of small-diameter timber out of their yard. The potential of selling this small-diameter timber in Gila Woodnet’s local market was slim. Therefore, Gila Woodnet decided to explore commercial opportunities in Mexico and contacted the International Business Accelerator for assistance. The IBA quickly put together a list of ten potential buyers located in Chihuahua City and set appointments for GWN to visit plant managers and owners of these related industries. Prior to these appointments, the IBA arranged for a reporter from Chihuahua City’s most popular newspaper, El Diario to travel to Santa Clara to interview GWN. A story was published in Chihuahua describing GWN’s interest in exporting timber to Mexico. When we arrived at our appointments, all ten companies we visited were excited to meet with GWN because they had read the article that appeared on the front page of the El Diario’s business section.

While it would have been great if all ten companies had bought timber from GWN, the reality of the situation becomes a numbers game. Sometimes, only one out of ten companies will show a strong interest in purchasing your product. Other times, this can decrease to only one out of a hundred. In this particular case, one company from Chihuahua City made the decision to do business with GWN. This Mexican company quickly installed a sawmill in Santa Clara to process GWN’s timber and began exporting this product back to Chihuahua City. However, the overall success of this relationship did not occur overnight. It took a year before any activity actually took place. This included an extensive search for the appropriate sawmill to process small-diameter timber, as well as identifying the appropriate transportation method, permits and procedures for exporting the product to Mexico. Currently, the two companies are resolving transportation issues to allow Mexican trucks to pick up materials located only a few miles north of New Mexico’s designated border zone. This is an issue that is currently being debated in other states along the U.S.-Mexico border.

This particular project resulted in the creation of five jobs in rural New Mexico, and a small increase in New Mexico’s overall exports to Mexico. Fostering New Mexico-Chihuahua business relationships such as this and multiplying it by 100 would result in a $2 million increase in exports and a creation of 500 jobs. Given that there are over 40,000 small businesses in New Mexico, the odds are good that even more trade with Mexico can be created.

Peter R. Ibarbo is a trade consultant with the International Business Accelerator, a non-profit program of the New Mexico Small Business Development Center Network, administered by Western New Mexico University. It offers free international trade assistance to New Mexican and foreign based companies interested in New Mexico. Mr. Ibarbo can be reached by phone at 505-589-2200 or by email at peter@nmiba.com.

• Business Type: Vendor
• Country: Mexico
• Description: A candy manufacturer with 15 years experience in Nuevo Leon is interested in supplying candy to US food distributors and retailers. These products are ready to export with FDA labeling and compliance requirements. Some of the products include, hot tamarind flavored candy, spicy lollypop covered with three different flavors; watermelon, tamarind and mango, watermelon caramel drops with chili powder, lemon flavored sour candy and gum filled cherry lollypop covered with hot and spicy candy. These products are available in bulk, per case and individual displays.

• Business Type: Buyer
• Country: USA
• Description: A group of entrepreneurs-investors are interested in purchasing a tubular metal fabrication and metal machine stamping company close to the US-Mexican border.

• Business Type: Buyer
• Country: USA
• Description: A distributor and renter of farming and ranching equipment in New Mexico is interested in buying horse trailers from Mexico for distribution into the U.S.

• Business Type: Vendor
• Country: USA
• Description: A reseller of telecommunication devices and network systems is interested in expanding services in Mexico. This company is currently working on an installation project in Cabo San Lucas and is interested in receiving accounting services from Mexico.

• Business Type: Vendor
• Country: USA
• Description: A food distributor in New Mexico is interested in supplying quality pork ribs, salsas and bar-b-q sauce to Mexico. This client is also interested in meeting architectural firms to introduce a new wooden product.