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Maquiladoras and maquiladora suppliers are gearing up for the first plastics and metals trade show taking place at the Cibeles Convention Center in Ciudad Juarez on November 29-30th 2006. This unique event will showcase metal stamping, plastic injection molding companies, resin suppliers, molds & dies, automated equipment, and service providers active in the plastics and metal industries located in the El Paso, Juarez, and the southern New Mexico border region.

The New Mexico Economic Development Partnership will be hosting a cocktail reception at this event, which is being organized by the OCE Pro Maquila Region Norte.

There are 43 exhibitors directly related to the plastics and metals industries and over 700 participants currently registered for this event. It is anticipated that about 1,500 participants will come together at this event next week to engage in on-site business-to-business sessions, and to gain first-hand knowledge from experts who will be speaking about the latest technological advancements and challenges in these industries. A list of participating companies includes: Delphi Automotive, Thompson, Toro, Electrolux, Bombardier, Valeo, Tatung, Phillips, ADC Telecommunications, Black & Decker, along with companies from Europe.

The International Business Accelerator and the State of New Mexico’s Office of Mexican Affairs and Trade will also be participating in a trade fair at this event representing New Mexico import/export companies active in these industries. Any small business interested in doing business or learning about the plastics and metal industries is highly encouraged to attend. Please visit www.plastimetalmx.com or contact Peter Ibarbo (505-589-2200) or Angelica Garcia in Cd. Juarez ( 011-52-656-648-3131) to learn more about this event.

The following is the Plastimetal 2006 Agenda:

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

• 1:00pm-1:30pm
  Welcoming remarks:
  C.P. Alejandro Ricaud- Secretariat of Industrial Development
  Ing. Tomas Mena-President of the Maquiladora Association
• 1:30pm-2:30pm
  Keep Molds Operating Longer
  BALES Mold Services, Inc.
• 2:45pm-3:45pm
  UFE presents the Tough Stuff:
  I Molded Gears
  II Tool Transfers
• 4:00pm-5:00pm
  Engineering Resin
  PolymerTechnology & Services, LLC
• 5:15pm-6:15pm
  Mold Making and Rapid Prototypes
  Injecto Plastics
• 6:30pm-7:00pm
  Informal Gathering with Maquiladora Representatives and Suppliers
  Mariachi, Drinks, and Hors d’ oeuvres Sponsored by the New Mexico Economic Development Partnership

Thursday, November 30, 2006

• 1:00pm-2:00pm
  Robotics and Automation Systems
  CONAIR
• 2:15pm-3:15pm
  Competence in Plastics and Solutions
  BASF- The Chemical Company
• 3:30pm-4:30pm
  New Screw Technology
  SPIREX
• 4:45pm-5:45pm
  Tooling & Progressive Die Design
  MANESA, SA de CV
• 6:00pm-7:00pm
  Regrind Process Material Handling
  CONAIR
• 7:00pm-8:00pm
  New Resin Technology
  GE Plastics e.

Networking was also part of the conference, with the attendees interacting and sharing their knowledge and experience. Businesses from Las Cruces and the southern New Mexico border region were some of the attendees at the Hyperborder. In total, more than 100 people attended this second annual conference.

As I turn 40 years of age, the ever-changing world is making me nostalgic, like some of my family elders used to feel. During family get-togethers, I remember my grandparents telling us children stories of a life without indoor plumbing, and having to take the horse and wagon to market in order to sell their agricultural yield. Opportunities were scarce in those days, and eking out a living in the small, isolated northern New Mexico mountain villages destined a child to a life much like that of his/her parents.

During the 400 years in which my family has lived in northern New Mexico, it wasn’t until my parents’ generation that the choice to live a different kind of life became available. My parents were the first generation who had the opportunity (and luxury) to educate themselves all the way through high school, even though neither completed their studies. It was this generation which started to enjoy the opportunities for a better life that the modern world created.

Although my parents remained working class throughout their lives, their kids enjoyed all of the modern appliances, convenience and education of the global market. It was the access to these “creature comforts” that allowed me and my brother to have the choice of not becoming lumberjacks and ranchers, as were the three previous generations of my family.

And now I find myself setting up a computer for my nine-year-old son Joseph, who will begin taking PowerPoint software classes this semester. I didn’t learn this software application until I was a graduate student in my business master’s program. This illustrates how quickly the modern world is providing the younger generations access to information and knowledge.

As the old adage says, “Knowledge is power.” It provides opportunities for hungry minds that want to learn and to better their circumstances. There are young people who will take advantage of this access to knowledge and there are others who won’t.

Today’s bachelor’s degree is equivalent to what a high school degree was 40 years ago. Today’s MBA is the new bachelor’s degree. When I took basic undergraduate macroeconomics courses, the focus was strictly on the national economy. I now teach these same courses and dedicate a portion of each class to a study of how the U.S. economy is inseparable from the larger world economy.

It is no longer sufficient to graduate from high school and expect at the very minimum a comfortable working class life. Nor is it possible to obtain a masters degree and feel that one has achieved a perpetual educational status. The need to keep advancing educational skills and relearning how to compete in the global market is a daily quest. With tools such as internet connectivity and computer skills, the developing world is offered a much quicker chance of generating opportunities for its population than has ever been seen before.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently announced at a United Nations summit in Africa plans to mass produce a $100 laptop computer targeted at children. This unit will be powered with a hand crank and can be used as a regular computer or a PDA-type electronic notebook. Its software will allow it to function as a television or to be used for video game applications. It will come equipped not with a normal hard drive, but with flash memory and four USB ports. Each green-colored computer will have a 500MHz processor, which will run its applications.

For portability purposes, the AC power pack will serve double duty as a carrying strap for students to haul the unit between school and home. For durability purposes, each “green machine,” as it is being called, will be encased in rubber to protect against damage from accidents and other negative elements.

The green machines are designed to link up with each other for classroom and peer-to-peer learning purposes. They also will have the ability to share an internet connection through a process called mesh networking.

Initially, MIT plans to make the green machines available only to governments, which will have to commit to purchasing a minimum of 1 million units, at $100 apiece. MIT will jump-start this project with six developing nations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America. After a six-month implementation period, this project will be expanded as rapidly as possible to other nations.

If successful, the green machines will have a tremendous impact on the ability of providing information access to developing world populations that would otherwise not have this opportunity. Young people in other parts of the world have the same cognitive skills as their counterparts in the developed world. However, the overwhelming majority of developing world citizens does not have the financial wherewithal to shell out the capital needed for the purchase of a modern computer system.

The green machines will allow developing countries to provide their knowledge- hungry youth with the same access to knowledge via the internet and computer programs as their developed world counterparts. What we could potentially see in the next few years is a quantum leap being taken by the next generation of developing world students in terms of entering the internet world, as well as the global market.

The ramifications for the youth in the developed world are equally as important. This will mean that kids in nations such as the U.S. will have to strive even harder to gain access to the newest information and to absorb it in order to remain globally competitive. Rest assured that if you or your children are not acquiring the latest internet and computer skills in order to better your competitive worth, there is a 10-year-old in Brazil, India, or Malaysia who will be your competition very soon. The green machine project may soon make all of us feel nostalgic.

• Business Type: Buyer
• Country: USA
• Description: A new retail establishment currently being established in Artesia, New Mexico is focusing on selling unique Mexican handcrafted items. This buyer is interested in importing a variety of Mexican hand- crafted items such as, pottery, jewelry, and other home furnishing items directly from vendors in Mexico.

• Business Type: Buyer/Supplier
• Country: Cyprus
• Description: A distributor in Mosfiloti, Larnaca Cyprus is interested in sourcing and selling a variety of quality construction materials. This company currently buys and supplies the following materials: colored roofing, wall and floor luxury tiles made 100% porcelain, natural stones in different colors, shapes, granite, wall panels, gypsum board (plasterboard) cement board, nails, galvanized wire, galvanized pipes, wall paper, fiberglass, fasteners, nuts, bolts, screws, fencing material, wire mesh, bricks, pavers, agricultural machines, hardware and construction machinery, generators and several other building/construction materials.

• Business Type: Buyer
• Country: USA
• Description: A well established artist in northern New Mexico is interested in identifying an iron & glass lamp manufacturer in Mexico to produce a moderate volume of custom-made glass lamps. The artist is conducting a preliminary search of possible manufacturers interested in this project.

• Business Type: Manufacturer
• Country: Mexico
• Description: A recently established ostrich boot manufacturer in Chihuahua City is interested in supplying boot distributors and retailers with high quality ostrich skin boots. After five years of building an ostrich farm, this company has now begun manufacturing ostrich skin boots with an initial capacity of 20 pairs per month.

• Business Type: Agriculture
• Country: Mexico
• Description: An agricultural business land owner is interested in contracting his agricultural land for the growing of a variety of crops for production. California and jalapeno chiles are some of the primary crops typically grown. This land owner is interested in securing production contracts with interested fresh produce buyers. There are over 2,000 acres of land available for contract farming with this land owner.

What is your India strategy? This November, Under Secretary for International Trade Franklin L. Lavin will lead a delegation of U.S. individuals and companies to a business summit in Mumbai, India with spin-off missions to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, or New Delhi. This is an excellent opportunity to make sales and/or contacts in India. For more information and on-line pre-registration please visit http://www.export.gov/indiamission

The first plastic and metal stamping show to be held at Cibeles Convention Center in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Nov. 29 - 30, 2006. The event will showcase equipment, resin, molds & dies, automation equipment, injection molding and metal stamping contract manufacturers companies. Come and visit Plastimetal 2006, the event you can’t afford to miss.

Seminar topics include:

• New Screw Technology
• Molding and Automation Innovations
• Injection Molding Process
• Plastics Drying-What are the Options?
• Rapid Prototypes and Mold Making
• New Resin Technology
• Engineering Resin
• Color Additives
• Finishes on plastics
• Metal Stamping Process

For more information visit: www.plastimetalmx.com