Another Look

Juarez Beckons

       AnotherCiudad Juárez beckoned to maquilas for decades. Locate here, the line went, and you’ll find proximity to the U.S. market, skilled labor and a history of conforming to global manufacturing standards.

       It was a line that worked. Juárez was, and still is, the number one employer in the maquila industry. Companies come from all over the world to take advantage of the city’s work environment. You can still find plentiful labor – skilled or unskilled; modern industrial parks with all the amenities; a support system across the border in El Paso, Texas; and workers with three generations of experience working for global companies.

       Juárez has always been a leader in the maquila industry. It was here that RCA built the first large maquila, leading the way to plants that today employ 5,000 to 10,000 people. Today, Juárez continues to set trends by showing how Mexican workers can handle highly sophisticated technical jobs. Several Juárez companies today employ processes that are the most sophisticated in the world.

       But 2001 was a bad year. The combination of a recession in the United States and uncertain messages from Mexico City about how the maquila industry will be taxed in the future meant that for the first time since the maquila program was created in 1965, not only did the growth stop, it reversed itself. An estimated 45,000-to 60,000-maquila jobs were lost in Juárez last year.

       The only consolation is that the job loss doesn’t appear the result of any Juárez-specific problem, but rather a combination of the U.S. economy and Mexican politics. Mario Mora, executive director of the Juárez Asociación de Maquiladoras, A.C. (AMAC), says some companies are leaving Mexico for tax-friendly destinations such as Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and China.

       “Our main objective for the year is going to be involved in getting industry back on its feet,” Mora says. “The fiscal matters are really confusing. It’s taking the maquilas’ competitiveness away.”

       It is a development Juárez leaders would like to see stopped before it becomes a trend. Mayor José Reyes Ferriz says that for the first time in years, the city has to aggressively court maquilas.

       “What we are doing with industry now is trying to show them again the attractiveness of the area,” says Mayor José Reyes Ferriz. “Take another look at the border.”

       Reyes says all the reasons to choose Juárez for manufacturing are still valid. Consider:

       •Juárez is the fourth largest city in Mexico with a population of more than 1.2 million inhabitants.

       •Nearly 40 percent of the state’s population is concentrated in the city.

       •50.27 percent of the population is male.

       •There are nearly 2 million residents in the Juárez/El Paso region.

       •75 percent of the population is less than 35 years old.

       •The city’s population increases at an annual rate of 5.3 percent, or about 48,000 to 50,000 new inhabitants a year.

       Reyes says the city is changing its Economic Development Department to make it more aggressive and more efficient.

       “Because Juárez was always so attractive to industry, that department never really had to work to attract new business,” he says. “We have changed that. We now have a truly functioning Economic Development Department and a campaign to recapture the attention of industry away from Asia.”

       The campaign essentially includes reminding companies why Juárez was so attractive all these years.

       “We have convenience,” Reyes says. “Our geographic location on the border with the center of the United States.

       “We have experience. While marketing in another city may bring new challenges, here we have had more than 30 years experience. It’s now second nature for us.”

       Reyes also notes the city’s transportation infrastructure is solid, with rail, air and highway access throughout Mexico and the United States.

       Finally, he says, industry here will find a willing partner in the city in the fight with the Mexican federal government over taxation.

       “We have an understanding of what industry faces and a commitment from the city government to help change what’s wrong is important to industry,” Reyes says.

       “The main thing is to solve the problems that are causing industry to leave. These are things that can be changed. Once that is done, the rest of the job is getting the word out.”

       “You have to consider our background,” adds Mora. “We have the people. They are very trainable now, schools are abundant.”

       Mora says Juárez’s relationship with neighboring El Paso, Texas makes El Paso a perfect distribution center.

       “We have the ideal location in the middle of the United States. For a distribution center, El Paso is terrific.”

       AMAC was founded in 1974 to represent local maquilas. In 2002, AMAC President Bernardo Escudero Ortega says AMAC’s most important work will be lobbying.

       “I don’t want to be a pessimist,” he says. “We see the glass as half full. But need to have a lot of strength. We don’t want to be seen as the goose with the golden egg. We need to evangelize federal people who regulate the state of the maquila industry. We want more action. We want results, not promises.”

City goals

       Reyes has created an ambitious list of projects for the city. Among them he wants to improve cooperation between city and state law enforcement agencies, finish construction of a children’s hospital that was stalled a decade ago, modernize the city’s library system, streamline the city’s bureaucracy, move street vendors to an indoor market, and improve its Economic Development Department. His biggest goal, however, may be the creation of a modern mass transit system that, among other things, would pass right by several of the city’s major industrial parks.

       Such a system, he says, would ease crowding on city streets and make it easier for workers to get to maquilas.

       In an effort to streamline government, he has consolidated departments to eliminate duplication. He has already reduced to 15 from 21 the number of city departments, saving taxpayers an estimated $2.5 million in salary.

       Juárez is more than a maquila center. Visitors will find plenty of touristic diversions.

Mission of Guadalupe

       The mission is in the center Juárez, adjacent to the Cathedral and facing the Plaza of Weapons. It features a northern colonial style with a 17th century flavor. Behind the temple is a bronze statue of Fray García of San Francisco.

Chamizal

       The Chamizal was built in 1967 to mark an agreement between the United States and Mexico to channel the Rio Grande River and settle on a specific border between the two countries. The park contains several monuments.

Mission of San Jose

       This mission dates back to 1785 and for many years was used as a defense against raids from Apaches.

Juárez History Museum

       Inaugurated in 1889 as a customs center, this building is an example of the French influence on architecture. It was here in 1909 where Mexico President Porfirio Díaz and U.S. President William Taft met. It currently is headquarters of the Juárez History Museum.

Museum of Art and History

       The Juárez Museum of Art exhibits pieces of high artistic and historic value of the cultures that flourished in Mexico. It includes rooms dedicated to show the expressions in plastic arts of national and local artists. The museum was designed explicitly for this function by architect Pedro Ramirez Vázquez in 1964.

Benito Juárez Monument

       In October of 1909, Porfirio Díaz, then president of Mexico, placed the foundation stone of the monument to Benito Juárez. The work was finished the following year and inaugurated Sept. 16 as part of the celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of the War of Independence. The bronze statue measures 2.5 meters high with a marble base.