Mexicali area electronics companies now have an extra resource to use in solving problems peculiar to their industry.

            CANIETI, the Mexican Chamber of the Electronics Industry, Telecommunications, and Information Technology (Cámara Nacional de la Industria Electrónica, de Telecomunicaciones e Informática) recently opened an office in Mexicali to serve that area’s growing electronics sector.

            “This branch represents a major step in our efforts to increase our presence in Mexicali ,” says Fabiola Díaz, CANIETI’s Northwest chapter communications chief. “To achieve CANIETIs’ mission we need to be in proximity of the companies that belong to our industry sector and to increase our working relationship with them.”

            CANIETI’s national headquarters is in Mexico City and serves more than 800 affiliates (national and/or multinational companies), throughout Mexico . CANIETI is intended to operate as a global business center, linking the needs and problems of its affiliate companies with the solutions they require.  Additional chapters are in Guadalajara , Tijuana , Ciudad Juárez and Monterrey . CANIETI also plans to bolster its presence in Sonora and La Paz, Baja California South through strategic alliances with information technology cluster representatives in those areas.

            CANIETI operates its own technical standards laboratory, “Valentín V. Rivero”; one of the few specialized in the testing of four Mexican Official Standards (NOMS). It is by law under contract with NYCE, which is the Certification, Verification of Electronic Standards Entity. That enables CANIETI to offer members shorter documentation processing and lower costs in the obtaining NOMS.

            CANIETI organizes and/or sponsors a number of annual trade shows and seminars, including Expo Electrónica, Supercomm México and Telefórum, among others.

            The Mexicali office was requested by companies such as Sony, Daewoo and other software development firms that wanted assistance with matters relating to foreign trade, fiscal and other legal issues related predominantly to the electronic maquiladora industry and the Information Technology sector.

            “CANIETI is a chamber that is specifically focused on resolving issues that affect the electronics, telecommunications, IT and software industry in Mexico ,” says Díaz. “ Mexicali is significant because it has many of companies in these sectors. Mexicali has many electronic maquiladora manufacturing operations. These companies are closely integrated with the aerospace, automotive and metal mechanic sectors. This presents enormous opportunities to develop supply chain solutions under the leadership of the electronics sector.

            “A major objective for CANIETI is to share our know-how in working with the Mexican Congress and other government agencies.”

            CANIETI was organized in 1956 under Mexico ’s Chamber Law as a national specialized chamber — that is a chamber that is dedicated to serve specific industry branches. The Mexican government enacted the Chambers Law of 1941 to create chambers with an obligatory dues-paying membership of the private sector. The government’s intent was to create a layer underneath business umbrella-organizations in the (mostly top down) communication channel between the federal government and the private sector, known as “corporativism.” The obligatory dues paid for the upkeep of both the chambers and their umbrella organizations. These dues tax on the private sector often led to chamber inefficiency and poor membership service, when business-politico cliques ran those chambers.

            This changed in 1997 when the chambers law was amended to eliminate the obligatory membership requirement. As a result, chambers are reengineering themselves to retain and attract dues-paying members - or perish – by providing a productive environment and valuable services to their members, based on added value for its affiliates. 

            CANIETI has already proved itself to be well positioned to meet this challenge head-on, with the concept of a Global Business Center . Its reengineering strategy is based on building on its strengths, taking into account its external mandates and stake-holders, by repeating the formation of internal fortitudes, already in place in Mexico City and Guadalajara, using the same platform:

            •A pro-active membership of corporate decision-makers with in-depth current and future leadership to draw from its self-governance and committee activities.

            •A smart industry experienced in meeting challenges.

            •Organizational and individual respect and prestige recognition by important government agencies and umbrella organizations earned by CANIETI and its member industries.

            •Institutional lobbying, developed through the years, can be described as follows: lobbying with the senate and deputies and lobbying with the executive branch. National and International lobbying will be carried out for groups of companies with specific needs, and only in unique cases will this be done for individual companies by request.

Services offered

            •Representation of their interests before authorities and government agencies.

            •Representation of their interests before international agencies.

            •Representation through public/private government – contract commissions before government agencies and state-owned enterprises.

            •Representation before business umbrella organizations, in national and international matters.

            •Right to elect their representatives or be elected.

            •Foreign-trade and customs advice. (Anexo 24 Inventory control)

            •Patent and trademark advice.

            •Maquiladora supply-contract negotia-tions advice.

            •Legal/Tax advice.

            •Advice on product standards.

            •Labor-contract advice.

            •Government document processing for:

            Processing of product standard certification issued by NYCE (to certificate holders after having the product tested by the Valentin V. Rivero Laboratory) and equipment-remanufacture programs.

            •Industrial development and foreign trade programs (PITEX, Rule Eight, ALTEX, Maquiladoras).

            •A 12 percent discount during 2000 for laboratory tests to those member firms that have paid their chamber dues during the first three months of the year.

            •Industry salient statistical information on: Mexican Business Information System (SIEM) and imports and exports.

            •Listing in the member directory.

            •Newsletter.

            •Government purchases program.

            •National and international events, trade fairs, and exhibitions.

            •Continuing education on selected subjects through courses, seminars, round   tables and workshops.

            •Waiver of the obligatory SIEM annual fee (members only, not applicable to any branches).

            Additional for-pay services include:

            •Special government-document processing.

            •Training courses.

            •Annual chamber convention.

            •Rents and organization of special events.

            •Exhibitions and trade fairs.