Expo Mexico Emprende comes to Los Angeles seeking to capitalize remittances

    For the first time in its history, the Mexican government and 16 state governments will present an Expo designed to offer assistance to Mexicans living outside of Mexico with the necessary tools to capitalize their remittances. The Expo will focus on starting and growing small and medium businesses in order to promote the well being of families while also fostering Mexico’s economic development and creating jobs.

    The event titled Expo Mexico Emprende, will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center August 19, 20 and 21 and is being organized by Mexico’s Secretary of Economy through the Sub-Secretary for the Development of the Small and Medium Enterprises. There will also be other entities participating such as the Secretary of Exterior Relations, the Secretary of National Development, the Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Nutrition, the Institute of Mexicans Abroad and the Mexican General Consulate in Los Angeles.

    The spokesperson for the Secretary of Economy explained that the idea for creating this event came as a result of an evaluation that the federal government made regarding Mexicans living in the United States and the importance of their economic participation on both sides of the border.

    According to the text Census Office of the United States, of the 50.5 million Latinos living in the U.S., 59 percent are of Mexican origin. This group not only contributes with their work to the development of the American economy but also contributes through their remittances to the Mexican economy. These remittances are the second highest source of income for Mexico. From January through April of this year $US 6.97 billion were received, according to the Bank of Mexico. The problem is that of this number, 60 percent goes to consumption, 15 percent goes to savings and only 3 percent goes to creating small business that are the main creators of jobs.

    Through Expo Mexico Emprende, the Mexican government hopes to spread the word about the assistance programs they have created to help Mexicans living abroad so that they can contribute to combat poverty, generate employment and, at the same time, improve the quality of life for themselves and their families.

    The Secretary of Economy emphasized that another one of the principal objectives of the event is to strengthen ties between Mexicans living abroad and the Mexican government and to encourage a relationship that goes further than the current one with the consulates. It’s about inspiring this community to feel proud of its identity and heritage, and make them aware that they can collaborate with the Mexican government for projects of mutual benefit.

    During Expo Mexico there will be workshops to elevate the business capacity and ability of the attendees, as well as business matchmaking.

    The financial culture workshop will be one of several on the topic of finance. These workshops will focus on the prerequisites needed to receive help from the government to invest in a micro, small or medium sized business. Several financial institutions will participate as well as banks, money-wiring services, and companies that are friendly with Mexicans living abroad.

    Another important workshop will be on how to start a business. Here the participants will get counseling on everything from developing a business plan to how to ensure that the project is successful. There will also be instruction in the areas of starting a business, marketing, innovation and technology.

    There will also be a workshop on franchises in Mexico with more than 500 Mexican and American companies participating. Attendees will receive information about how to open a franchise and how to receive loans from the government with a zero percent interest rate for up to five years. There will also be business simulators that will cover general related topics like health and education.

    The Expo will be the platform for launching the Migrant Fund “Fondo del Migrante” that will start with a budget of $ 500 million pesos ($42,650,000 approx) to help in the creation of micro, small and medium enterprises.

    In this first phase of this initiative the most important objective is to make the public aware of the opportunities and the programs that exist so as to ignite their entrepreneurial spirit. For more information about the Expo and to pre-register to this free event, please visit: Expo Mexico Emprende (www.expomexicoemprende.com).