DANIEL M. PRICE LEARNED FIRST HAND THAT MEXICO’S DYNAMIC ECONOMY IS FORCING ITS LEADERS TO HARNESS THE RAPID DEVELOPMENTS THE COUNTRY IS EXPERIENCING AND BE PREPARED FOR THE TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES THAT THE FUTURE WILL BRING.
SPEAKING LAST WEEK AT A FEDERAL EXPRESS CORP. SEMINAR, MR. PRICE, FORMERLY THE U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE’S LEAD NEGOTIATOR ON INVESTMENT ISSUES IN THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA), RECALLED THAT IT WAS THE MEXICAN NEGOTIATORS WHO WERE THE ONLY ONES WITH THE LAPTOPS AND THE OVERHEAD PROJECTORS. IT WAS A VERY IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE, AND WHEN THEY WANTED TO MAKE CHANGES, THEY WERE READY TO DO SO RIGHT AWAY.
WHETHER THE U.S. CONGRESS PASSES NAFTA OR NOT, MR. PRICE, WHO CURRENTLY IS A PARTNER WITH THE LAW FIRM OF POWELL, GOLDSTEIN, FRAZER & MURPHY, SAID THAT MEXICO’S ECONOMY WILL CONTINUE TO GROW. HIS COUNTERPART AT THE NEGOTIATIONS TOLD HIM RECENTLY, HE SAID, THAT HE IS SWAMPED WITH REQUESTS FROM PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD SEEKING INVESTMENT POSSIBILITIES IN MEXICO.
MEXICO IS MOVING, MR. PRICE REMARKED, ADDING THAT ITS PROSPECTS EXCEED THOSE OF MANY EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE IN MEXICO CITY THAN IN ALL OF HUNGARY, HE REMINDED THE AUDIENCE.
AS PRINCIPAL DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL AT USTR, MR. PRICE ALSO NEGOTIATED TRADE AND INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS WITH THE FORMER SOVIET UNION AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES AND EASTERN EUROPE.
SHOULD NAFTA NOT BE APPROVED, MR. PRICE SAID THAT THE U.S. WOULD LOSE THE BENEFITS OF MANY OF THE EXCLUSIVE, BI-LATERAL ARRANGEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATED IN THE AGREEMENT, WHILE JAPAN AND EUROPEAN COMMUNITY COUNTRIES WOULD BENEFIT FROM MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS THAT INEVITABLY WOULD BE CONCLUDED.
IF WE DON’T SEIZE THIS OPPORTUNITY, HE SAID, MEXICO WILL FORM STRONG TRADING RELATIONSHIPS TO OUR DETRIMENT.