Mexico City, May 24, 2024.- With the aim of joining the front against global challenges and exploring opportunities in our country, the Postgraduate area of the Universidad Panamericana held the event Global Outlookevent, in which, with the participation of experts, various initiatives for a better reality were proposed.
Present at the event on behalf of Panamericana were Dr. Santiago García Álvarez, Rector of Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City campus, and Almudena Vaca Romero, Director of Strategy, Development and Quality.
Dr. Garcia welcomed those present and spoke about the importance of this type of event for the university: "we are very interested in having more interdisciplinary dialogue, that is, not only the technical association of each postgraduate course, in its own faculty, but also forums for dialogue among all of them".
Productivity in Mexico
Following the rector's remarks, the event began with a keynote address by Kevin Russell, associate partner at McKinsey and senior fellow at McKinsey Global Institute, and Miguel E. Suadi, partner at McKinsey & Company Mexico.
To begin with, Russell spoke about how our present time is in constant change and how this change, despite adverse situations such as wars, crises or global warming, can lead to progress for our society .
Within the idea of progress, Suadi raised the issue of productivity in Mexico, which can grow: "But if we think about growth in general, we can think about technological opportunity, entrepreneurship, the ability to create new companies when we talk about demographics and from the point of view of the street, these are still issues that Mexico has ahead," he said.
After this reflection on the country, Russell detailed some of the points on which McKinsey has focused. He specified that the company has sought to solve the questions that any CEO should ask, covering topics such as business and economy, gradually the company was growing its interest to broader issues in terms of society, such as women in the workplace, inequality or climate change.
Investment in Mexico
Among these topics, he spoke to the audience about investment and where it is coming from in our country: "The main block is transportation, and most of the foreign generation of new people coming to America is coming from Europe. So, the first question is, how is this going to live in Mexico? And what is going to happen in the world? We are moving from a global economy to a more regional one."
He also pointed out how Mexico has a large pool of professionals, with many technology workers, which makes us a country where companies come to seek that intervention: "If we look at the big picture of Mexico, which has the main pool of talent in the region, it also has a space that comes from this global technology market".
In closing, Russell addressed the young people present, letting them know how important they are in this new changing environment and how important it is for them to be involved in it: "We especially need young people to participate, to promote themselves well, to let companies and governments know what they want," he concluded.
Global challenges
Also, within the framework of Global Outlook, a panel discussion was held to discuss global challenges such as innovation, technology and sustainable development. Fernanda Guarro, General Director of 3M de México; Enrique Quintana, President and CEO of El Financiero; and José Medina Mora, President of COPARMEX, participated in the panel discussion, moderated by the Director of Strategy, Development and Quality of Panamericana.
To begin the discussion, Guarro spoke about his vision of private industry in Mexico, noting that we are still a poor country and clarifying that this is something we need to capitalize on: "We have talent, but we need to ensure that this talent is capitalized".
He also indicated: "We also have more than 30 years with an impressive commercial opening, in 30 years we have gone from being a maquiladora to a designer country, and we are beginning to add value, today there are companies that are designing in Mexico, with Mexican engineers".
He then spoke about the challenges they see in 3M, ranging from early education of Mexicans where they are oriented in programming or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines, to the issue of infrastructure, logistics and connectivity, as he believes that Mexico is lagging behind in these areas.
Challenges for Mexico
For his part, Mr. Medina highlighted six challenges or priorities for Mexico: improving education to overcome the lag with respect to the OECD, guaranteeing universal access to health care, ensuring legal certainty for investment, improving security to prevent crime and extortion, reducing the informal economy that affects productivity, and promoting the transition to clean energy for proper environmental management.
Regarding environmental protection, he said, "in relation tothe transition to clean energy, it is necessary to ensure that we have enough energy and that it is clean, as well as adequate labor management".
Quintana stressed the need to strengthen the rule of law, combat informality and address social polarization. He also emphasized the opportunities offered by Mexico's geo-economic position, especially in the context of tensions between the United States and China.
He also raised three challenges; like Medina, he agreed that one of the challenges facing the country is that of education; the second challenge he identified was that of the rule of law, since for a country to function, Quintana said, the law must be respected; as a third challenge, he identified the social polarization that exists in the country and that must be eliminated.
Learn more about Panamerican Graduate Studies at: https://posgrados-panamericana.up.edu.mx/
