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Mexico City, June 22, 2006. – This morning at Banorte headquarters in Monterrey, U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza and Banorte Director General Luis Peña Kegel, signed a cooperative agreement to expand access to financial services for members of Pronegocio, a Banorte subsidiary. The U.S. Embassy, through its Agency for International Development, provides technical assistance to Pronegocio. “Banorte is committed to the development of Mexico and is leading the formal financial sector in expanding the supply of financial services to micro- and small enterprises,” said Ambassador Garza. “We all recognize that small businesses are one of the keys to economic growth.”
On his visit to Monterrey, Ambassador Garza also toured the Instituto Nuevo Amanecer, a Mexican non-governmental organization dedicated to working with children with cerebral palsy and their families. “The United States government is honored to support vocational training and job placement for young disabled adults at Nuevo Amanecer. By helping them find and succeed at meaningful jobs, we can significantly change their young lives for the better,” said Garza.
The Ambassador also toured the Family Justice Center facility, accompanied by Nuevo León Attorney General Luis Carlos Treviño Berchelmann. “The Family Justice Center is another example of cutting edge social innovation in Monterrey that offers comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence and their children,” said Ambassador Garza. “The Family Justice Center in San Diego served as the model for Monterrey’s center. The U.S. Embassy linked the two facilities and key personnel, supporting the exchange of ideas and visits to San Diego,” said the Ambassador. “Offering comfort, support and services to victims helps us all move one step closer to eliminating the crime of domestic violence.”
Ambassador Garza also visited the Tecnológico de Monterrey campus, which currently has five university partnerships under the U.S.- Mexico Training, Internships, Exchanges, and Scholarships (TIES) program in the following areas: aerospace technology; water quality; information technology; pollution reduction; and watershed management. Ambassador Garza met with faculty and students focusing on the Education and Technology Transfer for the Aerospace Industry partnership with Arizona State University. Later, the Ambassador had lunch with students, faculty and university officials from the Tecnológico de Monterrey campus who participate in the five TIES partnership programs.
Before leaving the campus, the Ambassador also visited the AMT/ITESN Tech Center, co-sponsored by the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the Tecnológico de Monterrey. AMT’s Monterrey office helps Mexican industrialists source manufacturing technologies from more than 350 American companies. The Tech Center is a workshop where engineering students design and build prototypes using AMT machines and technologies.
“It’s very exciting to be on this innovative campus and see the intense cooperation between academic institutions in the United States and Mexico. By working together, we forge lasting alliances in education and friendships between professionals on both sides of the border,” added Ambassador Garza.
TIES has a budget of $50 million dollars over eight years provided through collaboration between the U.S. government, academic institutions and the private sector of Mexico and the United States. The U.S. government provides a total of $35 million for TIES, with universities and the private sector contributing an additional $15 million to support more than 750 scholarships and 45 current partnerships between Mexican and U.S. universities. The selection process for ten more partnerships is underway.
From Monterrey, the Ambassador will continue on to Matamoros on Friday, June 23, 2006, where he will participate in an opening ceremony for a NADBank sponsored waste-water purification project and visit with Tamaulipas Governor Eugenio Hernandez Flores.
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