Good afternoon, what a pleasure to be with all of you in this Assembly.

It is an honor for me to be able to greet and thank the authorities who are with us.

- To the Secretary of Economy Raquel Buenrostro

- To our Governor, Samuel García

- To Betsabé Rocha, Head of the Office of the Mayor of Monterrey

- To Iván Rivas, State Secretary of Economy

- To Othón Valverde Undersecretary of Industry and Commerce of the Ministry of Economy

- To Iraís Barreto, Head of the Global Economic Intelligence Unit

- To the Federal and State Authorities. To the Mayors, legislators and magistrates who also accompany us.

- To the presidents of the CCE, Francisco (Paco) Cervantes, and Concamin, José (Pepe) Abugaber.

- Also, to all of us who are part of the industrial community of Nuevo León. To the members of Caintra's Board of Directors, to the Members, and to the media that are with us today.

To all of you. Thank you very much for being here. You are all very welcome.

I saw here in front of me, and you noticed it in the greetings, many former presidents and I want to start by thanking my friends the former presidents, first for having elected me, or for having accompanied me in this process, but much more because I talked to many of them before taking this position and then I thank them for their enormous sincerity when they told me that CAINTRA was going to take only two or three meetings per month. To tell you the truth, I am very grateful for that sincerity.

Friends,

Being president of Caintra this last year has been an extraordinary experience. The joint effort of more than 850 volunteers, the capacity and dedication of the staff of more than 150 people and the commitment of all the delegates of the companies, to contribute to improve and make the whole industry grow, is admirable.

Please know that, as a Regio by adoption, you have in me a permanent promoter of this industrial community. Representing you this year has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire career.

Therefore, I am honored that this Assembly has once again placed its trust in me to lead the Chamber's efforts for another year. I assure you that I will continue to make every effort to represent you with energy and passion.

Thank you all very much for this great honor that you have bestowed upon me.

Our chamber reaches its 80th anniversary stronger than ever, transforming the industry and the economy, not only of Nuevo León, but also of Mexico.

Today, Caintra is much more than a Chamber, it is the voice of Nuevo León, of its SMEs, of its large companies, and of thousands of Nuevo León people, all moved by the entrepreneurial spirit of this land, by its culture of work and effort that seeks the growth and benefit of the entire community.

Therefore, these 80 years mean celebrating all of Nuevo León.

We have reached our 80th anniversary with record numbers. We are already more than 4,200 member companies.

We promote training and education with our dual education and alliance for education programs, as well as with our internship program, achieving the historic figure of more than 10 thousand young people in the 32 states of the country.

We celebrated the largest EXPOPYME in history, with more than 8,800 visitors, 80 tractor companies and more than 7,000 business interactions, and this year we are going for an even bigger event, when we will also celebrate CAINTRA's 80th anniversary with several events and some surprises.

We completed the first year of our +Pymex program, in which 12 tractor companies made incremental purchases of US$600 million from 3,000 Mexican SMEs.

In addition, Caintra is the only non-national organization outside Mexico City that is part of the Executive Committee of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) and we chair key commissions in both the CCE and Concamin.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our great friends Francisco Cervantes and José Abugaber for allowing CAINTRA to participate in these business summits that are so important for the country.

Paco, congratulations on your re-election as head of the CCE yesterday, it was an extraordinary event and it shows without a doubt the great work you are doing as head of the CCE.

And Pepe, congratulations for almost three years in charge of CONCAMIN, the truth is that this Friday we have the sad task of saying goodbye to you at your assembly, but you are leaving with your head held high knowing that the job was very well done.

I would also like to take this opportunity to greet Alejandro Malagon, our friend Alejandro, who this Friday will take over the presidency of CONCAMIN, he was unanimously elected as the new President. Alejandro, you know that you have CAINTRA's full support throughout your term, we know that you are going to do very well.

As you can see, the numbers speak for themselves, but none of this would have been possible without the effort and dedication of the entire Caintra community.

That is why I would like to thank our Board, the committee chairmen, the company volunteers and CAINTRA's collaborators, all those who work, the more than 150 people who work tirelessly at CAINTRA to represent our industry as a whole.

Thank you very much and a big round of applause for all of them.

In 2024 we have an intense year ahead of us in terms of activities and agenda.

We will have the largest elections in the history of our country. Democratic participation is a value that we must promote and honor.

That is why from Caintra we call on our partners to participate in this democratic exercise and provide the facilities so that their collaborators can also do so.

On the other hand, in November, the United States will hold presidential elections. It will be with these new leaders that the first planned review of the Mexico-United States-Canada Agreement will take place.

The TMEC brought very important benefits for the three countries and we have an opportunity for it to be expanded and improved. The path towards this revision will be very relevant for our country and should be one of the priorities of the new government.

During the last two decades, Asia, and especially China, with its policy based on subsidies and unfair competition, has concentrated the world's manufacturing production and consequently the sources of quality employment.

For the record, over the past two decades, China's share of global manufacturing went from less than 5% of global manufacturing to almost 40% today.

The world realized that we could not continue on this path. Regionalization, or nearshoring, is the consequence of this, and the message is clear: industrial activity is key to the economic growth of any country. Industry drives innovation, economic development and consequently the social mobility so necessary for our beloved Mexico.

I would like to take this opportunity to give special recognition to Secretary Buenrostro, who, as you will notice, made a great effort to be with us today.

Secretary, we know of your understanding, interest and the effort you are making to capitalize on these opportunities. You understand and know these issues well. During your tenure you have shown actions towards the development of a Mexican high value-added ecosystem.

Good examples of this are:

- the tariff decree, to strengthen domestic production and regional value chains,

- defense of Mexican industry against unfair trade practices,

- and the creation of the one-stop shop that supports investors in establishing their operations in Mexico.

Secretary, we know your determination to move forward and solve problems, and we know that you are clear that there is much to be done. Please know that you can count on the industry of Nuevo León to continue working together to make the most of the benefits for Mexicans.

Yesterday at the CCE Assembly, which was also attended by the Secretary, she mentioned that nearshoring is here to stay and that Mexico is undoubtedly taking advantage of it, but that there was still a lot of work to be done to really capitalize on this opportunity.

I would like to mention 3 topics where the 3 levels of government can make public policies to further promote this unique opportunity.

Public safety is paramount, both nationally and locally. In 2023, for example, one out of every two companies suffered cargo theft. We know that this problem is being addressed, but it is not enough. We reiterate the need for greater coordination to increase proactive surveillance, the use of technology on the highways and secure stops.

Second, Infrastructure and Energy. Logistics infrastructure and electric power are the basis for the competitiveness of any industrial ecosystem. We need a plan for their promotion and development.

Today, for example, the cost of electricity for an SME in Mexico is 155% higher than in neighboring Texas. We need to reduce this gap, with investments in generation, but especially in transmission and distribution.

We need a reliable, cost-competitive and environmentally friendly national electric power system.

A protagonist Mexico also requires a connected country, with safe routes, efficient railroads and agile and technologically prepared customs.

Third, education and in particular technical education.

Nuevo Leon's industrial sector has a deficit of 40 thousand technical workers and a turnover rate of 27%. Our great opportunity is to attract and train 55% of the people who today work in the informal sector so that they can enter the formal labor market and thus have better opportunities.

Mr. Governor,

We recognize your efforts on many of these issues. We have witnessed your work to position Nuevo León in the world. We have also witnessed your commitment to investing in infrastructure to improve mobility, both for people and goods. This is a long-term project that we must continue to promote.

In our state, we must continue to work on the environmental agenda.

Nuevo Leon's industry is committed to the energy transition and investing to mitigate the effects of climate change.

But unlike climate change and CO2, which is a global phenomenon and requires a global solution, the issue of air quality is a local problem, where we must all take action to improve it.

At Caintra, together with our Institute for Environmental Protection (IPA), we voluntarily and proactively joined the state PIGECA program. In addition to the more than 6.6 billion pesos already invested, we committed another 7 billion pesos to improve processes that help reduce the impact on air quality. Also, this year we will double the capacity to verify our vehicles in companies.

The solution is not the closure of industries, but transparency, investment and commitment to improve and comply. It is essential that we all join this effort, both private and public, federal and state actors.

We must also work in the care of water in all sectors, so that in the medium and long term we can count on this resource in a constant and safe manner.

The industry will continue to promote investments, the optimization of resources and the use of treated water in our processes, in addition to supporting the most affected communities through the "Sumemos un Chorro" program.

Madam Secretary, Mr. Governor.

Let me add one more point to the above, which is central to Mexico and where we also require the efforts of the IP and the three levels of government.

SMEs are the basis of Caintra. They represent 80% of our members and are the first generator of employment.

We need to continue working on mechanisms to simplify, digitalize and reduce rules and costs in their operations.

The great challenge is to integrate more SMEs into value chains and thus take advantage of the full potential of nearshoring.

Let's work together on a development plan to have more SMEs that can focus on innovating, producing and growing.

Supporting them is undoubtedly the most profitable investment for Mexico.

Authorities, Caintra members, friends,

If there is a legacy to highlight from these 80 years of Caintra is that together we are much more than the sum of our parts.

Nuevo León and its industry is an example of this. A state that grew thanks to industry and its conviction to always seek the benefit of the community.

That is why I would like to conclude with a call for unity. We recognize the importance of a plurality of ideas and opinions; after all, this is the basis of our democratic system.

But the debate and the electoral processes should not make us lose sight of the importance of governing and legislating for the good of the citizens. We require consensus to build the conditions we need for the prosperity of Nuevo León.

From Caintra we will continue working with this objective, so that all our companies can grow and prosper.

Let us continue to build the industrial future of this country for the next 80 years, with the conviction that industry is the engine that will drive the future of our country:

- generates employment,

- promotes social inclusion and mobility,

- drives economic development,

- and contributes to the well-being of our entire community.

With the industry we grow, develop and project a better future.

This is Nuevo Leon and this means Caintra.

Thank you very much.

CAINTRA NUEVO LEÓN