More than 50 of Jalisco’s leading business leaders met with Mexican President Enrique Peñã Nieto during a visit to Guadalajara made prior to his state visit to the United Kingdom.
The meeting took place at Casa Jalisco, the official residence of Governor Aristoteles Sandoval. Police closed a four-block area around the property for the duration of the meeting, provoking considerable traffic chaos.
The need for greater investment in infrastructure to keep Jalisco competitive was the main issue the business leaders raised with the president. The petitions included the urgent need for a second runway at the Guadalajara International Airport, improvements to federal highways and more infrastructure to guarantee the state’s water supply.
Peña Nieto also reiterated his support for the Creative Digital City (CCD) and said federal funding would not be affected because of austerity measures enacted due to the fall in crude oil prices. He said the 300 million pesos earmarked from federal coffers for the project was assured.
The CCD is a high-tech industrial park geared toward the electronic entertainment industry planned in the heart of the downtown area. Announced in January 2012, the CCD could generate as many as 20,000 high-tech jobs over the next ten to 20 years.
Following his meeting with business leaders, Peña Nieto was driven to the Auditorio Benito Juarez, where he joined 10,000 people who had benefitted from the Cruzada Nacional contra el Hambre (National Crusade against Hunger), a federal social welfare program that targets the nation’s most needy citizens. The president spent more than 40 minutes shaking the hands of the beneficiaries, many of whom had waited four hours for his arrival.