Mexico hears Utah's plan

MEXICO CITY — Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. tried out his new plan for international economic development on a group of Mexican business leaders Tuesday in anticipation of his meeting today with Mexican President Vicente Fox.

"That's where we close the deal," Huntsman said of the half-hour meeting with Fox, scheduled mid-day at the Mexican president's official residence, Los Pinos, and to be followed by a press conference with the Mexican media.

The governor is trying to sell what he's calling the "Mexico-Utah Alliance for Prosperity." Besides promoting economic development and tourism, it also encourages education and cultural exchanges.

Huntsman intends the plan — which he had considered naming a "partnership" for prosperity rather than an alliance as he worked out the details on the flight to Mexico City — to be a model for economic development efforts in China, India and Canada as well.

The governor told members of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico that a state the size of Utah can't afford to compete for international business in too many places, so he's selected what he believes will be the best markets in coming years.

"You can't be everywhere in a state that's 2.5 million people in size. But you can pick your markets," Huntsman said to the dozen or so business leaders mainly from Mexico City who gathered to hear the "el Gobernador de Utah" speak at the luncheon held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in a posh area of the city.

Mexico is the first foreign country the governor has visited since taking office in January. He said of the four countries where he intends to focus the state's international economic development efforts, Mexico is "perhaps the most important" even though that state ranks as only the eighth-largest market for Utah goods. Huntsman said he expects trade will increase significantly between Utah and Mexico.

Larry Rubin, director general of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, said the organization has hosted a number of governors and lieutenant governors pitching economic development deals from Texas, Louisiana, California and other states.

"There is a lot of competition. Governors come here frequently looking for business," Rubin said. "Every state is different. Utah definitely has a tourism aspect to it that other states don't possess." Plus, he said, there are many Mormons in Mexico who know the state as the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.