For Carlos Slim, the worst thing that can happen to Mexico is conflict and business disunity. During the seminar ‘Vision of the future: Mexico 2042’, organized by the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), and within the framework of the change of post office of this organization, the tycoon urged to maintain the union of the private sector.
“In companies we don’t all think the same, but we have to respect each other and dialogue […] We must accept that we are all playing on the same team. Conflicts must be discussed, but not periodically,” Slim said in a conversation he had with the still president of the CCE, Carlos Salazar Lomelín.
In the talk, the representative of the council, who stood out for being a conciliatory leader, questioned the businessman about the role he considers a business body should play, since in recent months at the head of the CCE there were some businessmen who asked him to be more strident against the government in power. “It was one of the main pressures I had,” he said.
In Slim’s opinion, it’s not about arguing and finding the weak sides of the other to give the blow, but to think about the importance and responsibility that businessmen have with the country, with society.
“(Fighting) doesn’t help anyone at all. I believe that when a government is democratically elected, we must respect, dialogue with them, try to provide them with approaches, ideas, programs. Having capricious or ideological conflicts is nonsense,” he said.
The key is to seize opportunities, he says. Historically, Mexico is a country that has missed great opportunities for growth and development. From the beginning of independence until Porfirio Díaz arrived, Mexico was fighting and we ended up having civil wars, foreign invasions, loss of territory, insecurity and poverty. With Juárez there was more stability, but the confrontation continued.”
In his opinion, the country must work together and recognize that we are experiencing a moment of civilization. As the writer Alvin Toffler says, Slim referred, before the exploitation of man was sustained, there were no human rights, no social mobility, there was slavery, exploitation and cheap labor, with little consumption, but a lot of work.
Now there are new paradigms. The well-being of the person is sustained, the employees are more independent, they require quality education and a good economic level because they are already part of the market. “Having these conditions is what feeds back into the economy,” said the businessman.
So, the role of a business body is to drive for change, promote investment, build bridges and take advantage of the opportunity that the Free Trade Agreement with the United States represents, because “the assets we have to be businessmen more than politicians, because the governments have already done their job and we haven’t. We should be faster, it was already signed (the T-MEC) three years ago and we have not done anything. We should already have the list of what we import, “he said.
“I was very struck by the fact that President López Obrador, with the way he thinks and his programs, has had the attitude of saying that we are integrated into North America. It is no longer that we are maquiladoras, but that we are partners of the Americans,” Slim emphasized.
business development models
The businessman, who is one of the most powerful men in the world, admires China’s model because it went from being an agricultural society to a digitized economy. Now, the Asian country is no longer the factory for cheap products, but the headquarters that produces top technology items and is also a powerhouse for electric cars.
“The only country that is clearly driving change in a careful and orderly manner and with great efficiency is China, as South Korea and Japan did before. Most of its population consumes technological and digital services. They are not seeing this civilizational change and the governments are not driving it”, he mentioned.
In the case of Europe, Slim points out that it will be difficult to change its way of life of comfort, and that resistance is lagging behind some of its developed countries and is also turning them into a kind of historical, cultural and tourist place.
In the United States, on the other hand, he observes that technological innovations are in Silicon Valley. However, it is a country that has been developing new technologies for many years. Amazon, for example, is the best store without stores. He even celebrates that in Latin America the change has been seen with platforms such as MercadoLibre from Argentina and Rappi from Colombia. However, it is not enough.
“Thanks to the pandemic, we realized that it is more efficient to handle videoconferences than to hold formal meetings, where days and hours are wasted. The importance of connectivity is becoming evident,” he said.
Which path should Mexico take?
Are the democratic systems that we have bet on really providing the solution for the future? Salazar Lomelín asked during the talk. Carlos Slim was very clear in his response: the key to Mexico’s growth lies in raising the minimum wage and the purchasing power of the population.
According to the Mexican businessman, this would become a virtuous circle for the national economy. In 2018, the minimum wage was 88 pesos, while this year, after the increase approved by the National Minimum Wage Commission (Conasami) of 14.4%, it reached 172 pesos for almost the entire country and 260 pesos at the border. North.
But the increase was not immediate. In 2019 its increase of 11.4% was approved, in 2020 of 16.2% and last year of 11%. In a morning conference, in January of this year, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that the increase in the minimum wage in recent years has not been exceeded by inflation, which closed 2021 with 7.36%, his worst drop since October 2001, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
“I am convinced that what is needed in the world is that we make a war, but against poverty,” Slim said. “Wealth is like a tree and income is the fruit of that tree, what needs to be distributed is the fruit of the tree, not the branch or the tree, and that the fruit that remains is kept so that you can make a garden.”
“China lifted 30-40 million out of poverty every year and today has a very good economy. It became a manufacturing country and the conditions it has are privileged in the economy, it grew by about 14%”, he said.
Another relevant factor to make the country grow is to attack corruption. “Apparently in China and other countries they are ending it based on the fact that there are no longer circulating bills and coins, but everything is paid digitally.” In Mexico, the path to digitization is less.
However, Slim does not dare to speak of business failure in the country, despite the fact that the businessman usually jumps into the past, in reality he is very clear that the future of the economies is in the digital field.
América Móvil has a presence in 25 countries and recently the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) modified 18 concession titles of Carlos Slim’s company so that it can offer 5G technology to its users in Mexico.
And in a press conference with analysts, Daniel Hajj, CEO of América Móvil, commented that they plan to launch their fifth-generation technology network this year in 90% of the countries where it operates, including Mexico.
Today, Carlos Slim is one of the most powerful businessmen in the world. Salazar Lomelín describes him as one of the most iconic entrepreneurs in Mexico, because over time he has demonstrated his capacity for entrepreneurship, as an employer, and for his commitment to the country.
It could not be otherwise, being the owner of one of the strongest digital companies, América Móvil, as well as Telmex, Telcel, Grupo Carso, Claro and the foundation that bears his name.
“Not many years ago the Mexican company began to diversify abroad. Now we see large companies that are in many countries with significant investments and competing in international markets whether in Latin America, the United States, Europe and even Asia. I believe that this is something very outstanding for the Mexican company,” he commented.
His final reflection, especially for new entrepreneurs, is that beyond just having the economic objective, they see themselves as part of a society and that in that society it is important that there is social peace, that there is no poverty, that there is education , health and national harmony.
