Mexico And Venez Trade In The Natural Gas Industry

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Country Assignment Mexico Overview of Current Economic, Political & Social Conditions With a population in excess of 100 million, Mexico is the 11th largest country in the world by population, and is rich in natural resources such as petroleum, metals and natural gas. Mexico's efforts to develop and modernize its economy, the 13th largest in the world in 2000, has been hindered by the nation's rugged terrain, limited farmland, rapidly growing population, and a series of economic crises.

The Economy: Mexico is a semi-industrialized country with manufacturing output which includes many basic goods including steel, machinery, and petrochemicals, as well as a wide range of consumer goods. With a free market economy made up of agriculture and a mixture of both modern and outdated industry, it is becoming increasingly dominated by the private sector(state-owned enterprises falling from more than 1,000 in 1982 to fewer than 200 in 1999).

Financial crises have slowed the expansion of Mexico's economy twice since the early 1980's including a sever recession in 1982 when oil, accounting for three quarters of its export revenues, saw world oil prices drop, and again in the 1990's when domestic troubles in Mexico damaged investor confidence resulting in an exit of foreign investment.

Inflation ran as high 40 percent annually, and interest rates on borrowing climbed to 60%. Fuelled by the expanding US economy and high oil prices, the economy is now growing at its fastest rate in 19 year (7.9% in the 1st quarter of 2000).

Political Environment: Mexico is a federal republic made up of 31 states and 1 federal district. Since its inception in 1929 the government-controlled Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has dominated most national political offices. The PRI lost the presidency for the first time in 2000, when Vicente Fox of the National Action Party...