Abstract
Ignacio Loyola of the PAN became Querétaro’s first non-PRI governor in the modern era by winning the 1997 state elections. However, as this chapter shows, political change did not alter the state’s economic governance institutions, which had been steadily consolidating since the early 1980s. Loyola maintained the practice of regular dialogue with business and labor and even appointed several prominent priistas to top cabinet posts. The Loyola administration also continued to expand the state’s industrial parks and research centers and built a large international airport outside the city of Querétaro. Loyola’s successor, Francisco Garrido (2003–2009), capitalized on this new facility to establish a dynamic aerospace sector, which quickly became a global hub for this knowledge and technology-intensive industry. This transformation of the economy continued to be guided by coordination and synergy between local officials and the private sector, even as new mechanisms and actors arose during this period.
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Notes
- 1.
In the first months of the Loyola sexenio, an umbrella organization of social groups occupied the capital city’s central plaza to press demands ranging from rights for informal vendors to rural land tenancy (Díaz Aldret 2011).
- 2.
As in other states, PRI governments in Querétaro had several well-honed methods for ensuring favorable coverage from local media, including through regular financial support, which ended under the Loyola administration.
- 3.
Noticias de la Mañana 3 July 1997, “No inquietan a empresarios los resultados: MR” and “Canacintra y Coparmex llevarán a cabo conteo rápido en jornada electoral.” Reflecting the non-partisan nature of local business, Roberto Ruíz Obregón, the leading figure among local capitalists, provided financial support for all major party candidates in the 1997 election (including the left-of-center PRD), according to Díaz Aldret (2011).
- 4.
The absence of party diehards in Loyola’s cabinet contributed to tensions between the governor and the local PAN leadership, as discussed below.
- 5.
Loyola credits Mendoza with maintaining good relations with the labor sector and ensuring the Tripartite Commission continued to function smoothly (Interview, 22 April 2016). Mendoza, a former leader of the Tremec union, participated in the Tripartite Commission during the 1990s as a CTM representative (Díaz Aldret 2011).
- 6.
Rivera, a former Coca-Cola executive, had participated in the Tripartite Commission as the president of Canaco, the local chamber of commerce; Mondragón had served as the representative of Nafinsa, Mexico’s national development bank, in Querétaro during the 1990s and had taken part in Tripartite meetings under Enrique Burgos.
- 7.
As an official in the Secretary of Economic Development stated, all sides wanted the Tripartite Commission to continue “because we were seeing the favorable results for the state” (Interview, 20 July 2016).
- 8.
Annual sales in industrial parks jumped from 55,233 square meters to 190,309 square meters in the first two years of the administration (Gobierno de Querétaro 1999).
- 9.
Cooperation with state officials is cited by the park’s developer as central to its success (Interview, 20 April 2016). An official in the Secretary of Economic Development also reported that synergy between the government and the developers was essential for promoting the park successfully (Interview, 25 April 2016).
- 10.
Interview with Secretary of Economic Development official, 25 April 2016.
- 11.
See AMPIP, “Parque Industrial Querétaro (PIQ) galardonado por el International Property Awards” http://ampip.org.mx/es/parque-industrial-queretaro-piq-galardonado-por-el-international-property-awards/.
- 12.
This research center, now called GE Infrastructure, employed around 1,800 engineers by 2017 (see Chapter 10).
- 13.
According to Casas and Luna (2001), these linkages distinguished Querétaro as a site of dense knowledge and innovation networks in Mexico.
- 14.
Diario de Querétaro 15 July 2000.
- 15.
- 16.
Despite its importance to the subsequent development of the aerospace industry, the project’s original rationale was to improve mobility, an issue that arose in Loyola’s campaign-season consultations with citizen groups. Interview with Ignacio Loyola, 22 April 2016.
- 17.
The site of the new airport was seen as too far and difficult to access from the city center, and many people did not see any need to upgrade the state’s airport facilities.
- 18.
Interviews with Ignacio Loyola Vera and state Secretary of Economic Development official, 22 April 2016 and 25 April 2016.
- 19.
The College of Civil Engineers raised questions about the airport’s design and accused the government of withholding information about the project (Tribuna de Querétaro 7 October 2002, “Errores de origin en el nuevo aeropuerto de Querétaro denuncia el Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles”).
- 20.
A local business leader commented that “at the end of the day, people are going to thank Nacho [Loyola] … because he built an infrastructure that will last for 100 years, and it will not be long before Querétaro is a global aerospace center … there were criticisms, but I don’t think there’s anyone who does not recognize that [the airport] has been a great feat.” (Interview, 20 April 2016.)
- 21.
Loyola met personally with Samsung’s CEO on three occasions and believes the airport project was a key factor in clinching the firm’s commitment to invest in Querétaro. Interview, 22 April 2016.
- 22.
Interview with Secretary of Economic Development official, 25 April 2016.
- 23.
Ibid.
- 24.
Interview, 20 July 2016.
- 25.
Explaining this record, Loyola stresses that “there [was] dialogue [and] closeness to resolve problems before they appeared. And I think that derived from these tripartite meetings” (Interview, 22 April 2016). Strike data are from INEGI Anuario Estadístico y Geográfico por Entidad Federativa, various years.
- 26.
Interviews with state Economic Development and Labor officials, 25 April 2016, 20 July 2016, and 21 July 2016.
- 27.
Interview, 20 July 2016.
- 28.
Interview, 25 April 2016.
- 29.
Interview with Secretary of Economic Development official, 25 April 2016.
- 30.
Loyola stated that “no one asked for my support and I didn’t give it to anyone” (quoted in González Arias 2008, 320).
- 31.
These differences in concentration also hold for the entire economies. In Querétaro the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) was 0.04 in 2003, compared to 0.08 in Puebla. The HHI is a measure of industry concentration with higher values indicating more concentration. Calculations are based on INEGI’s Censo Económico 2004, with industries defined at the four-digit level.
- 32.
The figure for Querétaro is from INEGI’s Censo Económico 2004.
- 33.
In the decade after the entry into force of NAFTA, for example, Mexico’s imports of auto parts grew at nearly double the annual average rate of auto parts exports according to data from UN Comtrade.
- 34.
As reported in Chapter 1, in 1993 the difference in productivity was only 31.9 for Querétaro compared with 27.1 for Puebla.
- 35.
Based on data from INEGI’s Censo Económico 2004.
- 36.
In the final months of the sexenio, federal officials including President Fox had already used the airport to visit Querétaro (Interview with Ignacio Loyola, 22 April 2016).
- 37.
In the interim, the new government changed the official name of the airport from Querétaro International Airport to Querétaro Intercontinental Airport.
- 38.
Interview with Ignacio Loyola, 22 April 2016.
- 39.
Garrido’s state development plan promised to “consolidate airport, highway, and industrial park infrastructure that encourages the state’s competitiveness” (Gobierno de Querétaro 2004, 46).
- 40.
The incoming government recognized the need to develop new competitive advantages and identified aerospace and logistics as two priorities (Interview with Secretary of Sustainable Development official, 29 July 2016).
- 41.
An ex-president of Coparmex, Renato López Otamendi, coordinated the Garrido transition team’s relations with the private sector and served as Secretary of Sustainable Development during the administration.
- 42.
Interview with Secretary of Sustainable Development (Sedesu) official, 29 July 2016.
- 43.
In the words of a Sedesu official, “thinking that we have great infrastructure, an airport with very particular characteristics, runway dimensions, size, and possibilities of growth … we began the process with Bombardier” (Interview, 29 July 2016).
- 44.
The Garrido administration had changed land use regulations around the airport to allow for industries to operate on its grounds.
- 45.
Interview with Sedesu official, 29 July 2016.
- 46.
Interview, 29 July 2016. In establishing the university, the state received financial resources from a federal program for technological universities.
- 47.
La Jornada 26 October 2005, “Bombardier Aerospace fabricará aviones en Querétaro.”
- 48.
This strong preference for local unions continued to be impressed upon newly arriving firms, and a Sedesu official recalls that nearly every major firm during the sexenio opted for a CTM-affiliated union. Interview, 29 July 2016.
- 49.
Interview with Sedesu official, 29 July 2016.
- 50.
Even before the official inauguration of the UNAQ, the university worked with Bombardier to train the first cohort of technicians the firm needed to begin operations in 2006 (Villavicencio et al. 2013).
- 51.
According to a Sedesu official, “[Bombardier] is very involved, they continue to be very involved with the university. It has been a very hands-on work … and the university has always been flexible,” Interview, 29 July 2016.
- 52.
Interview with Mexican Federation of the Aerospace Industry (FEMIA) official, 5 July 2016.
- 53.
Interview with executive of a multinational aerospace firm, 9 February 2017.
- 54.
Among the MNCs operating in Querétaro as of 2010 were Safran, producing turbine components and landing trains for Airbus and Boeing; Aernnova, producing structural components for several domestic and foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); ITR, designing and producing motor turbine modules for Pratt and Whitney in Canada and Rolls-Royce in England; and GE, producing turbine designs for the firm’s own manufacturing operations, which supply Airbus and Boeing (Villavicencio et al. 2013).
- 55.
In 2006, the state had 39 research centers, the most among Mexican states (Sedesu 2007).
- 56.
The CIAT is one of the most technologically advanced of GE’s research and design centers. It produces original designs that are incorporated into the firm’s manufacturing processes (Casalet et al. 2011).
- 57.
However, their ability to work in some areas has been limited by firms’ reluctance to reveal certain technological processes (Interview, 9 February 2017).
- 58.
“Facilities” refer to individual physical installations dedicated to a particular value chain activity, including manufacturing; maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO); and R&D. Because firms often carry out more than one of these activities, the number of facilities does not necessarily align with the number of firms. See Casalet (2013).
- 59.
El Economista 28 May 2017, “Se reactiva sector TIC en Querétaro,” https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/estados/Se-reactiva-sector-TIC-en-Queretaro-20170529-0058.html.
- 60.
Still, officials acknowledge that the progress in this sector fell short of expectations. See Notimex November 2013, “Buscan inversiones fortalecer a Querétaro como centro estratégico” http://www.20minutos.com.mx/noticia/b26504/buscan-inversiones-fortalecer-a-queretaro-como-centro-estrategico/.
- 61.
In addition to the aerospace, software, and logistics facilities already discussed, the administration created the Agropark for greenhouse agriculture (Sedesu 2008).
- 62.
In this context, “clusters” refer to formal private entities made up of firms, government agencies, and relevant research and educational institutions in a particular sector. This use of the term thus differs from the usage generally encountered in the academic literature, in which clusters are defined as geographically proximate groups of interconnected firms and other institutions in a particular industry (see Porter 1998).
- 63.
Interview with former state government official, 8 August 2016.
- 64.
Mata also serves on the Board of Directors of the Automotive Cluster of Querétaro. He had previously been a manager at Tremec, one of Querétaro’s most emblematic industrial firms.
- 65.
According to the official, “the model was, let’s say, exhausted … and we looked for different schemes to be in daily and permanent contact with the sectors (business and labor)” (Interview 29 July 2016).
- 66.
Interview with Querétaro labor confederation leader, 27 April 2016.
- 67.
In 2004, the government proposed a state payroll tax, which only Querétaro and two other states had not yet instituted. This move sparked opposition from the private sector but did not provoke a major conflict. Interview with Sedesu official, 29 July 2016.
- 68.
In the days before the July 5 vote, the state’s main business associations sponsored a ceremony to honor the work of the outgoing governor. Diario de Querétaro 2 July 2009, “Avala IP a Garrido.”
- 69.
The three fastest-growing states during this period were Baja California Sur, Tabasco, and Querétaro. Calculations are based on INEGI Sistema de Cuentas Nacionales de México.
- 70.
Calculations based on INEGI Censos Económicos 2004 and 2009.
- 71.
Calculations based on INEGI Censos Económicos 2004 and 2009.
- 72.
Calculations based on statistics from Mexico’s Secretaría de Economía.
- 73.
A particular focus of these efforts has been to facilitate the migration of local auto parts suppliers to the aerospace sector (Casalet 2013).
- 74.
Interview with executive in aerospace multinational, 9 February 2017, and FEMIA leader 5 July 2016. However, this characteristic applies to the aerospace industry in Mexico as a whole.
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Kahn, T. (2019). Querétaro’s Rising Star in the Global Economy, 1997–2009. In: Government-Business Relations and Regional Development in Post-Reform Mexico. Latin American Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92351-2_8
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