Contacts:
In Mexico City: Gabriela Aguilar Martinez (55) 04455-5456-4223 Gaguilar2@worldbank.org In Washington: Stevan Jackson (202) 458 5054
sjackson@worldbank.org MEXICO CITY – World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz made the following statement upon his arrival in Mexico. “Buenos días. Unfortunately, I have to speak in English but I am really delighted to be here in Mexico. It is my first visit here as President of the World Bank and I am very much looking forward to what I will learn during this short visit. As the largest economy in Latin America, and one of the largest of the successful developing country economies, Mexico is a very important partner for the World Bank. I am very interested in learning how the Bank can continue to be useful for increasingly sophisticated economies like Mexico. We ourselves will have to continue to keep pace. We are most aware that Mexico is a country with many successes and many remaining challenges, and I am interested in learning about both. Clearly, Mexico has accomplished successful economic stability in the ten years since the financial crisis of 1995, and it has made some real gains in trade competitiveness. More recently and very interestingly, Mexico has made, I think, some very significant reforms in the area of transparency and public accountability. Later today I will be visiting the IFAI institute (1) and learning more about how better public access to information has enabled Mexican people to make real gains against corruption and abuse of authority. At the same time, I understand Mexico faces some real challenges to maintain its international competitiveness in a world economy that is increasingly global; and, like so many other countries in Latin America, Mexico still faces an enormous challenge in reducing poverty, although, there have been some notable gains in recent years. The challenge of environmental sustainability, and in particular, the challenge of maintaining water resources and biodiversity is another area I will like to learn about. That is why I will be visiting three different states in this visit to get an appreciation for some of the diversity of this country. I am very much looking forward later today to meeting with President Fox and also with Minister Gil and his economic team. I will be meeting with five governors from different states, from different political parties. I will also be meeting with representatives of think thanks, civil society and the private sector, and I look forward to learning a great deal on this trip. Muchas gracias.”
(1) Federal Institute for Access to Information (Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Informacion – IFAI) - | 
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