Uncertainties in Mexico: Update for Wisconsin Companies

Date:  June 16, 2009 Time:  11:30 AM - 2:30 PM Location:  Fluno Center for Executive Education - Skyview Room Phone:  265-4938 Email:  sdove@bus.wisc.edu Contact:  Suzanne Dove Sponsor:  See event description. Cost:  $30 for MITA or MCFR members; $35 for non-MITA/non-MCFR members; Lunch included.

Google Map

Video of this event is available online, courtesy of CIBER.

Overview
Mexico is Wisconsin’s second-largest trading partner and currently faces a convergence of economic, political and social uncertainties. Companies with existing or potential ties to Mexican markets need to understand this situation and how it may impact their business. Join us for a timely discussion of these issues, including: the causes and potential solutions to violence on the U.S.-Mexican border, how Mexico’s economy is faring in the current worldwide downturn, and what steps U.S. businesses can take to maintain a strong export presence in Mexico.

Schedule
11:30–12:00 –Registration and networking
12:00–12:30 –Buffet lunch
12:30 –Program begins
2:30 - Adjourn

Parking
Public parking in Lot 83 underneath the Fluno Center (enter on Frances Street). See map here. Pay the attendant.

Registration
Seating is limited. To reserve your spot, please RSVP to Julie Lane at uwmadisonciber@bus.wisc.edu by 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 11.

Payment will be accepted by check at the door on the day of the event.

Sponsors
Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE)
Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER)
Madison International Trade Association (MITA)
UW-Madison Division of International Studies
UW-Madison Latin American, Iberian and Caribbean Studies Program (LACIS)

Co-Sponsor:
Madison Committee on Foreign Relations (MCFR)

Speaker Biographies
Sigrid Emrich is the acting economic counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. A foreign service officer, she has previously served at the U.S. embassies in Berlin, Germany; Ottawa, Canada and Bern, Switzerland, and at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. In Washington, Ms. Emrich has served as deputy director in the State Department’s Office of Andean Affairs and as economic officer in the Office of Mexican Affairs. Before joining the State Department, she worked as for Congressman Jim Moody in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ms. Emrich has a Master of Science in political economics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in economics and international relations from UW-Madison. Ms. Emrich is originally from St. Paul, Minnesota. She speaks German and Spanish.

Miguel Noyola is a principal of Baker & McKenzie LLP, where he heads the Mexico practice in the Chicago office. Mr. Noyola works primarily in the areas of foreign investment, international joint ventures and commercial transactions, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. For many years, he has advised and written memoranda and articles on doing business in Mexico, and has participated in many U.S.-Mexico cross-border transactions representing large multinational clients. Mr. Noyola served as chairman of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Mid-America Chapter, and is a member of the Mexico City-Chicago Sister Cities Committee. He is also an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Jorge Prieto serves as sales director for Asia and Latin America for BouMatic, an international dairy equipment manufacturer with headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. He has worked in the dairy industry for 25 years, including several years as a business and product development consultant on the U.S., European, and Latin American markets, and as vice president of international for Babson Brothers Company. He has headed executive development for the American Management Association, and has studied milk production and processing at educational institutions in Denmark, Uruguay, and Chile. He trained as an agronomist at UCV University in Chile.