Research & Innovation

As the government attempts to open strategic sectors of the economy to competition and attract more foreign direct investment (FDI), much is also being done to improve science and research as a means to spur innovation. Increased spending, coupled with changes in regulation, is expected to fuel the growth of start-ups and make the business environment more dynamic. The current government has stated its goal to raise annual expenditure on science and technology from its current 0.4% of GDP to at least 1% of GDP by 2018. Upon assuming office in late 2012 President Enrique Peña Nieto also announced the creation of a high-level committee to advise him on scientific matters and assist in designing reforms for the sector. With political discourse increasingly echoing the position that Mexico’s future economic growth will depend on businesses’ capacity for change, research and innovation should gain more prominence in the near future. This chapter includes an interview with Raúl Gallegos, President and CEO, General Electric México.