Maquilla sector in Mexico
In the twentieth century, export-led industrialization fuelled by foreign investment and technology (ELIFIT) has become an economic and social development strategy for many countries of Third World. In the 1950s and 1960s, a group of Latin American and East Asian countries adopted such a strategy and allowed U.S. and European companies to use their cheap labor with the hope that this would lead to economic development. For East Asian countries, originally Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea, this strategy worked well and made a substantial contribution for countries' economic development. For Mexico, on the other hand, ELIFIT strategy did bring an economic growth to the country but it failed to convert this growth into development. Why would such a strategy work well for East Asian countries but not for Mexico? Was there anything the Government could've done in order to achieve a better level of development? The first phase in the maquila industry's brief history began in 1965 with the Border Industrialization Program (BIP). President Diaz initiated the program the year after his Minister of Industry and Commerce visited Asia, where U.S. and European multinational corporations were rapidly setting up assembly plants. C
The very fact that capital and knowledge intensive parts of production process took place place in the U.S. or other foreign countries, and labor-intensive parts took place in maquilas suggests that there was technology relocation in the maquilas but no technology transfer. Thus, the technology has been relocated, not anchored in the production processes within the low wage areas for further processing. High technology is contained in the components, which are assembled in a standardized and simplified fashion by low-paid maquila worker. "In order to carry out the shift from labor -intensive maquiladoras plants to a more dynamic, industrially upgraded development strategy," argues Regina Galhardi "Mexico must develop labor skills, highly qualified suppliers and the physical infrastructure needed to meet the requirements of such advanced industrial production." This "high-road" strategy could be pursued by local and regional government interventions focused initially on how to take advantage of clustering and boost a higher degree of inter firm cooperation. She suggests subcontracting as a promising area of action. The experience of some East Asian countries shows that this process generates spillover effects in the domestic economy through the increase level of integration between the industrial activity of the enclave economy and foreign companies.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Leslie Sklair, Maria Ibarra, Third World, United Item, Mexico Value, Exchange Program, Evolution Maquiladoras, World Countries, East Asian, City June, maquila industry, value added, development zone, economic development, foreign exchange, creation development zone, creation development, maquila workers, mexican government, development strategy, na na, source foreign exchange, east asian countries, economic development strategy, genuine technology transfer,
Approximate Word count = 3920
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)
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