Aguascalientes: Beyond the Vision Provincial

The recent article by Otto Granados entitled “Aguascalientes provincial enterprise”, in which he criticizes the business guild of Aguascalientes and the organizations they represent, invites us to a deep reflection and, at the same time, a necessary defense. Without falling in rhetorical arguments, I would like to illuminate certain omissions in their perspective.

First, the business success is not a solitary act. Born in ecosystems that combine culture, finance, education, incentives, and a legal framework conducive. This is so that if Mark Zuckerberg was born in Aguascalientes and it will have the same ecosystem that we have the rest of the entrepreneurs in the entity, surely there had not been he who created Facebook. And designate it as a business failure would be, to say the least, unfair.

Simplify the lack of companies hidrocálidas highlighted in the stock market to an alleged inferiority business in front of states such as New León and Jalisco it is, at least, a reductionist. Would it be fair then to say that these states have had a better governors? Fall in that simplicity not only hurts the entrepreneurs, but the understanding of what they really seek as a state. Personally, I like more a state with a domestic economy thriving ten companies in the bag with labour problems and social dormant.

It is comfortable from the chair of the official, public servant, bureaucrat or military pensioner to believe that the company works as governments, the secretariats or its dependencies, where an inefficient use of resources, nearly unlimited you can re-obtain resources the following period. But as I read, I asked myself the question: how much strove Otto in his time as Governor of Aguascalientes by to nurture the entrepreneurial ecosystem in that might arise, these successful companies? Because, honestly, that Aguascalientes, which he describes in his, to my taste, offensive article, it is not that I, and many others, we live and work every day.

Nowadays, Aguascalientes is the birthplace of innovation. We create software for the world, we develop video games for companies that are most prominent and deal with markets vital in artificial intelligence, and development in automotive, to name a few. Is it fair to simplify all of this value just because you did not quote in the stock market?

Aguascalientes not only have companies that generate decent jobs, but these companies to engage independently and unionized to ensure that there are conditions for their development and growth. This involvement is, at times, many times, against the plans improvised from different governments; but also, at other times, too many times, in a coordinated manner with the government, academia, and civil society. The result of these efforts is this: according to studies of IMCO, states like Nuevo León, Aguascalientes, Coahuila stand out in conditions for attracting investment-related nearshoring, thanks to the skilled labour, favourable conditions of work and robust infrastructure. Although we face challenges in the availability of water, is this also a problem that we should charge the debit and request results, only the business?

Since more than 90 years, from agencies such as COPARMEX, the entrepreneurs will not only promote business. We are also bastions of actions that generate favorable conditions for entrepreneurs. In my tenure on the front of this agency in the state, did the improvement of public transportation, finance, affordable, financial education since childhood, and the creation of citizen committees, among them the anti-corruption.

Thanks to efforts like these, emanating from the business sector, today Aguascalientes positions, also according to the IMCO, between the entities with greater availability of public transportation, along with Quintana Roo, Mexico City and Baja California.

Aguascalientes, we can speak of many good things and many others that can be improved, but all have been through and because of that all we have done or failed to do. But let's keep trying to list some other achievements of those who today enjoy all those of us living in this beautiful state, so we can not only emphasize the conditions for attracting more investments or the improvement of public transportation driven by the citizenry, or the ongoing fight against corruption, we can also accentuate the supply of reliable and economic electric power that today enjoys Aguascalientes. It is for this reason that, along with Sonora, Chihuahua and San Luis Potosi, our state has energy prices more accessible than the rest of the country.

That “business sector country” referred to with disdain has been, six years after the six-year period, the consciousness of not only the business sector, but of the rulers. We have faced lawsuits against governments, we have been a voice and a counterweight, and we have driven substantial changes in development.

I ask him, mr. Granados, what is the true intention behind your column? Are you looking to build a Aguascalientes business or just sow division and confusion? Because, while I agree that there are opportunists in all sectors, Aguascalientes has shown a resilience and business ethics that few can question that.

To conclude, the power of the business sector of Aguascalientes lies in its adaptability, resilience and unwavering commitment to the development of the state. Employers will continue to be the economic engine, without the need for the recognition of those who opt for the critical surface.

I invite you, mr. Granados, to look beyond their preconceptions and to recognize the true value and potential of Aguascalientes. Because, at the end of the day, we are more than just numbers or perceptions: we are the heart and the future of our state.