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The Mexican Ministry of Finance:
The Department of Multinational Organisations
Within
Mexico, the Ministry of Finance & Public Credit has responsibility for
the management and administration of Mexican public finance. This
Secretariat proposes and seeks to direct the economic policy of the
Federal Government – especially in relation to finance, fiscal affairs,
expenditure, income, public debt, banking and prices within the public
sector – towards equitable and sustained economic growth. Inside the
Ministry, the Directorate of Financial Affairs with Europe and Foreign
Investment deals with Mexican bilateral and multilateral relations with
countries in Europe, Africa and Middle East. This Directorate is also
responsible for economic, financial and fiscal relations with
international economic and financial organisations, such as the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); the World
Trade Organisation (WTO); the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD); the Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF);
and the European Investment Bank (EIB). With respect to Foreign
Investment, the Directorate analyses related projects and policies, and
coordinates the participation of the Ministry of Finance in meetings of
the National Commission of Foreign Investment (CNIE).
Among the
several Deputy Directorates and Departments into which the Ministry is
divided, the Department of Multinational Organisations participates in
the development of analysis in support of the participation of the
Ministry in Committees for economic and financial affairs within the
OECD – including issues such as money laundering, terrorism, harmful tax
practices and bribery. Among the responsibilities of this Department is
the contribution of material, criteria and proposals for the meetings of
the Council at Ministerial Level; as well as the support of OECD
officials in their missions to Mexico for the preparation of economic
surveys that are taken as sources of reference by international
investors. Among the most exciting experiences which the Department of
Multinational Organisations has been constructively involved with are
the setting up of the Mexican-OECD Multilateral Tax Centre; the support
provided to
the organisation of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); and the
G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meetings, held in
Mexico in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
Working
in the international sector of the Ministry of Finance gave me the
opportunity to learn how Latin American countries, such as Mexico, deal
with the shift towards a transnational economic system, and address
affairs relating to global governance. In my time spent at the above
mentioned Department I became interested in
the effects which
interdependent global economic and political structures have on domestic
policies; particularly
in the way that international organisations shift the parameters of
nation states towards supranationality. Several analyses of
the relationship and interaction
between the state, the markets, enterprises and multinational
organisations within a multisystem framework
allowed
me to make clear that the generation and distribution of income, wealth
and power is as much a political as an economic phenomenon. It was also
always very interesting to see how transnational corporations,
multinational organisations, trade and investment agreements, integrated
financial markets and economic blocks have their own effects in terms of
national development and social welfare.
Work for
the Ministry of Finance provided me with the privilege and
responsibility of being part of the many changes that are taking place
in Mexico in the international context. Furthermore, the job I held
allowed me to be in touch with people who are actively involved in
improving the life of their respective countries, and in improving
global governance. I had the good fortune to learn and profited greatly
from
exposure to distinct environments, disciplines, approaches and patterns
of thinking.
However,
during this professional experience I also came to understand that
current difficulties are enhanced by knowing their nature, their causes
and the way in which they were generated; and how important is to adjust
international policies, structures, and parameters to the national
historical, social, political and economic context. The Department I was
responsible for covered many disciplines, involved a wide range of
cultures, and took care of important problems and their solutions, and
for this reason I always found it both challenging and fascinating. |
