Professor Mazzucato meeting with new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, and her Government

In her meeting with the President, Professor Mazzucato discussed opportunities for advancing green industrial strategy in Mexico, to align innovation and investment with sustainability and social welfare goals – including with the President’s priorities, for example, of securing access to clean water for all Mexicans, advancing sustainable mobility (including through a new railway network), and strengthening the circular economy.

She also met with Jose Merino, the incoming head of the new Digital Agency for Public Innovation, to discuss the parallel agenda of state transformation that is needed to enable an ambitious economic agenda – including in areas pertaining to digital public infrastructure and digital government capabilities.

Professor Mazzucato met with the Secretary of the Environment, Alicia Barcena, and her delegate for work on climate change, Dr Samaniego. They discussed their joint work as part of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water – which Professor Mazzucato chairs and which Secretary Barcena advises on as a commissioner – and how its recommendations could be applied to help address Mexico's sever water challenges. They also discussed the potential to orient industrial strategy around missions related to clean water and Mexico’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) climate targets, drawing on Professor Mazzucato’s work as a co-chair of the G20 Group of Experts to the Taskforce for a Global Mobilisation Against Climate Change (TF CLIMA).

Professor Mazzucato’s meeting with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, focused on key challenges and opportunities facing Mexico’s economy, and the potential for industrial strategy to move beyond specific sectors to focus instead on driving cross-sectoral investment and innovation oriented around the President’s overarching priorities. In addition, they discussed the importance of upskilling the civil service to enable a dynamic and cross-ministerial approach to industrial strategy.

In her meeting with incoming Secretary for Science, Innovation and Technology, Rosaura Ruiz, the importance of pursuing innovation not for its own sake but instead to solve problems that matter to people and the planet was highlighted. They also discussed the potential of using a wide range of government tools to stimulate innovation – for example, outcomes-oriented public procurement could be used in the context of public infrastructure projects to require companies to innovate to meet circular economy standards.

The visit culminated with a private roundtable attended by Jose Merino,  Altagracia Gómez, Coordinator of the Business Advisory Council, Secretary of Agriculture Julio Berdegué, Secretary of Science and Innovation Rosaura Ruiz, and Secretary of Agriculture Alicia Barcena, where Professor Mazzucato shared her reflections on the potential for the Government of Mexico to develop and invest in an industrial strategy that promotes inclusive growth and wellbeing, whilst leveraging foreign and local private investment.

Professor Mazzucato also returned to the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM, where she studied for a year in 1989. She gave a lecture to an overflowing auditorium and was accompanied on stage by the new Secretary of Energy Luz Elena Gonzalez, the Rector of UNAM, Dr. Leonardo Lomeli, and the head of the faculty of economics, Dr. Lorena Rodriguez.

During her visit to Mexico, Professor Mazzucato was interviewed on Televisa by Genaro Lozano and Milenio with Viri Rios. Her trip received significant attention in the local and international press.

This trip also presented an opportunity to engage with leading experts from Mexico to inform the Strategic Economic Alliance (SEA), led by Professor Mazzucato and Dr Carolina Alves, and managed by Marcela Chapa. SEA aims to create a stronger link between new economic thinking and new practice, and to elevate new voices.

This trip could help to shape a possible collaboration between the Government of Mexico and IIPP, supported by Open Society Foundations (OSF). The trip and potential collaboration would build on Professor Mazzucato’s 2022 report with the Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) on Transformational change in Latin America and the Caribbean: A mission-oriented approach and on her work with other governments in the region, including Colombia, Brazil and Barbados. Professor Mazzucato was joined by several members of her team, including Sarah Doyle, Francesca Edgerton and Marcela Chapa.