The Puebla-Panama Plan: A Development Platform

The authors address the importance of the Puebla-Panama Plan in terms of a regional development project within the dynamics of today’s economy, characterized by market globalization and the creation of industrial and commercial poles that encompass entire geographic zones or countries. In the first part of the article they describe Mexico’s economic and social-demographic traits that give it considerable specific weight as a country on the international scene; they refer to the free trade agreements Mexico signed in the eighties, and explain why these have been instrumental in the country’s economic development. They also highlight the key role the financial sector has played in reinforcing the ability of domestic production to compete. In the second part, they provide an overall view of Central America’s economic situation, reconstruct the path taken by the Puebla-Panama Plan, and outline it in general.