Mexico - State-level Public Expenditure Review : The Case of Veracruz-Llave

[摘要] The State of Veracruz-Llave, commonlyknown as Veracruz, is the third-largest Mexican state interms of population, with 7 million, but growing only 1.05percent per year, which is below the national rate of 1.85percent. The population of the state is predominantly urban(59 percent) and young (44 percent is 19 years old andyounger). Veracruz's indigenous population is the thirdlargest of any Mexican state, and represents close to 10percent of the state total. Veracruz is one of the pooreststates in Mexico. It still is the fifth-largest state interms of GDP. There are four problems from an economic andsocial development point of view: (a) inadequate access tocommunications and public services in rural areas, (b) lowproductivity of the labor force, (c) low diversification ofindustries in the northern and southern regions of thestate, and (d) lack of a coordinated strategy amonggovernment agencies. The following policies address theseproblems: 1. Develop a coordinated strategy, under theumbrella of the state's six-year development plan,which would support economic growth while improving theability of the poor to participate in it. 2. Invest inphysical capital such as roads and water. Roads arestrategic for economic and social development of ruralregions. Nevertheless, the authorities need to find abalance between providing overly costly infrastructure tovillages, and providing too little, so that the residentshave no access to the transport system. Shortage of water inrural areas seriously harms the well being of thepopulation. 3. Invest in human capital, in particular,improve the provision of technical training to rural areas,and improve the quality and relevance of basic and secondaryeducation. In the global economy, workers need the capacityto learn quickly and take advantage of current informationand emerging technologies. 4. Analyze the labor market inVeracruz, with a study of its relationship with economicdevelopment. 5 . Create a strategic plan for economicdevelopment that emphasizes diversifying into high-valueindustries, including in the northern and southern regions.The state can do little for the oil sector except to lobbyfor the energy reform, since it is by constitutioncontrolled at the federal level. World market conditionsoffer little hope for a major comeback in sugarcane and coffee.

[发布日期] 2003-10-08 [发布机构] Washington, DC

[学科分类] 社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

[关键词] ACCOUNTABILITY;AGGREGATE EXPENDITURES;AIRPORTS;ANALYSIS;AUTHORITY