Daniel Chavez Moran: Economic Integration

The nonprofit Vidanta Foundation, founded by retired Mexican businessman and philanthropist Daniel Chavez Moran, promotes  the analysis of Latin American international relations and strategies for a positive integration of the region in the global economy. Daniel Chavez Moran shares these interesting insights from Alberto Ramos of Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm, on the Latin American decade ahead:

• This definitely could be the Latin American decade—if policy-makers seize the opportunity to adopt longstanding structural reforms geared to increase productivity, diversify the economic base, and boost real GDP growth.

• Second-generation reforms that could help unlock the growth potential in Latin American economies include reforms in education, labor markets, and trade, but also institutional reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency of the public sector and at attracting domestic and foreign investment.

• China’s emergence as a global economic and financial powerhouse and major consumer of commodities has admittedly levered the economic performance of Latin America. At the same time, China is now a formidable competitor in the export of manufacturing goods, particularly for Mexico.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on Mexico’s rebounding economy and Daniel Chavez Moran on inter-American trade.

Daniel Chavez Moran on the Power of Education

Daniel Chavez Moran, a retired entrepreneur and now philanthropist, understands the power of education. His founding of the Fundación Delia Moran A.C., in honor of his mother, a gifted school teacher, and his founding of the nonprofit Vidanta Foundation, are testaments to his belief that education can help overcome poverty in all of the Americas. Chavez Moran applauds United States President Barack Obama’s efforts to improve education for Hispanic students as noted in this Washington Post article:

“President Obama has appointed Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll — the Colombian singer better known around the world as Shakira — to a presidential commission on education for Hispanics…

“Shakira was recently named the 2011 Latin Recording Academy person of the year. Here’s the biography of her on the White House release:

She founded the Barefoot Foundation in 1995, which operates schools and educational projects in Colombia, South Africa, and Haiti, feeding and educating approximately 6,000 children. In 2010, she collaborated with the World Bank and the Barefoot Foundation to establish an initiative that distributes educational and developmental programs for children across Latin America…

“…The other two members to be appointed to the advisory team are Adrian Pendoza, who leads a grass-roots immigration and education reform organization, and Kent Scribner, who serves as a school superintendent in Phoenix.”

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on the education gap in Latin America and Daniel Chavez Moran: Youth and social inclusion.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Pan-American Games Start

Daniel Chavez Moran, philanthropist and retired developer of five-star hotels and resorts, and founder of the non-profit Vidanta Foundation, welcomes competitors and visitors from 42 countries to the Pan-American games, hosted Oct. 14-30, 2011, in Jalisco, Mexico.

The games are off to a good start. One host city is Tapalpa, as featured online by the Mexican Tourism Board:

“Another site you can visit is the Magic Town of Tapalpa, which name means in Nahuatl ‘place of colorful land.’ Thanks to Sierra de Tapalpa, present in the southeast of Jalisco, it will receive the competitors of Mountain Bike in the sportive event.

“To adventure yourself, you can go to the known mountain of the friars (los Frailes), called this way for two huge rocks that resemble a couple of friars praying; to stones of mysterious shapes in the middle of a forest land known as Piedrotas (Big Stones) or Valle de Enigmas (Valley of Enigmas), and close your wonderful journey in the Waterfall El Molino and Eko Park, where you will be able to practice mountain biking, rappel, kayak, climbing, gotcha, fishing, paraglider and camping.

“If you seek peace and rest, the Historical Downtown of this Magic Town is covered by chapels and temples having a vast cultural history, as the case of the Parrish of San Antonio, built in 1650 by the Franciscan monks.

“Finally, the extensive natural territory of Tapalpa also invites you to a travel by foot through its natural paths, or as well to practice golf in the Tapalpa Country Club.”

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on Mexico’s economic rebound and Daniel Chavez Moran on visitors to Mexico welcomed.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Energizing Latin America’s Future

Daniel Chavez Moran, a retired developer of five-star hotels and resorts throughout Latin America, founded the non-profit Vidanta Foundation to support public policies that strengthen democracy, promote economic and social development, and further integrate Latin America into the global economy.  This Wall Street Journal article about oil discoveries energizing Latin America’s future came to his attention:

RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)–Brazil’s emergence as a hot frontier for oil and natural gas was boosted Wednesday by two fresh discoveries, with exploration and development of the country’s newfound oil wealth likely to attract billions in investments over the next decade.

Latin America’s largest country is squarely in the cross hairs of the global oil industry, with Brazil’s stable democracy and robust economic growth making it especially attractive…

Brazil is betting heavily on development of its offshore fields, with former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva–the predecessor and mentor to current head of state Dilma Rousseff–saying oil could transform the country by easing the crushing poverty afflicting many of its citizens…oil exports could reach 600,000 barrels a day by 2020 and generate $27.9 billion in revenue. That’s nearly double the $16.1 billion in oil-export revenue Brazil earned in 2010.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on inter-America trade and Daniel Chavez Moran on growing economic opportunities.

Daniel Chavez Moran: The Future of Education, In Their Hands

Daniel Chavez Moran, the son of a caring school teacher who dedicated her life to helping children overcome the destructive combination of ignorance and poverty, and the founder of Fundación Delia Moran A.C., which provides support for poverty-stricken children, understands the vital role education plays in shaping the future. That is why he read with interest this news from the United Nations on tackling the disparities in education faced by girls around the world:

[T]he United Nations today kicked off a two-day meeting in Paris devoted to gender inequality in classroom achievement and on women’s leadership role in education.

The forum on gender equality in education brings together experts, government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to examine the root causes of inequality between girls’ and boys’ school performances.

While gender equality in education remains a crucial issue for many countries, women still account for two thirds of the world’s illiterate population and the majority of out-of-school children are girls, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which organized the forum.

“Equality is not a numbers game,” UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in her address to the meeting.

“Equality implies the same chances of learning, of benefiting from equitable treatment within the school, and the same opportunities in terms of employment, wages and civic participation,” she added.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on the next generation of leaders and Daniel Chavez Moran on women leaders.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Positive Economic Outlook

Daniel Chavez Moran, now retired from the development of hotels and resorts, founded the Vidanta Foundation in 2005, a philanthropic organization which actively promotes public policies that support economic growth, strengthening democracy, and the reduction of poverty, inequality and discrimination in Latin America.

Chavez Moran follows economic development news and notes this positive outlook for the economies of Latin America from the article, “Latin America Buffered Against Global Shock, World Bank Says,” published by Bloomberg news:

“Latin American countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Chile have created a buffer against a global recession after raising interest rates in the past 15 months, the World Bank said in a report today…Latin America and the Caribbean is forecast to grow between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent this year, thanks to capital inflows and high commodity prices…the emergence of China as a major trading partner for Latin America has been a driver of the region’s robust growth in the past decade… “

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on rising peso and Daniel Chavez Moran on economic lessons learned.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Brazil’s Strong Economic Performance

Daniel Chavez Moran, a retired resort developer and philanthropist from Mexico, supports economic development and the growth of democracy throughout Latin America through his work with the Vidanta Foundation, a nonprofit organization he founded in 2005.

Recent economic news published by Reuters news service about growing travel and economic opportunities in Brazil, excerpted below, caught his attention:

(Reuters) – German airline Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) will take advantage of strong economic performance in Latin America at a time when its businesses elsewhere are under pressure, a senior executive said on Wednesday…the carrier is expanding in Latin America, opening what it sees as key routes in recent months, including to Bogota and Rio de Janeiro.. .

“We want to develop our business in Latin America because we see that the area has been quite stable during the crisis,” Lufthansa’s vice president for the Americas, Jurgen Siebenrock, told Reuters during a visit to Venezuela.

“There’s a lot of growth, especially in Brazil … we want to be part of that,” he said, citing the potential offered by Brazil hosting the 2014 soccer World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on Mexico’s economic rebound and Daniel Chavez Moran on broadband as the next jobs highway.

Daniel Chavez Moran Recognizes Civic Organizations

Retired Mexican businessman Daniel Chavez Moran announces the winners of the 2011 Vidanta Foundation Prize for “Contributions to the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean,” cosponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the Vidanta Foundation, the nonprofit philanthropic organization founded by Daniel Chavez Moran.

• First place and $100,000 is awarded to Desarrollo Autogestionario, A. C. (AUGE), Mexico.
• Second place and $75,000 is awarded to CE-Mujer, Dominican Republic.
• Third place and $50,000 is awarded to Associação Para Valorização de Pessoas com Deficiência, (AVAPE), Brazil.

The Vidanta Foundation Prize winners were selected on August 26, 2011, from more than 200 applications from civic organizations throughout the Americas by an internationally respected jury including Mrs. Billie Miller (Barbados), Mr. Carmelo Angulo (Spain), Luis Maira (Chile), Esteban Moctezuma (Mexico) and Julio María Sanguinetti (Uruguay).

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on Prize shining light and Daniel Chavez Moran announces Prize deadline.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Education Gap in Latin America

Daniel Chavez Moran created Fundación Delia Moran A.C. in 2002 in honor of his mother, a dedicated and caring schoolteacher, to provide assistance to children ages 6 to 12 whose day-to-day life is a struggle to survive in a battle against poverty and ignorance.

Daniel Chavez Moran also salutes the work of WorldFund.org, founded by Luanne Zurlo after a nine-year career as a securities analyst on Wall Street “to minimize the education gap in Latin America by investing in high-quality and outcome-driven schools and education programs that serve impoverished children.”

Startling statistics from the WorldFund website:

• Latin Americans receive an average of six years of schooling, compared to nine-and-a-half years in the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) countries.

• Nearly one-third of children in primary school in Latin America repeat a grade. The additional cost to the region’s education systems has been estimated at $4 billion per year.

• Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru rank behind Uganda, Zambia, Botswana and Burundi in the quality of their math and science education.

• In Mexico, only 13 percent of adults receive a high school diploma versus 87 percent of American adults.

• Over 50 percent of Mexican and Brazilian 15-year old youth are functionally illiterate and thus unable to compete in today’s economy.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on the next generation of international leaders and Daniel Chavez Moran on youth and social inclusion.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Mexico’s Economic Rebound

Retired luxury vacation real estate developer Daniel Chavez Moran is now focused on his philanthropic work through the non-profit Vidanta Foundation, but he recognizes that the global economy connects Mexico to Manhattan in the United States. Chavez Moran read with interest this Economist magazine article on Mexico’s economic rebound, excerpted below:

Making the desert bloom

…The financial crisis of 2008 began on the trading floors of Manhattan, but the biggest tremors were felt in the desert south of the Rio Grande. Mexico suffered the steepest recession of any country in the Americas…

The recession turned a reasonable decade for Mexico’s economy into a dreary one…

Yet Mexico’s economy is packed with potential. Thanks to the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and a string of bilateral deals, it trades more than Argentina and Brazil combined, and more per person than China. Last year it did $400 billion of business with the United States, more than any country bar Canada and China…

Though expatriates whinge about bureaucracy, the World Bank ranks Mexico the easiest place in Latin America to do business and the 35th-easiest in the world, ahead of Italy and Spain…

These strengths have helped Mexico to rebound smartly from its calamitous slump…

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on growing economic opportunity and Daniel Chavez Moran on Latin America in a global economy.