Trade Site Hopes Presidents Pardon Its Dust

The International Business Center in Santa Ana, the Mexican government’s first trade center in the U.S., isn’t quite ready for its big opening next week.

The first-floor lobby is supposed to house displays of Mexican products that will entice local companies to trade with their counterparts south of the border. But the only thing in the room Thursday were workers busily sanding and polishing in preparation for next week’s opening.

Santa Ana and Mexican officials insist it will be shipshape by the time Mexican President Vicente Fox arrives for the grand opening Thursday. And they hope it will be doing great business when President Bush pops in by month’s end.

After scrambling to secure almost $600,000 of funding and a site for the first California-Mexico trade center in America, a few touch-ups were nothing to sweat about, they said.

“In 30 days from now, people will be standing at the elevator trying to figure out how to get in,” Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido said Thursday.

Officials hope the international center, at 10th Street and Broadway in downtown Santa Ana, will bring a welcome infusion of cross-border commerce to an area dominated by county government buildings, storefront health clinics and small businesses.

City leaders are sure their investment will pay off in the form of increased business and revenue, especially with Mexico, which will eventually house representatives from all 32 of its states in the building.

Pulido said the increased presence of Mexican businesses should help Orange County double its exports south of the border, currently estimated at about $2 billion a year, in the next four years.

The center, a culmination of almost three years of work by Santa Ana officials, will focus on small and mid-size businesses, and hopes to assist 600 businesses on both sides of the border by providing legal and tax advice, networking opportunities and temporary U.S. facilities to Mexican businesses.

Although Orange County has the world’s 33rd-largest economy, “where can you go to do international business now? Nowhere,” Pulido said.

Juan Hernandez, Mexican secretary of Human Development Offices and Immigrants Abroad, also hopes Mexicans will benefit.

“We want to make this a two-way street,” he said.

Some local businesspeople have been waiting eagerly for the center to open. Larry Aguilar, head of Secure Communication Systems Inc., was thrilled when he took a quick tour of the center Thursday. Where others see a not-quite-finished office, Aguilar sees business opportunities.

“It’s early in the game,” said Aguilar, whose company makes computers durable enough for outdoor use. “Soon [the center] will pay off.”

The lack of an international business center made it difficult for entrepreneurs such as Aguilar to venture into Mexico, he said. Aguilar, who has sold about $1 million of equipment to Turkey and several hundred thousand dollars’ worth to Japan, has tried to do business in Mexico before but said he was always stymied by regulations and unreliable phone systems.

“Most of the time, I wouldn’t know who to call,” he said. “And even if I did, it’s hard to get through.”

Although Santa Ana officials had been trying to attract an international trade center for several years, their efforts were pushed into high gear when Fox was elected in late 2000.

One of Fox’s pet projects was to open a trade center in the U.S. during the first 100 days of his term. Although several cities also competed for the center, Santa Ana’s diversity and potential won Fox over. The Santa Ana City Council also approved nearly $600,000 in subsidies over three years for the center.

Santa Ana officials are also in talks with other countries interested in sending representatives to the city.

While Hernandez was quick to point out that Mexico plans to open other centers around the country, Santa Ana officials were clearly proud at having the first.

Other Southern California cities may soon follow Santa Ana’s lead. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s staff has been engaged in preliminary discussions with Mexican officials in recent weeks, a spokeswoman said.