AKRON, OHIO - The rebounding Mexican plastics market will command the spotlight for part of Plastics News' Executive Forum 2000 this fall.
A three-person panel, moderated by James L. Meinert, Snider Mold Inc.'s international marketing director, will assess the current state of plastics industry affairs in Mexico, discuss future prospects and offer insights into how to do business successfully in that country. The 8-9:30 a.m. panel will kick off business Oct. 16, the last day of the broad-based, forward-looking forum, which begins Oct. 13 at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa near Orlando, Fla.
The confirmed panelists are:
Juan Manual Alvarez, president of Anipac, Mexico's plastics processors association, and head of film extruder/converter Polybag SA and glove maker Plathex Internacional SA;
Douglas Mulay, president of Addison, Ill.-based Mulay Plastics, which operates two plants that injection mold television cabinets in Mexico; and
Ricardo A. Ricardez, director general of two Mexico City consulting firms, IASI SA de CV and Prode SA de CV, and a member of the Mexican government's advisory body for chemicals and the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The panel will take the pulse of Mexico's plastics industry, which is growing at close to breakneck speed, according to one industry official.
``I see growth of 18-20 percent this year for the sector as a whole, but doubtless the increase will be much greater in production for the auto and electronics industries,'' said Monica Conde, president of the plastics section of Camara Nacional de la Industria de la Transformacion (Canacintra).
Spurring that growth is investment, both by established companies and newcomers. The banking system's continued problems make credit prohibitively expensive for Mexican companies, Conde said. Hence most of the newcomers are foreign.
Executive Forum 2000 will feature some 30 industry experts assessing prospects for six resin types and as many end markets, plus a panel on electronic commerce, and presentations on the economy and on using risk-management services as a resin-buying tool.
Plastics News On the Web (www.plasticsnews.com/Forum2000) offers speaker updates and information on how to register. The cost to attend is $945 per person before Aug. 27, and $1,095 after that date. For more information, call Nancy Parks in Akron at (330) 865-6134 or e-mail her at [email protected]
