Name: Mexico Country Outlook 2026
Start: 1760621400
End: 1760655600
Location: James A. Baker III Hall

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy presented the seventh annual Mexico Country Outlook. This year’s conference brought together over 150 policymakers, business leaders, and academics actively engaged in U.S.-Mexico relations to look ahead to the issues shaping Mexico’s political, economic, regulatory, and social environment in the coming year.

The Mexico Country Outlook is an annual conference and report from the Center for the U.S. and Mexico that explores critical issues facing Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico binational relationship. It provides a strategic edge to investors, businesses, and policymakers as they navigate Mexico’s complex, ever-evolving political and regulatory landscape. The objective is to assess the challenges and opportunities in the coming year to facilitate decision-making by investors, businesses, and policymakers.

Attendees received early access to the Mexico Country Outlook report, which will be publicly released on Nov. 6, 2025.

Past reports and more information about the annual conference are available at Mexico Country Outlook.

Additional Information

This was a private event for U.S.-Mexico Forum members and event sponsors. For information on how to attend the event, please contact JP Gomez at [email protected].

Agenda


8:00 am	Breakfast and Networking
8:45 am	Welcome Remarks Ambassador David M. Satterfield Director, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy; Janice and Robert McNair Chair in Public Policy; Former ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey Tony Payan, Ph.D. Claudio X. Gonzalez Fellow in U.S.-Mexico Studies, Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies, Director, Center for the U.S. and Mexico, Baker Institute for Public Policy
9:00 am	Keynote Remarks Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, Ph.D. Former President of Mexico
9:45 am	Q&A Session
10:00 am	Networking Break
10:20 am	Roundtable I: Mexico’s Economic, Fiscal and Regulatory Landscape This panel examines Mexico’s current economic growth prospects, fiscal, budgetary and regulatory policy, the country’s position in the international financial markets, and binational trade issues. Moderated by: Tony Payan, Ph.D., Baker Institute for Public Policy Mariana Campos Director, México Evalúa David A. Gantz Will Clayton Fellow in Trade and International Economics, Baker Institute for Public Policy Dwight Dyer Leal Government, Public Safety and Justice Statistics, INEGI Brenda Salas Government & Institutional Relations Director, GRI Institute
11:05 am	Q&A Session
11:20 am	Networking Break
11:40 am	Roundtable II: Energy, Infrastructure, & Innovation This panel discusses Mexico’s public and private investment in the variables that matter for long-term growth–energy, physical and human infrastructure, and research and development, and whether Mexico’s current levels of investment can detonate growth in the coming year and beyond. Moderated by: Pablo Zárate, Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting Salvador López Chief Environmental Officer, NADBank Roger González Lau CEO, Protexa Narcís de Carreras CEO, Valia Energía Paulina Díaz Aguirre CEO, CFE International
12:25 pm	Q&A Session
12:40 pm	Networking Lunch
1:20 pm	Keynote Presentation: Mexico's Growth Prospects in 2026 and Beyond Introduction by: Roberto Salinas León, Director of International Affairs, Universidad de la Libertad Santiago Levy Nonresident Fellow on Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution
2:05 pm	Q&A Session
2:20 pm	Networking Break
2:40 pm	Roundtable III: Mexico’s Business Environment Today This panel focuses on Mexico’s legal and regulatory environment as well as key structural challenges that Mexico faces in attracting and retaining foreign investment. Of particular interest in this panel is the impact of the recent elimination of independent regulatory agencies, the creation of government-run enterprises, and judicial reform. Moderated by: Amy Glover Drake, President and Co-Founder, AGIL(E) Javier Treviño Cantú Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Walmart de México y Centroamérica Pablo González Guajardo CEO, Kimberly-Clark de México Glenn Hamer President and CEO of Texas Association of Business
3:20 pm	Q&A Session
3:35 pm	Networking Break
3:55 pm	Roundtable IV: Perspectives on U.S.-Mexico Relations This panel focuses on Mexico’s legal and regulatory environment as well as key structural challenges that Mexico faces in attracting and retaining foreign investment. Of particular interest in this panel is the impact of the recent elimination of independent regulatory agencies, the creation of government-run enterprises, and judicial reform. The coming year is likely to continue to bring daunting challenges to the binational relationship — especially as the Trump administration focuses on organized crime, continues to pressure Mexico to contain undocumented migration flows, and the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement undergoes a thorough revision and possible renegotiation. The year 2026 will also bring heightened political pressure as the U.S. prepares for a mid-term election, where Mexico will continue to be a topic at the forefront. Moderated by: Raul Rodríguez Barocio, Nonresident Fellow, Center for the U.S. and Mexico, Baker Institute for Public Policy Claudia Ruiz Massieu Representative (MC), Former Foreign Secretary of Mexico Cecilia Farfán Méndez Head of the North American Observatory, Global Initiative against Organized Crime Martha Bárcena Coqui Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S.
4:45 pm	Q&A Session
5:00 pm	Closing Remarks Richard Vaughan CEO, Alloy Capital LLC
5:10 pm	Reception and Networking
6:00 pm	Adjourn