With a tip of the hat to T.J., and Pocodinero, I thought this deserved its own thread. Here's an article giving the "Chamber of Commerce" point of view- Dragon Mart will invest $150 million dollars in Cancun :: MBW / Mexican Business Web :: And, another, albeit in Spanish, which takes a dimmer view- Caribe Inversión: PARA LOS CHINOS, TODO EL APOYO; A LOS PORTOMORELENSES SOLO PROMESAS
Its sure as hell isnt pretty, but then again: Neither are the new developments that has replaced the jungle, mangrove and such. I think this will be interesting, in many ways: Lower prices thanks to Chines goods? - Im sure the Mexican businesses are going to cry out loud, right? A free economy means that each and everyone can make their choice whether to buy Chinese or "Mexican". I for one welcome the competition, as Cancun has been raising its prices like mad. Is the proposed building/complex pretty? Oh h*ll no. China is steamrolling across the globe, and I was a bit surprised that Cancun would be only the second foreign-based location for a Dragon Mart.(Dubai being the first if Im not completely wrong..) From what I heard this morning, speaking to a friend, the Mexican Government are appearing fairly hesitant about the Chines coming, but in the end: Can they resist the cash? I wish they would build it on one of many vacant "lots", that are all dusty and dirty, rather than clearing even more vegetation...
I am in Dubai now and we saw the Dragon Center. According to a friend, lots of cheap, low quality products....just what we need in Cancun! Yes it will provide competition but who goes from bad to worse?
I think the worst things about this are (a) It will change the face of Puerto Morelos forever and (2) It will not create jobs for local people. Probably speaking Chinese is not a big priority in the Mexican school system.
CancunNurse: Oh, I know heaps of people here who wouldnt mind lower quality, as long as the prices are low... The good thing is that its simply up to everyone in the end, right? Buy or not to buy. Myself, I still prefer to pay a bit more, knowing what I get is slightly "better". T.J: The first time I ever went to Puerto Morelos, I fell in love... This was some 4 years ago. Went there this Saturday, and with all the new developments, hotels etc, it sure has changed, for the worse. This is my own, personal view, as I would prefer to keep Puerto Morelos "small, nice and pretty". No doubt this new mart will speed up that change...(making it worse) Regarding Chinese: Dont think it would come down to speaking Chinese in the schools. Im sure people were hesitant when Wal Mart etc. rolled into Mexico. Im all for the competition, but like I wrote, would have preferred the mart on one of the thousand "waste land lots" thats just sitting here, doing nothing but making the surroundings uglier.
Rawkus, I think there is a serious danger the character of the village of Puerto Morelos will change as a result of the establishment of Dragon Mart. Four thousand habitations devoted to Chinese employees are being built: with three persons per habitation (mom, pop and one child) this is already 12,000 Chinese living in the area, and their kids going to school, there. Puerto Morelos has a population estimated at around 2,500 people, so the impact will be enormous. Some businesses catering to the Chinese, and mainly owned by Chinese will be established, such as private schools, and restaurants of course. Mexicans are among the most polite people I know; mainland Chinese on the otherhand.... Mainland Chinese are also among the noisiest people in public Ive encountered (aside from Americans!) Some expect that goods will be brought in through the Port of Morelos. If that is so, the port operations will have to be greatly expanded, as will roads, to accommodate the heavy truck traffic that would be generated. (These impacts will not occur, if goods are brought to other ports, such as Mazanilla, which I understand is the main port of entry for Chinese imports, now.) The Chinese are largely motivated by shrinking margins on their exports: wages in China have increased dramatically in the last seven years, raising the cost of producing those exports. They hope to improve their margins by selling direct, and taking advantage of tax incentives that were offered them. My students feel the governor of Qroo did not negotiate a very good deal, in this case. They felt he could have asked for a minimum percentage of the labor force at Dragon Mart to be Mexican Nationals, for example, and not agreed, up front, to allow such a large number of Chinese to live here, and work in the facility. Many people expect an overall positive economic impact, but if you cut out the middleman, and lower tariffs on Chinese imports, Mexican retail businesses and manufacturers may suffer. On the otherhand, there are a number of scenarios you can imagine that would increase tourism to the area, as a consequence; such as, Latin American businessmen coming here to discuss terms for large orders or ongoing orders, taking advantage of the opportunity to have a short holiday in Cancun and bringing their families with them. Further, it´s hard not to imagine those Chinese living here suggesting a visit to their friends and families, back home. So, like so many things, it´s a mixed bag, but I can´t say I´m that fond of the idea.
V: Some good points. Personally, Im not going to speculate about "colonization"(in lack of a better term, hehe). My only "pro" for this is the competition, and I strongly believe in freedom of competition. If the Chinese will sell goods to lower costs, well, let them. Cancun businesses have been raising prices through the roof - this might shake things up, at least a bit. I wont but the Chinese stuff if its "crap", but if I can find stuff that is of similar quality, but cheaper at Dragon Mart, well, then Im there. (Depending on if the products meet my personal standards.) If one looks at it through the eyes of a family, with, lets say 1 working adult(1 at home) and 3 kids: If this family can save "10-25%" on something, then why not? A LOT of local businesses seem to believe that they should have the right to have a monopoly, and push prices to a ridiculous level. A lot of people simply dont care where and how their goods were manufactured, ans will continue to buy it if its cheap. Their own choice. I have my brands that I like/prefer, and I keep buying them, even if its sometimes 80% more expensive. Like I said(and here I think we agree): P M is changing fast. In 4 years it has gone from what I considered a small and very nice place, to what seems to be a new "hotel zone"(not ready, but getting there...) I would have LOVED to see it before I came here - Im sure it was even nicer then. I do feel bad for the area, as it will see a huge change over a shorter period of time. I would have loved to have a smaller and quieter place, fairly close to Cancun, to be able to escape this city of ours and get some sense of tranquility. Have a feeling this will change, fast. And again, I would have preferred if they built it in one of the dusty old pieces of land that there seem to be a whole bunch of... If the people feel the need to stop this, they should go after the guy/guys who made this possible, not the Chinese. Cancun and the entire Riviera Maya is changing, and personally I would have hoped that they would see the benefit of having jungle and such, rather than aiming for a "new Miami", where everything is concrete, steel and glass. This is one of the reasons I wont stay in Cancun "forever".
Rawkus, Great point on the free market/competition thing. Most Americans try to adhere to the Buy American philosophy. I try but am not married to it, being a believer that while unions are good in so many ways, they are bad for inflation. This in itself causes unemployment to be unncessarily high as it outsources tons of jobs other countries, including Mexico. Speaking in dollars, if I can buy American for $2.00 or Chinese for $1.75, I am paying for the US goods. Now, $200 vs $175 is a different matter. I still am not buying into Dragon World (Florida joke where everything is ____ World) as being good for Mexico. From what I have heard and read, it anything but a good deal for the area that was negotiated. The Chinese folks did quite well for themselves. Probably better than what we have read.
No connection, but Puerto Morelos became a municipality of its own, yersterday, separating from Benito Juarez Municipality. Our mayor, and the governor of Qroo were in attendance at a ceremony recognizing the reorganization. Good luck to them! Perhaps they´ll find a way to manage development so as to preserve what´s left of the charm of the village center.
