The Presidential Perspective

INTERVIEW: Peter Greenberg, CBS Travel Editor, with Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, President of Mexico

The message must be that tourism means jobs and economic growth and the G20 is looking at that. We are looking at the G20 a long-term agenda for future. Part of that is tourism.

Since the worst moments in the economic meltdown, the Mexican economy has grown. Tourism is key. Some 9 percent is the contribution.

Mexico is huge. The distance between and Cancun is about the distance between Madrid and Moscow. We have a lot of biodiversity.

We are making a tremendous effort between private and public sectors, to invest 5 percent a year on infrastructure.

On aviation, we are opening the market domestically. We are establishing new treaties with other countries. We do not have enough connectivity to transport tourists. We are able to open the airline industry. There are a lot of oppositions to this but we are working on that.

On safety and security, we have a problem, like other countries in the region, but we are addressing the safety problem--facing the criminals; we are rebuilding law enforcement institutions on a federal level; and we are rebuilding the social fabric (provide opportunities to the young people through education and provide universal health coverage).

The message to the US is a clear: Mexico is a friend, an ally of the American society and government. What we need to do is to collaborate more. The drug problem is not a Mexican problem, but it is a US problem. Consumers are not Mexicans, they are Americans.