Mr. Carlos Slim keynote address in Business Summit Mexico, 2010 (October 24-26, Toluca, State of Mexico). This 8th edition was titled "Take-off Time: Actions for Change".
Toluca, State of Mexico, October 24, 2010.
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I would say that Telmex is providing convergence in the absence of a regulatory framework; otherwise we could offer more services at lower prices. Yet, we are not so bad since about 95% computers are already connected. Since connection needs a computer to get its function done, Telmex runs a financial program for buying computers at 3-4 years. So, we are promoting computers to be bought in order to enlarging internet access.
Our group runs a digital-grant program for all of our personnel, about 50,000 homes. A digital grant includes free internet access. In the next three or five years we will have competitive internet access in respect to the rest of OCDE countries.
Note that we are comparing Mexico with 35,000 dollars per capita income countries.
I envisage that during the next three or five years our penetration level will be very deep, broad-band access will cease to be an obstacle, so we have to approach applications and content.
Telmex has proposed 2010 to be the technological innovation year. So, we are creating Hotspots all across the country. We already have about 3,000. We have to guarantee universal access to digital libraries.
During the last twelve years we have urged that every elementary-school teacher have both broad-band internet access and a computer as a condition to transform education. Unfortunately we have not attained that goal yet.
Question: My question is about education. Public education and private education are usually seen at odds, but they are complementary. Education is accepted as a strategy to improving our economic, social and cultural development, yet our educational model belongs to the last century. Are we in need of a third-millennium educational paradigm? Should businessmen participate in public universities directive boards?
Carlos Slim Helú: Without a doubt. As I have said, a little bit in a hurry, we have to start with early education, first by educating parents to deal with their own babies, so six month-one year old age children be apt to receive early education to stimulate their mathematical-logical and reasoning abilities, so they could begin to see a bigger world around them.
In some way, our brains are the equivalent for hardware; education and culture are the equivalent for software. We all have mental capabilities, but we need to educate them. We should develop software into our hardware.
We should start by children and then go to digital education. Elementary school should be transformed by aptly using the right programs. Above all, teachers should be trained in digital education and culture; they should handle digital applications for educational networks. That is the point we are talking about.
Middle-level and higher educational levels fall into two big categories. There is the sub professional level which comprises technical training. That level is very important and it should also be transformed.
I don't know how many students are already coursing the intermediate level, but it is clear that we can't enlarge universities neither create new ones to enroll them. There is no way to create so many universities and teachers.
That's why we should take the internet path, the massive interactive communication environment. We could train and educate millions young people in a relatively short time-period because they couldn't have access to classroom's sites which we are not able to build them up anyway.
We should develop outdoor or extra mural education. As Mr. Alemán have mentioned, we are nowadays able to perform outdoor surgery. Last year 104,000 outdoor surgeries were performed. This current year about 120,000 will be performed. Since current health-care infrastructure is not equipped to perform these operations yet, we convey equipment to health centers where doctors use it for free. That's the way these surgeries are been made for now.
We are not able to triplicate classrooms neither teacher number to accommodate all of the aspiring young people. So, we should use already available electronic methods to cope with that problem. We could educate our population at a massive and intensive scale at a high level and low costs. All students could be educated by the best teachers on screen, who could be aided by supervisors in coordinating tasks and assessing examination. An institutional framework should be designed to certificate such studies.
During the last twenty years, our personnel have scaled up its educational level from six to fourteen school degrees while working. Work and study are compatible. During this time-period, more than 1,600 employees have been certified as engineers. This is a complete change through electronic means.
Question: You have talk about small and medium-size firms (Pymes in Spanish) financing. I fully agree with you. I am a Pyme businessman. We started three years ago and have attained some growth, from three to 30 employees after 18 critical months.
Before having our first three years, we asked about six banks for financial support and all of them did respond to us: "I am not going to lend you a peso even because you don't have three years yet, and 70% of Pymes die before that age." I invariably responded: "How do you explain such a mortality rate?" Of course, they did not respond and never gave us a peso. Nowadays we have three years and arduously pay our taxes. Banks, however, require us a number of intricate financial and accounting requisites which could only be filled by hiring an accountant office.
Fortunately we have survived by our own means, but we need additional financial support to expand our business to Central and Latin America. We have not found bank response up until now.
The federal government claims that there is a lot of financial support, but I hadn't seen it yet. What is your suggestion for Pymes in quest for financial support?
Carlos Slim Helú: There is a saying about mariners becoming roughened in hardships. I congratulate you by getting weather beaten in hard times.
Two things… One is that we have… how should I say… refrained our development bank in spite of its critical role.
Brazil's BNDES has supported many businesses. In these hard times, we Mexicans need a strong development bank.
The other thing is that we in Telmex provide this kind of credit to our own clients whose financial fitness is assessed according to their phone-bill record. Then, Inbursa gives them credit at 35-40 months, depending upon monthly-phone-call consumption.
Once the credit is authorized, monthly payments are collected through the phone bill. In this way, our clients accrue a credit record, which eventually could guarantee additional financial provisioning or capital-good credit.
Moderator: Thanks, Mr. Slim, thanks to all you.
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