At every chance he got on Monday (Nov. 3), Luis Ernesto Derbez expressed
how excited he was to return to his alma mater.
"I'm proud to be a graduate of Iowa State," he said. "But
I have seen a big transition in the Iowa that I saw 23 years ago."
Derbez returned to Iowa State Monday to deliver the second Manatt-Phelps
Lecture in Political Science in front of a capacity crowd in the Great
Hall of the Memorial Union. Derbez, secretary of foreign affairs (foreign
minister) of Mexico who received a doctorate in economics from Iowa State,
talked on a variety of issues during his lecture, including NAFTA, other
trade issues and immigration policies between his country and the U.S.
"This is my first time back on campus (since his graduation),"
Derbez said. "And without any doubt, the fact that I came to the
U.S. to study and to get in touch with your society has been a great advantage
to me."
In his current role with the Mexican government, Derbez oversees the
70 embassys worldwide that Mexico maintains and another 50 consulates
in the U.S. He is also a primary trade ambassador between Mexico and the
U.S. and several Latin American countries.
"Eighty-give percent of our (Mexico's) trade is with the U.S.,"
he said. "Mexico is also the third largest importer of corn and pork
from Iowa."
Because of the importance of each U.S. state, Derbez says the Mexican
government not only promotes its business opportunities on a national
level, but a state and local level as well. While in Iowa, Derbez met
with Gov. Tom Vilsack and other local and state leaders.
And because there are 23-25 million native born or second generation
Mexican citizens currently living in the U.S., Derbez and his ministry
also deal with a multitude of issues on the state and local level.
Prior to assuming his current position, Derbez was Mexico's economic minister.
Prior to that he worked for the World Bank for 14 years where he was responsible
for the regional areas of Chile, Western and Central Africa, India, Nepal
and Bhutan, among others.
While with the World Bank he directed, structured, implemented and supervised
Multilateral Economic Assistance and Structural Adjustment Programs in
Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala.
Derbez has also worked as an independent consultant for the World Bank
Mexico City Office and for the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington,
D.C. He has worked on economic recovery programs for countries in critical
situations, including Honduras and Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch destroyed
a substantial part of their territory and economy.
The annual Manatt/Phelps Lecture in Political Science was established
by Thomas and Elizabeth Phelps and Charles and Kathleen Manatt. The lecture
will be held during the fall of each academic year and will initially
focus on significant developments in the area of international political
economy that have occurred during the previous year. The aim will be to
discuss how politics and economics affect one another and how these issues
are transnational in scope, as well as how the issues affect and are affected
by the state of Iowa.
The Manatts and Phelps have also established the Manatt-Phelps Endowed
Chair in International Political Economy in Iowa State's Department
of Political Science.
