Publications & Documents

Morelos is one of the smallest states in Mexico, and close to Mexico City. It contains a number of economic and environmental assets in its territory, but has weak productivity levels. This review looks at how Morelos is seeking to boost its economy, particularly through inclusive growth policies such as enhancing human capital and promoting innovation. It also highlights areas of untapped potential for economic growth across rural areas and the tourism and environmental sectors, and offers suggestions for how Morelos could address governance challenges.

The OECD's Integrity Review of Mexico is one of the first peer reviews to apply the new 2017 Recommendation of the Council on Public Integrity. It assesses i) the coherence and comprehensiveness of the evolving public integrity system; ii) the extent to which Mexico’s new reforms cultivate a culture of integrity across the public sector; and iii) the effectiveness of increasingly stringent accountability mechanisms. In addition, the Review includes a sectoral focus on public procurement, one of the largest areas of government spending in the country and is considered a high-risk government activity for fraud and corruption. The OECD finds that Mexico’s recent integrity reforms have the potential to be "game-changers" in the country’s fight against corruption, however, ensuring successful implementation remains the main challenge going forward. As such, the Review provides several proposals for action aimed at strengthening institutional arrangements and improving vertical and horizontal co-ordination, closing remaining gaps in various existing legal/policy frameworks (protection for whistle-blowers, risk management, administrative disciplinary procedures, etc.), as well as supporting awareness-raising and capacity-building efforts to instill integrity values and ensure the sustainability of reforms.

This first review of Mexico’s energy policies by the International Energy Agency comes at a momentous time for the country’s energy sector. The broad-based Energy Reform, beginning with the Constitutional changes of December 2013, has continued at a steady and impressive pace. Its reach and scope amounts to one of the most ambitious energy system transformations in decades. The IEA applauds the government of Mexico for the progress made to date.

Starting from a largely closed and monopoly-driven energy market, the reform has taken concrete steps to harness market forces to attract investments and increase production while ensuring transparency and rule of law, improving energy security and strengthening the environmental sustainability of the energy sector.

Some policy areas, such as promoting competition and redesigning emergency preparedness, will have to remain a priority. The transition to open energy markets should continue in a transparent manner, and with regulatory certainty. The new roles and responsibilities for the public and private entities, in particular for energy supply emergencies and energy data collection, should be defined well. It is also critical to ensure sufficient resources for the several new or strengthened regulatory authorities.

For the long term, as Mexico’s population, cities and economy are projected to grow strongly, a cross-sectoral approach is required to limit the increase in energy demand and energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. This review analyses the energy policy challenges facing Mexico and provides recommendations for further policy improvements. It is intended to help guide the country towards a more secure, sustainable and affordable energy future.