Vol. 6 Num. 1 - GCG: Revista de Globalización, Competitividad y ...

Clemente Hernández-Rodríguez & Raúl Francisco Montalvo-Corzo6. Concluding Remarks81The agglomeration of companies provides dynamism and growth to the economy, and ifcarried out as planned also brings together all participants in a cluster development. Thebenefits generated from external economies permeate through agglomerated companiesand down to the inhabitants of the region, giving way to not only economic but also culturalgrowth.In addition, the efforts of the governments of the People’s Republic of China and Mexico tointegrate clusters have followed different routes. China has implemented more stringent policiesand practices changing the way of doing business, and the government has providedthe environment for growth to happen. However, Chinese products have not yet reached alevel of quality high enough to be recognized internationally as a valued brand. In Mexico, onthe other hand, there are agglomerations that have emerged spontaneously and that operatein a moderately efficient way, mainly because the policies established by the governmenthave not been strong enough to internalize the understanding of the benefits of the cluster.However, the government intends to encourage their growth through some supporting institutionsestablished for that purpose. Universities also do their work, and in some statessuccessful clusters exist.One lesson that policy makers can learn from China is the benefit of a good deal of unilateralpolicy setting with the aim fixed on economic growth. Its population has raised living standardsgenerally speaking, and the government has earned the trust of its inhabitants. On theother hand, Mexico and its plural participation seem not to agree on the path to improvementthat must be followed. These situations are reflected in the overall competitiveness of bothcountries. With the loss of global competitiveness, the action of public policy should be moreaggressive, consistent, and persistent, identifying activities that can be integrated to enhancethe competitiveness of a region. In addition, Mexico should raise awareness among statesthat one path to productivity is the organized efforts of clusters, and should encourage regionalmanufactured products in order to raise standards through the creation and applicationof technology. In any case, the creation of an exclusive agency responsible for coordinatingand monitoring efforts is necessary (OECD, 2009b).GCG GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY - UNIVERSIA ENERO-ABRIL 2012 VOL. 6 NUM. 1 ISSN: 1988-7116pp: 55-90