Luis Antonio Mahbub Sarquis, president of the Chambers of Commerce Federation (Concanaco), said that 3,600 companies in Mexico were forced to stop operating in 2003 due to market problems, administrative difficulties and the lack of programmes to maintain jobs.
Mahbub Sarquis said that a study showed that in 2003, 90% of the companies that closed were small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The Concanaco leader said that the Center of Private Sector Economic Studies (CEESP) had acknowledged that services and retail had become the main engine of the economy during the last few years generating up to 80% of new jobs.
Mahbub Sarquis stressed that during the first quarter of 2004, of 80,000 new jobs, some 60,000 were in retail, construction or services.
Source: Internet Securities
