Mexico

This report on Mexico’s state-owned oil company PEMEX is part of a series of OECD reviews of Mexico’s procurement institutions. PEMEX’s procurement system was overhauled after Mexico’s 2013 Energy Reform opened up the sector to private participation, requiring PEMEX to compete in an open market. Using the 2015 Recommendation of the OECD Council on Public Procurement as a benchmark, the review assesses the effectiveness and integrity of PEMEX’s entire procurement system while identifying a series of actions for improvement. A state-of-the art procurement system can not only help PEMEX achieve value for money on a sustainable basis, but also support other social and environmental policy objectives in Mexico.

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 Review provides several proposals for strengthening institutional arrangements and improving vertical and horizontal co-ordination, closing remaining gaps in various existing legal/policy frameworks, instilling integrity values and ensuring the sustainability of reforms.

As 'market referees', regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. The internal and external governance of regulatory agencies are essential to determining how regulators and the sectors they oversee perform. The OECD has developed an innovative framework that looks at the institutions, processes and practices that can enhance regulators’ performance. In this report, the framework is applied to the external governance of Mexico’s energy sector and its three regulatory bodies, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment (ASEA), the National Hydrocarbons Commissions (CNH) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), following a structural reform of the sector and its regulatory institutions. The review offers insights into the progress and challenges in the implementation of the reform, highlighting the importance of structured co-ordination and accountability mechanisms based on a common strategic agenda, alignment of processes for good regulatory outcomes as well as sufficient operational flexibility. The report is complemented by forthcoming reviews of the internal governance arrangements of the three regulatory agencies, constituting a comprehensive body of work on the regulatory governance of Mexico’s energy sector. 

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the OECD review of Mexico’s national auditing system, with a focus on the Auditoria Superior de la Federación (ASF), the supreme audit institution. Reforms in Mexico have revamped the country’s institutional architecture and created several systems for strengthening accountability, integrity and transparency. The report highlights strategic considerations for the national auditing system and the ASF, examines the national and subnational dimensions of auditing in Mexico, and suggests ways for the ASF to enhance the impact and relevance of its work.

Mexico is slowly advancing on the path to gender equality. Many public policies aimed at empowering women are now in place: over the past two decades, Mexico has increased investments in girls' education, greatly expanded childcare and preschool, improved gender mainstreaming in government, and ensured that female politicians are well-represented at the ballot box. Yet, despite these efforts, many Mexican women still do not feel the effects of these policies at home, at work, or in public spaces. Large gender gaps remain in educational outcomes, participation in the labour market, pay, informality status, and hours of unpaid childcare and housework. 'Unlocking Mexico’s full potential,' as Mexico's National Development Plan prescribes, will depend crucially on how well Mexico closes existing gender gaps in political, social and economic life and promotes real social change. Mexico must continue to invest in social and labour market policies that empower women, and reinvigorate efforts to reduce inequalities in education, labour force participation, job quality, unpaid work, and leadership. This will require embedding gender equality objectives in all public policies and budgets, across all levels of government, and ensuring the effective implementation, enforcement, and evaluation of policies and laws to achieve inclusive outcomes.

This publication identifies the main regulatory obstacles of the following transport sectors in Mexico: road transport, railways, ports, border crossing, and airway passengers. The report also offers recommendations to improve the quality of the regulatory framework of these sectors.

Mexico has developed an ambitious national open data policy to create value from the use and re-use of government data by the public, private and social sectors. Open government data (OGD) has the potential to spur the digital economy, as well as contribute to more efficient public service delivery and greater public engagement. Mexico has demonstrated its commitment to OGD through its close involvement in international open data initiatives. However, it faces challenges in effectively implementing OGD domestically in a way that makes a greater impact on the economy and society. This would require, notably, institutionalizing open data, understanding the demand for government data, reaching out to potential users and working more closely with local governments. To fully realise the potential of open data, it is crucial that public bodies understand the benefits, are fully behind the project and actively participate in its implementation. This report provides an analysis of Mexico’s policies as well as recommendations for achieving its national objectives and making the most of OGD.

OECD countries are increasingly attempting to achieve savings through their public procurement systems, in particular in healthcare. In 2012, the State’s Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute in Mexico (ISSSTE) asked the OECD to review the effectiveness and integrity of its procurement system and to address bid-rigging. Many of the OECD’s recommendations led to enduring reforms at ISSSTE. In 2015 the OECD conducted a new review focusing on planning and coordination of procurement activities, market research and improvement of medical services. This report presents the findings of the review and notes the ISSSTE’s recent achievements. It also makes recommendations to support the alignment of the ISSSTE’s procurement practices with the 2015 OECD Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement and includes action plans for priority activities.