President-elect López Obrador reached out to the business community yesterday, naming eight businessmen to a new business advisory council.

In a video message published on social media, López Obrador said the idea to create the council came from the business sector.

It will be coordinated by the future president’s chief of staff, Alfonso Romo, who is a business tycoon himself.

“I’m going to meet with them [the council members] every two or three months. They, and I as well, are going to invite other business people so that this council gets even stronger and becomes a civil society institution that helps the government,” the president-elect said.

López Obrador stressed that Mexico will need public, private and foreign investment to achieve the 4% annual economic growth he is targeting.

“We need the support of the business sector so that there is investment, so that jobs are created. I assure you that there is no reason for concern because I know very well what has to be done to help the most humble and poorest people,” he said.

The businessmen who will join the advisory council “want to help me, want to give me their points of view, their visions,” López Obrador added.

Creation of the group was welcomed by members of the private sector, including the president of the influential Business Coordinating Council (CCE).

“We think that it is very positive that the president-elect is incorporating distinguished members of our sector to his team of advisors . . . We are certain they will offer interesting opinions and perspectives from a business point of view, which will contribute to an atmosphere of trust,” Juan Pablo Castañón wrote on Twitter.

The members of the new council are:

• Ricardo Salinas Pliego, founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a conglomerate that includes Banco Azteca, TV Azteca and Elektra.

• Bernardo Gómez, executive co-president of broadcaster Televisa.

• Olegario Vázquez Aldir, CEO of Grupo Empresarial Ángeles, a conglomerate that includes Imagen TV, the newspaper Excélsior and Hospitales Ángeles.

• Carlos Hank González, president of banking and financial services company Grupo Financiero Banorte, vice-president of corn flour and tortilla multinational Gruma and CEO of the conglomerate Grupo Hermes.

• Daniel Chávez, CEO of Grupo Vidanta, a hotel and resort conglomerate.

• Miguel Rincón, CEO of paper company Bio-Pappel.

• Sergio Gutiérrez, CEO of metal supply company DeAcero.

• Miguel Alemán Magnani, executive president of the airline Interjet.

Source: El Financiero (sp)