We thought you would like to know more about the tremendous potential of the wonderful country that you return to every year. Look beyond the headlines that often paint a misleading picture of Mexico and you’ll find that this is a nation with a promising future. Mexico is huge, diverse and is rich in resources. It has a privileged strategic location, a reputation for stability, an expanding manufacturing sector and a young outward-looking population.

The country’s President Enrique Peña Nieto has an ambitious reform program and many international analysts are optimistic about the country’s economic stability and long-term growth prospects.

Mexico is the second largest economy in Latin America and the world’s 14th largest and many economists believe that it could rise further in the league of the world’s most important economies. Indeed, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and PwC all put it in the top eight by 2050 and Accenture says it could be one of the big six by 2025.

However, structural reforms are needed to strengthen the economy and achieve higher, sustained growth rates. President Peña Nieto and his team have already passed education, labor and fiscal reforms and are now focusing on legislation relating to telecommunications and the financial and energy sectors. Energy reform will open up the oil and gas industry and bring in much-needed international investment and technology through partnerships in exploration, drilling and refining, in addition to cooperation in renewable energy projects.

President Peña Nieto’s reformist agenda includes measures aimed at eradicating poverty and supporting small businesses. He has also pledged to reform the agricultural sector and bring better opportunities to rural areas so that people are not forced to leave their homes in search of employment and a better life.

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund was in Mexico for the International Forum on Financial Inclusion on June 26, and she congratulated the country for taking the first steps in the reform process. She remarked that it is the only emerging market country that has passed such a number of major reforms in such a short time and by embarking on this course it has dared to dream. By building a stronger economy it will give more people the chance to live their own dreams. She ended by saying ” Mexico can become the inspiration for the rest of the world, to dare to dream.”

The reforms are seen as a way to kick-start the economy and stimulate development. Economists are quick to stress however that the positive impact of the reforms will not be felt overnight, but that they will strengthen the economy in the mid-term and long-term.

Mexico has a young population, 112 million inhabitants with a median age of 27 and the workforce currently stands at 47 million; by 2030 more than 60 million people will be of productive age. It is vital that the economy expands in order to create jobs for those entering the job market and to lift people out of the poverty that millions of Mexicans endure.