Academia Panamericana de Ingeniería
Academia Pan-Americana de Engenharia
Pan American Academy of Engineering
Mexico Declaration
We, Engineers of the Americas, summoned by the Pan American Academy of Engineering to the Forum on "International Practice of Engineers" , held in the City of Mexico, D.F., Mexico on September 23 and 24, 2004 sponsored by UPADI, UMAI and the Academy of Engineering of Mexico, bearing in mind the valuable information exposed by the relevant Speakers from the Continent and different parts of the world summoned to analyze the different parts of the proposed Theme and the rich content of their presentations.
CONSIDERING
That promoting economic and social development of our countries is a priority objective of all the countries of the Continent.
That it is imperative to contribute towards eradicating poverty in our countries.
That all the governments of the Continent have supported the Goals established in the Declaration of the Millenium of the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2000 (Millenium Development Goals, MDG).
That this declaration establishes specific goals to be met in 2015 and strategies to achieve them with the participation of engineering, science and technology.
That engineers play a special role, through their professional activity, in reaching satisfactory levels of development and in the preservation of the environment in the countries of the Continent.
That engineering represents a fundamental support for our countries to reach the Goals of the 2015 Millenium (MDG), since through them the quality of life of people can be improved.
That there is an erroneous concept in most of our societies in thinking that development is reached only with larger investments in science and scientific research. It is essential that the societies of our countries understand that Engineering and Technology are the factors for creation of wealth.
That the advances made in technology and the scope of many of the engineering works, goes beyond the present environment, creating the obligation to think globally and act locally.
That mobility of engineers and the outsourcing of engineering practice is a concern both for developed and developing countries.
That the internationalization of engineering services in its different modes, creates difficulties both in developed and developing countries.
That in spite of the existing special situations in each of the countries of the Continent, the drain of intellectual capital ; the restrictions for professional practice¸ the use of cheaper intellectual labor in some countries to perform professional tasks, the decrease in salaries and jobs originated in the outsourcing that affects other countries and the inherent civil responsibility problems for the work performed.
That the European Community is progressing towards a common mechanism that allows the mobility of engineers to become a reality, while in our Continent, there exist diverse processes with different degrees of progress and participation.
That the developing regions require a political commitment from the governments that encourages investments in infrastructure , since eradication of poverty and economic development demand an adequate infrastructure.
That doubts persist as to the application of mobility agreements existing in the Continent, that make difficult its effective application in an atmosphere of fairness .
WE AGREE :
TO RECOMMEND TO THE GOVERNMENTS AND ENGINEERING ORGANIZATIONS
That the maximum efforts be made to reach the goals established in the Project of the Millenium of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
That the governments of our countries be advised, as well as the professional engineering organizations, that new technologies are not required to solve the fundamental problems set out in the goals of the Millenium project.
That the systems of Science and Technology of our countries (S & T) , should be transformed into Science, Engineering and Technology (SET), since it is ENGINEERING that generates wealth and therefore offers opportunity for creation of jobs, and improvement of the quality of life, thus helping to eradicate poverty.
That joint efforts should be made in the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) so that they contemplate satisfying the needs of all the involved countries, allowing professional engineers to be, through their Organizations, responsible for defining conditions, requirements and procedures for these agreements, so that the mobility of engineers can be performed under fair and reciprocal conditions.
That all interested parties coordinate and harmonize activities so that efforts made in different regions with a view to professional mobility, may converge in comparable processes , that contemplate the interests of engineers and their representative Organizations.
That governments maintain clear rules and transparent conditions that stimulate confidence in investors and engineering companies, to finance and perform engineering projects in the different countries of the region.
Given the international dimension of the work of an engineer, TO RECOMMEND TO THE UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS :
That all engineers speak at least, two foreign languages.
That all engineers receive training in team work and intercultural work , in order to be able to perform adequately in a globalized world.
That the use of Info rmation and Computer Technology (ICT) should become a common tool in the communication and work of an engineer.
That engineers in their education process should have the opportunity of participation in programs of internships of a practical nature in universities and companies outside their country.
That Engineering Faculties and Schools, strengthen their efforts to review their curricula, in order to stop training engineers to be "job seekers" and to graduate engineers who are "job generators" or "engineering entrepreneurs".
The PAN AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING conscious of the importance of the presentations made during this Forum, by eminent speakers from different regions of the world, that have brought us to the considerations and agreements previously mentioned, commits itself to make the results of this Forum known, summarized in this MEXICO DECLARATION , among all the countries and Engineering Organizations of the Continent.
Mexico, D.F. September 24, 2004
Rapporteurs: Dr. Vladimir Yackovlev (Venezuela)
Dr. Osvaldo Micheloud (Argentina)
Eng. María Teresa Pino Rodríguez (Paraguay)
