income currently stands at a level a thousand percent lower than that of the United States and 73.4 percent lower than Mexico 11 years ago (Cevallos). More recently, it was noted that Mexico's real GDP did not return to its pre devaluation level until mid 1997, and even then, real average wages were 20 percent below their 1994 level. Continued growth of more than 5 percent this year and next has been predicted ("Mexico").
The effect of globalization and multinational corporations is seen today across Latin America, and the change has been having a beneficial effect in Mexico. Tijuana today is the television production capital of the world because of this trend. Mexican President Zedillo recently awarded two Mexican multinational corporations for their efforts. Nhumo produces raw materials for the tire industry and belongs to Grupo Desc, which is one of Mexico's most successful conglomerates and most aggressive exporters. Cementos de Oriente is a subsidiary of Cemex, a cement maker whose reach now extends into the United States, Colombia, the Philippines, Spain, the Caribbean, and Central America. Cemex has been praised as the most admired venture in the commercial sector of the national economy and in terms of corporate culture, high growth potential, accounting standards, logistics, and profitability, Cemex ranks alongside the General Electric, Compaq, Sony, and other major multinational corpora
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