Billionaire Carlos Slim came out in defense of the new Mexico City International Airport (NAICM) project yesterday in response to threats from the leading presidential candidate to abandon it if he wins office.
Mexico"™s richest man, whose companies have an 8% investment interest in the new airport, told a press conference that suspending the project "” as Andrés Manuel López Obrador has flagged he will do "” would halt economic growth.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last week that abandoning the project would lead to a US $20-billion reduction in Mexico"™s gross domestic product (GDP) and the loss of 200,000 jobs.
Despite his concern, Slim remained confident that the project, designed by British architect Norman Foster and Slim"™s son-in-law, Fernando Romero, will go ahead.
". . . I"™m optimistic, I see good, favorable things . . . it"™s not about buying a car that"™s cheaper than another, it"™s a transcendent project, yes it could be done more cheaply but [that would be] putting a Band-Aid over what we already have," he said in reference to López Obrador"™s plan to keep the current airport and convert an existing military airport for commercial use.
The third-time candidate, who has a significant lead over his rivals in most opinion polls, has said that he will move to scrap the project if he becomes president, charging that it is corrupt and too expensive.
Slim hit back at the leftist former Mexico City mayor, asserting that his companies "have not participated in any act of corruption at any time" and declaring that it is not the place of candidates to get involved in the project.
"They have no reason to interfere . . . This is a decision that was taken five or six years ago, more; President Fox had made up his mind. It had to be debated when it was in the pipeline. Now, I don"™t see why it"™s being discussed," he said…
