The SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center would like to invite you to the 9th Annual Integration Symposium: Driving Growth and Security Across Borders.

 

Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Location: JW Marriott Hotel, Polanco, Mexico City

 

Time: 8:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m.

8:00 a.m.– 9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast

9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Event

 

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Please use the link below to register and select each panel you plan to attend. The event will be held in both English and Spanish.

 

The 9th Annual Integration Symposium: Driving Growth and Security Across Borders, hosted by the SMU Mission Foods Texas-México Center will highlight the Center’s original, funded research on U.S.–Mexico trade, innovation, and migration. Featured studies examine how nearshoring and security dynamics shape cross-border commerce, how education influences Hispanic entrepreneurs’ participation in STEM fields, and how border cities collaborate to manage migration. Alongside keynotes from top business and policy leaders, the symposium will showcase data-driven insights and cross-sector dialogue advancing economic growth, innovation, and cooperation across North America.

08:50 – 09:00 a.m.

Opening Remarks:

-Courtney Weeks, Assistant Director, SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center

-Fernando Solís Cámara,  Chief Communications Officer at GRUMA

9:00 – 9:50 a.m.

Keynote Address Featuring:

-Francisco Cervantes Díaz, President, Mexican Business Coordinating Council (Consejo Coordinador Empresarial, CCE)

-Larry Rubin, President, American Society of Mexico

-Moderator: Dr. Manuel Sánchez González, Senior Fellow, SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center and Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Mexico

9:50 - 10:00 a.m.

Break

10:00 - 10:30 a.m.

Conversation with SMU Leadership:

-Dr. Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah, Dean, SMU Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

-Dr. Todd Milbourn, Dean, SMU Cox School of Business 

-Moderator: Dr. James Hollifield, Acting Director of the SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center and Professor of Political Economy

10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Center Research Presentation I - Nearshoring North America: Trade, Security, And The Flow Of Goods:

-Research Presenter: Dr. René Cabral Torres, Research Professor, Department of Finance and Business Economics, EGADE, Tecnológico de Monterrey

-Discussant: Dr. Raymond Robertson, Senior Fellow, SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center; Director of the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy

11:30 - 12:00 p.m.

Break, Networking Lounge

12:00 - 12:30 p.m.

Keynote Address Featuring:

12:30 - 1:50 p.m.

Center Research Presentation II– Beyond Borders: Cities and Migration Across the Americas:

-Research Presenters: Dr. Jorge Luis Alcaraz Vargas and Dr. Elizabeth Salamanca Pacheco, Professors, Department of International Business, Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP)

-Research Presenters: Dr. Nayarani Lasala Blanco, Elena Sánchez Montijano, Nuty Cárdenas Alaminos, Research Professors, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica (CIDE), and Francisco Pedraza, Associate Professor, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University

-Discussant: Dr. Pia Orrenius, Senior Fellow SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center, Vice President and Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

1:50 - 2:00 p.m.

Closing Remarks:

-David Salazar Cavazos, Vice President of Legal Services at GRUMA and Vice Chairman of the SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center

 

 

Please note: agenda subject to change

 

Any person who requires a reasonable accommodation on the basis of a disability in order to participate in this program should contact the SMU Tower Center at texasmexico@smu.edu in advance at least 4 days prior to the event to arrange for the accommodation.

 

SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center | https://www.smu.edu/Dedman/Research/Institutes-and-Centers/Texas-Mexico

3300 University Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75275-0117

214-768-4716 texasmexico@smu.edu