The Mazatlan Post conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. José Cruz Pérez Peña, Northwest Regional President of ASOFOM.
- TMP.- Tell us briefly about ASOFOM so that the reader enters the context of what the Association is, what benefits does the association provide to its members?
Mr. José Cruz Pérez Peña = The Association of Multiple Purpose Financial Companies in Mexico, A.C. (ASOFOM) emerged in 2006 with the purpose of strengthening the figure and providing solutions to the different problems within the sector, becoming since that year an integrating and binding vehicle, this is how a series of policies and guidelines were developed that allowed the creation of a Strengthened association with high standards of compliance. Today ASOFOM is the most important Association of non-bank financial intermediaries in Mexico and Latin America.
At this time, ASOFOM is made up of approximately 200 SOFOM members affiliated nationwide, of these, about 55 are located in the Mexican Northwest and they are the ones that will attend the event that will be held in Mazatlán “Together in the Pacific”.
In Mexico, we are the financial institution with the largest number of players, 55% of financial intermediaries are SOFOMers. We reached this figure, and we can increase it because we are local SMEs specialized in products, sectors, or regions, so we offer flexibility and personalized treatment, an advantage that no large bank will be able to offer.
We are SMEs supporting SMEs, we perfectly understand their needs, due to our size we operate faster and with fewer bureaucratic processes, which leads us to have fast response times, fundamental aspects for decision-making above cost.
Now, the SOFOMers not only focus on offering loans, we also help create trusts, we perfectly advise our members at the time that they require a financing structure for their clients, this among other strategies, which makes us the best ally in the development of the financial strategy of the company that is looking for us.
Regarding the interest rates that SOFOMers handle, there are all kinds of players and then we find that some offer cheaper financing than traditional banking, other very similar rates and other higher rates, but all with the aforementioned advantages, in addition of the probability of approval of a financial line, which in SOFOMers is much higher than in banks, added to the response time, which is shorter than in other institutions.
- TMP.- Tell us now about the meeting “Together in the Pacific, Overcoming risks in this new reality”
Mr. José Cruz Pérez Peña.- “Together in the Pacific” is the first bi-regional event organized by ASOFOM, which, lasting two days, managed to bring together two regions, the Northwest and the West, with the main objective of provoking a meeting between SOFOMers from different regions that allows us to know business strategies and exchange valuable experiences.
From start to finish, we have a robust and very interesting program, at the inauguration, we will have the presence of local and business authorities of great value, later we will have different conferences, workshops, and some specialty courses, all focused on the financial sector, we will have the presence of authorities from the financial and government sectors, representatives of the development banks, as well as high-ranking businessmen, who will share their experiences and the way in which we can face the difficulties of the pandemic.
The event includes three main axes, one is the reconversion and technological adaptation that the financial sector is experiencing, how we are going to adapt to these new technological challenges, on the other hand, there will be experts from CDMX, from Houston Texas, and local, who will talk about how our human talent, the main resource of any company, faces these problems of Pandemic and confinement, how to supervise people who are working virtually on the one hand and on the other hand the insecurity that it generates in our collaborators, working from home and the uncertainty that this could generate in their jobs, how to keep our team productive, keep them motivated and work safer and more productively.
- TMP.- Mr. José Cruz, how do you see the situation for the tourism industry in the port of Mazatlán in this “New Reality”?
Mr. José Cruz Pérez Peña.- It seems to me that, unlike other tourist destinations, Mazatlán has had many successes in terms of the forecasts that the tourism sector has taken and the management that the authorities have dictated, we must add that Mazatlán has had significant growth par excellence, the quality in terms of investment has achieved that at least national tourism continues to arrive and surely more will soon be arriving, in terms of international tourism, they are already factors that are beyond local capacities and have to do with international protocols. - However, I believe that the important thing is to always maintain a positive attitude, and without a doubt the actions and forecasts that they are taking are going in the right direction, which leads us to think that together they are doing a very good job, to preserve and increase the loyalty of national and international tourists towards this important beach destination.
- TMP.- Finally, Don José, what message would you like to send to the Mazatlán Expats community and to all the people who read The Mazatan Post.
Mr. José Cruz Pérez Peña.- The message to the Mazatlán Expats and The Mazatlán Post audience is that ASOFOM, through its associates, more than 50 financial companies in Northwest Mexico and several of them right here in Mazatlán, are “SMEs that support SMEs ”, that is, we do not finance large developments, for that there are other specialized institutions, but yes, we are supporting the development and continuity of all service provider companies of large hotel industries, that is, the restaurant sector, of transport, everything that leads to the Tourism Industry and of course to the maintenance of a City in its Industrial, commercial and services stage, the services offered by a SOFOM are basically the financing of investment projects, the support in its capital of work and advice on the financial management of businesses, so I invite you to visit the page www.asofom.mx “Together we are more, but together we are stronger as well”.
