TIJUANA.- City officials, including Mayor Jorge Astiazarán, met with members of the Administration and Appraisal of National Assets Institute (Indaabin in Spanish) in an effort to lower border wait times into Mexico, by coordinating municipal, state and federal governments so as to offer users practical and quality ports-of-entries.

The Indaabin is similar in functions to the U.S. government's General Services Administration, in that it is charged with managing and providing the federal government's real estate, office space, supplies and other goods. In this case, it can help make the entry into Mexico better and more efficient for both vehicles and pedestrians.

The meeting took place at the Mayor's office main board room, where Astiazarán stressed just how important the El Chaparral, Puerta México East and the Otay I and II border crossings are to the people of Tijuana. These installations are the entry ways into Mexico for millions of people each year, and it is essential that wait times-both northbound and southbound- are reduced as much as they can be, added the mayor.

"The improvement of these access points will have a big impact on streamlining international crossings and will bring along with them great benefits, both economic and social, which is why we are at our utmost disposition on aiding this project and jointly working with the state and federal governments," said the mayor.

For her part, Indaabin director Soraya Pérez, added that- in order to avoid vehicular traffic during expansion work being carried out at several ports- they must first create a medium and long range plan for every border crossing in the region.

"We'll be drafting a restructuring plan [for traffic]. Each port has its own environment and circumstances, which is why a traffic flow study must be carried out and afterwards, a conceptually adequate plan proposed. Federal, state and municipal governments will work side-by-side and bring together everybody's ideas into a single planning documents, which will then serve as a guide", she said.

After the meeting, Mayor Astiazarán accompanied director Pérez and other officials on a tour of the Puerta México East facilities that will welcome pedestrians from the U.S. into Mexico, up to 25,000 daily.

Also in attandance at the meeting were the city's interior minister, Bernardo Padilla Muñoz; Urban and Environmental Development minister, Roberto Sánchez Martínez; Alejandro González Guilbot, the Tijuana Customs administrator, among others.

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