GUANAJUATO, Mexico (AP) -- Facing a sluggish economy and a tight
                 budget, President Vicente Fox's government is asking entrepreneurs on both
                 sides of the border to invest in poor communities with high migration rates
                 to the United States.

                 Dining on chicken and strawberry tarts, representatives of companies including
                 poultry giant Tyson Foods, and even NBA basketball player Eduardo Najera of the
                 Dallas Mavericks, were asked late Friday to become "godfathers" to poor
                 communities across Mexico.

                 Fox promised to create jobs and reduce poverty when he took office more than a
                 year ago, ending 71 years of one-party rule in Mexico. But recessions in both
                 Mexico and the United States -- the destination for roughly 90 percent of Mexican
                 exports -- have cost thousands of Mexican jobs and forced Fox to scale back
                 once-grand plans.

                 His government proposed the "padrino," or godfather, program in July, targeting
                 wealthy, influential Mexican-Americans who were willing to invest in their
                 homeland.

                 But the program has expanded to include Mexican business leaders and
                 non-Hispanic U.S.-based companies -- anyone willing to help a Mexican community
                 that can't meet its basic needs.

                 Officials have identified 90 "micro-regions" where poverty is rampant and many
                 residents end up working illegally in the United States. Their goal is to increase
                 wages and keep Mexicans at home.

                 Residents of these regions -- some of which include several towns _ were asked
                 what their greatest needs were. Most responded by asking for things like more jobs
                 or better roads.

                 Juan Hernandez, who heads Fox's office of migrant affairs, said the program hopes
                 to raise $200 million in the next five years, starting with this weekend's events to
                 raise interest among more than 100 big-business representatives.

                 "I want commitments from these people," Hernandez said, walking into a large
                 dining hall full of current and potential godfathers.

                 After Friday's dinner, participants strolled through the narrow, cobblestone streets
                 of Guanajuato, a former mining town 170 miles (270 kilometers) northwest of
                 Mexico City.

                 On Saturday, Fox planned to take business leaders on a tour of the poor community
                 of Uriangato, wh ere a small sweater factory will send its first shipment of goods to
                 New York with help from the godfather program.

                 One so-called godfather taking part, Juan Francisco Ochoa, brought his two sons
                 from Laredo, Texas, to learn more about the program. Known as the "Chicken
                 King," Ochoa owns 45 fast food restaurants in the United States and Mexico.

                 He has promised $200,000 to "adopt" the town of Santiago Juxclahuaca in the
                 southern state of Oaxaca. The money will be used to build a school, improve the
                 town's electrical and water systems, and construct several basketball courts for one
                 of the region's most popular sports.

                 "We believe in this program, and we don't want to be left behind," Ochoa said.

                  Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.