Mexico City ? President-elect Felipe Calderon said Thursday that Mexico must stem illegal emigration through aggressive antipoverty programs and job creation, adding that a migration pact with the United States will remain a key goal for his country.

In his first interview with foreign correspondents as president-elect, Calderon said he will work hard to reach a migration accord before President Bush leaves office. But he warned that until policies to create quality jobs in Mexico take root, U.S. lawmakers will have to look at illegal immigration as an ongoing reality.

“We can’t ignore it. We can’t make it disappear by decree,” he said. “We have to find mechanisms between the two countries to solve the problem jointly.”

Calderon noted that leaving Mexico remains a likely option for young people, who enter the job market at a rate of 1.2 million annually, and cannot find opportunities to make ends meet. He added that building trust among Americans would greatly help get action on immigration and other complex U.S.-Mexico issues.

The president-elect, 44, said he regards the Texas economy as a powerful engine for Mexico and that he sees the state as a key factor in generating prosperity for his countrymen and their neighbors to the north.

“I will be a president mindful of the commercial ties with the state of Texas, someone who also believes that the expansion of trade generates benefits for consumers and workers on both sides of the border,” he said. “I understand the size of the Texas economy as a partner, as a region in which Mexico must intensify those commercial and economic links.”