SAO PAULO — Mexico's president-elect says the private sector must be allowed to help modernize his country's state-owned oil company to increase productivity and make it more competitive.

Enrique Pena Nieto spoke Wednesday after meeting Brazilian business leaders at the Sao Paulo Federation of Industries.

Pena Nieto says Petroleos Mexicanos needs major investments in oil exploration, production and refinement "and that will only be possible through partnerships with the private sector.

He says he is not proposing the privatization of Pemex, but its modernization.