Business meetings through reverse missions, strategic participation in trade missions, as well as market diversification and prevention , are three key factors to face the challenges and opportunities of foreign trade towards 2026, considered Josefina Lombard, director of the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology Southern Region (Comce Sur) .
In an interview with T21, Lombard pointed out that the region, which includes Puebla, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, and Tabasco, with extended support to Quintana Roo, Campeche, Chiapas, and Yucatán, faces a complex but full of possibilities, so the goal is to take advantage of its potential and position it on the global map .
Regarding business meetings and reverse trade missions, he explained that they promote these types of initiatives in which delegations of foreign buyers, such as those from California, USA, visit Mexico to negotiate directly with local businesspeople. This strategy reduces the entry risks for Mexican companies and seeks to select anchor states that will energize the region , such as Puebla, with its industrial profile, or Quintana Roo, one of the country’s main importers. In this way, these meetings become engines for strengthening the integration and growth of the south-southeast region.
Regarding the diversification of strategic markets, Lombard indicated that, while the United States will remain Mexico’s main trading partner, it is crucial to conquer new markets. In this particular case, he explained the potential for business opportunities with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) , a region with 20 million consumers .
“Mexico is not part of CARICOM, so, since we are going to do it through Belize, we are working on some agreements that will allow us to have a dual investment, both in Quintana Roo south towards Chetumal and in Belize, where companies arrive, set up a manufacturing part, the other part for packaging or finishing, and from there it is exported to Belize, it is an interesting agreement,” he said.
The director of Comce Sur also explained that infrastructure projects, such as the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Maya Train , can be the spearhead for the region’s development. She indicated that both projects aim to connect the area with development hubs and strengthen ties with Central America, promoting new trade routes.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and changes to the Customs Law, Lombard emphasized prevention. He stated that the Southern Cone Business Council (Comce Sur) is training companies on rules of origin and encouraging the participation of experts in negotiations to anticipate risks .
“The point is that the south-southeast region must keep moving, no matter what happens in the United States, in Europe, in China, the south-southeast region has to take advantage of every opportunity that comes its way and, strategically, use them for the benefit of each of the states,” he stressed.
Lombard sent a message to the region’s business leaders: “Don’t stay home, go out and find opportunities and diversify .” He also noted that the organization he leads will continue to promote international events, intraregional missions, and networking opportunities to increase the area’s visibility.
“If there’s one thing I’m very sure of, it’s that this will be a year of many opportunities, and not just anyone will see those opportunities; those opportunities are only seen through prevention, by being in the game, by surrounding ourselves with people specialized in foreign trade,” she concluded.
In the second quarter of 2025, the nine states under the supervision and support of Comce Sur registered exports of $9.262 billion , according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) . Regarding Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the region accumulated $1.4498 billion in the third quarter of this year, according to data from the Ministry of Economy .
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