The trade that Mexico has with the world is fundamental and a driving force for the Mexican economy, which is why the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (Comce) sees a favorable horizon for the country with the relocation of companies that will boost foreign direct investment (FDI) .
Sergio Contreras Pérez, Executive President of Comce, highlighted that foreign trade accounts for 74% of Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), making it important to strengthen trade ties.
“We have to believe it, Mexico is one of the 15 largest economies in the world, we are the second largest economy in Latin America after Brazil, but beware, we are the first in export volume,” Contreras stressed.
He also added that this has to do with FDI, which in 2023 reached 36 billion dollars (mdd), with Mexico being the ninth destination country for FDI in the world .
In this regard, Sergio Contreras highlighted that all conditions are in place for FDI to close 2024 at US$40 billion, since “we have continued to grow both in terms of export levels and in FDI attraction volumes, which is a reflection of how Mexico’s capacity for growth in these two areas is perceived.”
He also said that Mexico has the necessary capacity, with a solid industrial network, to be a manufacturing country that allows for the development and attraction of these investments , which is why he expects that nearshoring will yield around 48 billion dollars in FDI in the next two or three years.
He insisted that Mexico has the capabilities, this time referring to the human factor, as Mexico is a breeding ground for STEM engineers (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), occupying eighth place in the number of graduates in this type of career.
He also added that Mexico is the ninth largest exporter in the world , being the main commercial partner of the United States, allocating 84% of Mexican exports to the US market.
“We are not exporting these volumes because we have a border, because we have the capacity to access the most important market in the world, it is because we are exporting quality, if we did not have it we would not reach this demanding market,” he said.
He gave the example of the American automotive industry , an extremely demanding market, to which Mexico supplies 40% of this sector, complying with the necessary regulations and specifications.
However, despite this context, Ambassador Sergio Ley López, President of the Asia and Oceania Section of COMCE Nacional and Head of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Mexico, assured that solid growth must be achieved with other markets.
“I think it is a fundamental mission to diversify our market, the fact that 85% of our trade is destined to a single geographic location makes us very vulnerable, if we do not control this vulnerability we will have many problems as we have had in the past, in which areas that have nothing to do with trade contaminate it”
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