On the docks of the port of Veracruz, where goods never stop moving and the sea breeze mingles with the sound of cranes, a story that is now inscribed in the pages of Mexican foreign trade began to take shape more than three decades ago. There, a group of customs agents decided in the 1990s that their destiny could not be limited to processing documents and opening files . The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had just transformed the economic landscape and, with it, the way logistics is understood in Mexico.
“That was the turning point,” recalls Edgar López, CEO of Grupo Inversor Veracruzano (GRIVER) , in an interview with T21. “NAFTA forced us to think differently, to look outward and invest in port infrastructure to facilitate the import and export of containerized cargo, as well as in the development of systems for managing customs clearance .”
What began as a collection of small businesses involved in foreign trade took legal form in 2002. Thus, GRIVER was born, with a distinctive hallmark: turning every global change into an opportunity. The internet, digitalization, the cloud, and now artificial intelligence have marked the stages of its evolution. Since then, GRIVER has maintained a distinctive hallmark: operating with precision in foreign trade, relying on technological innovation, and staying ahead of industry changes . That’s why its most recent commitment is now strengthened with two projects that seek to strengthen supply chains on two complementary fronts. In the logistics field, with the creation of Neutral Connection Logistics (NCL) , a company dedicated to international Consolidated Cargo freight, which integrates technological solutions for merchandise management. And on the maritime front, with the relaunch of cabotage and Short Distance Maritime Transport (SDM) , a project that aims to give Mexico and Central America new paths to competitiveness.
LEARNING FROM THE SEA
In 2020, just as the pandemic brought the world to a standstill, GRIVER launched a project that seemed destined to be a milestone: a coastal and short-sea shipping circuit in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship had barely set sail when health restrictions grounded it. For GRIVER, it was an investment in deep knowledge . “The investment in failure is the investment in learning,” López insists.
That learning is now preparing a new endeavor. The goal is to relaunch a route in 2026 connecting the ports of Santo Tomás de Castilla in Guatemala, Puerto Morelos, Progreso, Veracruz, Matamoros in Mexico, and Houston in the USA . This time with multiple anchor loads: used vehicles traveling from the United States to Central America, steel flowing from Veracruz to Houston, and agricultural products from the northern triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala) seeking to compete in the Riviera Maya tourism market. The objective is not to compete with land transportation, but to complement it. “Maritime transportation allows us to reach new markets, reduces road risks, minimizes costs, and ensures traceability,” explains the executive.
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