The Invest in Mexico Facilitation Board agency is created; it will promote Mexico abroad
Jalisco
By Elenne Castro
The states of Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas signed the formal constitution of the Civil Association of the Invest in Mexico Facilitation Board (IMFB) agency, which has the objective of positioning Mexico internationally as a reliable and safe destination for foreign investment.
The governors of these states -members of the Federalist Alliance- stated that following the need to continue attracting foreign investment, the agency was created to become the engine of economic growth and generate new international opportunities to attract investment.
With this agency, the states will seek to take advantage of trade agreements, identify production chains and new foreign direct investment projects. They will also take advantage of the regional situation in strategic sectors and articulate an international promotion strategy.
Likewise, they will establish new mechanisms for the generation of jobs and the development of an industrial policy and seek economic opportunities with the new RCEP free trade agreement with Asian countries and take advantage of the change of government in the United States.
The ten states of the "Alianza Federalista" (Federalist Alliance) currently contribute 34% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Furthermore, in the last months of the economic reactivation, they contributed with 44% of the jobs recovered, and only in the first semester of this year, they made 35% of the foreign investment in all of Mexico.
The announcement was made during the assembly of the National Council of the Maquiladora and Manufacturing Export Industry (index) in Guadalajara, Jalisco, where this initiative was formalized, promoting not only the ten states that make up the alliance but all of Mexico.
In this way, the states will have investment opportunities in strategic sectors to place Mexico at the forefront of the advanced manufacturing and Industry 4.0 sectors:
- Aerospace
- Agroindustry
- Automotive
- Medical devices
- Electronic
- Energy
- Forestry
- Port Logistics
- Metalworking
- Mining
- Fashion
- Chemical-Petrochemical
- Information technology
Ernesto Sánchez Proal, Jalisco's Secretary of Economic Development, announced that this constitutive act already has its first assignments with activities and meetings held virtually with the member countries of the Pacific Alliance. Later, a meeting will be held with the US Association of State Offices in Mexico to detect compatibility areas and develop joint projects.
Sánchez Proal will be the chairman of the board of directors of the Invest in Mexico Facilitation Board (IMFB), a rotating position headed by the various Secretaries of Economic Development of the states of the Federalist Alliance.
The representatives of the member states will define each entity's priorities to develop the 2021 work program and plan regional strategies that will help promote Mexico and position the agency internationally.
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AND COLLABORATION
In the presence of Luis Aguirre Lang, president of index Mexico, the memorandum of understanding and collaboration between the national council and the newly created agency was also signed.
In his speech, the National Index representative expressed that the agency represents support for taking advantage of recovery opportunities in 2021. Thus, they will work together to face federal participation cuts and reduce the investment gaps derived from the pandemic.
"The creation of a multi-state investment attraction agency is the action to promote competitive advantages because they know what foreign direct investment is for the states," he said.
The Invest in Mexico Facilitation Board council will be formed in 2021 by:
- President: Ernesto Sánchez Proal, Secretary of Economic Development of Jalisco.
- Vice President: Jesús Melgoza Velázquez, Secretary of Economic Development of Michoacán.
- Secretary: Carlos Alberto García González, Secretary of Economic Development of the State of Tamaulipas.
- Surveillance counselor: Manuel Alejandro González Martínez de Aguascalientes.
This initiative is promoted by the secretaries of economic development of the ten states and their governors:
1. Martín Orozco Sandoval, governor of Aguascalientes
2. Javier Corral Jurado, Governor of Chihuahua
3. Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís, Governor of Coahuila
4. José Ignacio Peralta Sánchez, Governor of Colima
5. José Rosas Aispuro Torres, Governor of Durango
6. Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo, Governor of Guanajuato
7. Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, Governor of Jalisco
8. Silvano Aureoles, Governor of Michoacán
9. Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, Governor of Nuevo León
10. Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, governor of Tamaulipas
