Investments in Mexico, Cities and Sectors to invest in 2013

With foreign direct investment averaging more than $ 20 billion a year over the past five years, a national growth forecast of 3.6-4 per cent by 2013 and its inclusion in the next emerging countries group called "MIST", the Mexican economy, throughout its geography, offers different possibilities of investment. Investments in Mexico.

The most recent Doing Business study, which is part of the World Bank Group, pointed to the State of Mexico, Monterrey and Yucatan as the most advanced states in the ranking of the facility to do business in Mexico. However, others such as Colima, Aguascalientes and Chiapas showed significant progress in specific areas, such as the ease of creating new businesses.

The 2012 Urban Competitiveness Index, prepared by the Mexican Institute of Competitiveness (IMCO), identified Monterrey, Valle de México, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, Ciudad del Carmen and Saltillo as the most competitive cities in the country . To select these cities, the IMCO measured factors such as the effectiveness of its transport system, the per capita salary of its inhabitants, the efficiency of its consumption of natural resources and foreign investment.

Some states, such as Queretaro, Guanajuato or Tabasco, have excelled over the rest because of their ability to attract investment for specific sectors, which in the cases of these three Federative Entities are aerospace, automotive and energy.

The private sector traces its route

Although indexes such as the Doing Business show the correlation between the legal reforms undertaken and the ease of doing business, it is private companies that outline their investment agendas.

To 2013 and even in the long term, the tourism sector is, in the words of former Secretary of Tourism Gloria Guevara, "a winning bet in every way." A study by Redes Consultores states that the tourist influx in Mexico has multiplied by 20 in the last 50 years and estimates that, by the year 2020, 37 million international tourists will arrive to Mexico each year, while the sector will contribute more Of 6% of national GDP.

Other sectors, such as the oil company, with a marked development in the Southeastern States, the automaker, agglutinated in Bajio States, although also in other Entities, or the miner, whose production focuses on the North States, but also in others like Guerrero, are the three main economic sectors today, but present growth prospects for 2013, according to the Mexican Chamber of Commerce (Camimex), the Mexican Association of Automotive Industry (AMIA) and Pemex.

Mexico in the world

Despite the economic recovery in Mexico by the BM, now 3.6% in 2013, the national forecast surpasses the average growth of the world economy predicted by several economists, which stands at 3.4%, although it is below 3.9 % Forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mexico, meanwhile, will tame Latin America as a whole, in line with the forecast for 2013 of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at 4%.

For the World Bank (WB), manufacturing exports are one of the main sectors of opportunity for investment in Mexico. These have grown at a rate of 10% a year in recent years and forecasts that growth will continue, especially driven by the automotive segment, "responsible for 25% of the total" of manufactured exports.

In addition, the WB points out that the subsidiaries of foreign banks in Mexico are well capitalized and ensures that the Mexican banking system is sound, which should translate into greater growth for companies that use credit. However, warns the WB, the Mexican economy is beginning to show some signs of slowing down, partly as a result of the US economy's march and the danger of its "fiscal precipice".

Companies like KPMG, in their study 'Investment in Mexico 2012', identify some sectors of opportunity to invest, from the reforms that have been carried out in the national economy and those that are expected to occur in the coming months and years, Including: the electricity sector, telecommunications, airports, natural gas distribution and railways.