Jalisco seeks to position itself among the top three destinations for FDI

Guadalajara, Jalisco. Although Jalisco saw positive figures in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the first half of the year, placing it seventh in the country in terms of attracting foreign capital, the state is seeking to position itself among the top three in the country, stated Mauro Garza Marín, the general strategic coordinator of Economic Growth and Development.

"Our state ranked seventh in attracting foreign direct investment, which is obviously not where we belong. We want to be much further ahead; we want to be among the top three, and in that sense, we are working hand in hand with the industry to be attractive in terms of attracting investment," the state official emphasized.

According to figures from the federal Ministry of Economy, from January to June of this year, the state captured $933 million in FDI.

"In new investments, compared to the same semester last year, the state grew by almost 400%, as last year FDI in new investments was $38 million, and this year it exceeded $250 million," the economic cabinet coordinator emphasized.

However, he indicated that to position Jalisco among the top three states with the highest foreign investment attraction, the state is working in parallel to position itself as the most competitive in the country, which involves, among other factors, developing infrastructure and improving regulations.

"In terms of competitiveness, the state moved from 10th place to 4th; obviously, the goal is to be the most competitive state. We've set out to be an oasis for investment, and to do so, we're very clear that we have to be the most competitive state. We're partnering with the municipalities to address paperwork and simplify the opening of new projects," he explained.

Garza Marín said that the issue that significantly boosted Jalisco's competitiveness was its position as a leader in patent registration.

"That has given us an advantage over the rest of the states, and we want to continue working on that to ensure that all of these patents and innovations are market-focused," he added.

Infrastructure

Regarding infrastructure, Mauro Garza commented that the Jalisco government has announced an investment of more than 25 billion pesos for the maintenance of state highways; however, he said, the challenge lies with the federal highway network.

"We face a challenge with federal highways, where virtually no investment has been made in recent years. We are pushing for the federal government to do something about this and achieve the competitiveness required. The federal government only has 7 billion pesos for the entire country in road maintenance, whereas we estimate that just maintaining existing highways, without building a single new kilometer, requires more than 30 billion pesos," he noted.