Mexico and Italy may formalize their relationship. Between these economies, there is a strong potential for development and complementarity.
"It is one of the major international players. We want Italian companies to become part of the Mexican production chain," said Oscar Camacho, head of the ProMéxico office in Milan.
In a seminar on investment possibilities in the Latin American country held in Rome, the spokesman commented that there is a high degree of complementarity between the economies of the two countries and that Mexico particularly favors foreign investment with a high technological content.
In the event organized by the law firm Gianni, Origoni, Grippo Cappelli & Partners, which offers legal advice to companies, it was highlighted that while the economies of many countries suffer, the Mexican economy has sustained growth rates that in 2014 would reach 2.7 percent.
Camacho informed that there are currently 1,423 companies with Italian capital in Mexico. He said that 13 arrived in 2013 and that so far in 2014 four have arrived and another six are expected.
He stressed that Italian companies such as the Zanini group, which specializes in the development and manufacture of plastic components for the automotive sector, have invested in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, in northern Mexico.
For his part, the president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, Alberico Peyron, cited a survey carried out by the entity, according to which 60 percent of Italian companies with capital in Mexico consider that they will increase their investments in that country.
According to the same survey, 100 percent of Italian industrialists with capital in Mexico would recommend other businessmen to invest in that nation.
He specified that the sectors that offer the most opportunities are oil and gas, construction materials, industrial machinery, green technologies, agricultural mechanics, agro-industrial technologies and security, among others.
Peyron pointed out that no Italian company has been affected or has withdrawn its investments from Mexico due to problems of insecurity or organized crime.
Alessandro Terzulli, from SACE Group, said that the positive aspects of Mexico are its labor force, proximity to the United States, competitive salaries, free trade agreements with more than 40 countries, low cost of electricity, gas, water and transportation, among others.
At the macroeconomic level, he cited high growth rates, contained public debt, political stability, the reform plan in sectors such as energy and telecommunications, and a solid banking system.
Among other aspects, he also mentioned dependence on oil revenues and the U.S. economy, drug cartels, bureaucracy and corruption, and social inequality.
For his part, Maurizio Bezzeccheri, head of Latin America for Enel Green Power (a multinational that operates in the renewable energy sector), said that Mexico, together with Chile and Brazil, is the most interesting country for this group due to its demographics, its specific consumption potential and its industrial growth.
He confirmed that in the next five years Latin America will be the "focus" for investments not only of Enel Green Power, but of the entire Enel group (the second in Europe in the provision of electric energy).
*Information from Notimex
Source: MANUFACTURA