The Mexican authorities have announced that this month will see the launch of the first tenders for the construction of the 10 industrial parks envisaged in the project of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT), one of the major infrastructure projects aimed at developing an inter-oceanic commercial rail route for the transport of goods in the south of the country. The project envisages crossing Mexican territory, from the port of Coatzacoalcos (Veracruz, on the Atlantic Ocean) to the port of Salina Cruz (Oaxaca, on the Pacific Ocean). This would offer an alternative route and save a few days of navigation for the transport of goods that currently pass through the Panama Canal to go from one ocean to the other. The project includes the modernisation of the two ports and a number of road sections in between. It also envisages the creation along the rail line of several industrial and logistical hubs and other facilities to support economic development. Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Raquel Buenrostro has planned investments of USD 1 billion for each industrial park. According to government sources, the industrial parks will cover an area of between 250 and 400 hectares, and the tenders will be aimed at attracting investments in the areas of electric and electronic industry, medical equipment and devices, electric mobility, and renewable energy. In addition to the price and value of the investment, the criteria for awarding the tenders will take into account the number of jobs that will be generated and the wage level of the workers.
Another large infrastructure project announced is the expansion of Latin America’s largest solar power plant in Puerto Peasco, in the state of Sonora in the north of the country, on the US border. The Mexican government also plans to create a production cluster for electric mobility, thanks to the availability of lithium in the region and the strategic proximity to Arizona, a manufacturer of semiconductors.
