Spain’s Iberdrola to Build Cogeneration Plant in Mexico

laht.com

MADRID – Spain’s Iberdrola said on Monday it signed a contract with petrochemical company Dynasol to build a 56 MW cogeneration power plant in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

The cogeneration plant will cost 1.3 billion pesos ($84 million), Iberdrola said in a statement.

Cogeneration is a process that simultaneously produces both electricity and heat from one fuel source, such as natural gas, making use of heat that would otherwise be lost.

The deal is part of an expansion strategy in Mexico, where plans call for investing up to 78 billion pesos ($5 billion) in generation projects over the next few years, the Spanish company said.

Iberdrola, Spain’s largest power company, operates in Britain, the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

Norway and Mexico Looking To Increase Economic Ties

theyucatantimes.com

Norway’s Foreign Relations Minister Morten Hoglund called on President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration to fully implement the free trade agreement between the two countries Tuesday, in order to attract large investments to Mexico.

Commercial services and investments are aspects of the agreement which have yet to be completely incorporated. The Free Trade Agreement between Norway and Mexico includes a large portion of the exchange between the European and Latin American nations. The Norwegian government seeks to establish a bilateral agreement on commerce with the Mexican government.

While inaugurating the forum for Norwegian Business Day in Mexico, the secretary said that the test of the free trade agreement is the opening of sea trade by the Mexican government and the recent approval of structural reforms which open the energy sector for private and foreign investment.

“Mexico has recently embarked on a series of ambitious reforms to be a more attractive destination for the international business community,” Hoglund said. “The reforms to the energy sector have a similarity to our own regulatory and concessions system for assigning exploration rights and a very strong regulatory situation, also an oil revenues fund, which has served us very well.”

Norway, Mexico strengthen ties (PHOTO COURTESY OF SRE)

The secretary said that Norwegian companies have emerged as pioneers in terms of cost effectiveness and environmental solutions for natural resource exploitation, especially offshore drilling. Norwegian companies have already established offices in Cuidad del Carmen.

Four Norwegian companies have undertaken seven seismic studies for deepwater drilling, he said, the first time that foreign companies have undertaken this type of exploration in Mexico.
During the forum for Norwegian businesses, hosted at the Foreign Relations Secretariat headquarters in Mexico City, the two governments sought to create alliances and incentive for investments, in the context of the structural reforms in Mexico.

Specialists from both nations talked about the desire to attract investment from Norway and other international business leaders. The ambassadors praised the Mexican energy reform as one of the most important in recent decades. The Mexican government hopes that investment and shared technology will translate into better growth, jobs, efficient energy, exports and competitive prices.

BY PEDRO MONTES DE OCA
The News
Source: http://thenews.mx/

AT&T Inc. Completes Acquisition of Nextel Mexico

att.com
go to original
May 4, 2015

banderasnews.com

On the heels of purchasing Iusacell, AT&T has completed its acquisition of Nextel Mexico. AT&T will merge Iusacell and Nextel into a single company to create the first-ever 'North American Mobile Service Area.'

Mexico City — AT&T has completed its acquisition of companies operating under the name Nextel Mexico from NII Holdings, Inc., including spectrum licenses, network assets, retail stores and subscribers in Mexico, for $1.875 billion, less approximately $427 million of net debt and other adjustments.

Earlier this year, AT&T acquired Mexican wireless provider Iusacell. AT&T will integrate Iusacell & Nextel into one company focused on bringing more choices, better service and faster mobile Internet speeds to more locations throughout Mexico.

AT&T plans to create the first-ever 'North American Mobile Service area,' which will cover more than 400 million consumers and businesses in Mexico and the U.S.

Thaddeus Arroyo, Chief Executive Officer for AT&T Mexico, LLC and Iusacell, will lead the combined company.

Mexico is the second-largest economy in Latin America and has a growing middle class. This economic strength, combined with Mexico's close geographic, economic and cultural ties to the U.S., make it an attractive place for AT&T to invest.

AT&T's acquisition of Nextel Mexico was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is overseeing the restructuring of NII Holdings. It was also approved by Mexico's telecom regulator, Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones.

Swift action by IFT, aided by recent regulatory reform by the Mexican government, has created a positive climate for AT&T to invest significantly in Mexico.

Original article

Jaguar: 'Mexico a Strong Option for Land Rover Plant'

Nacha Cattan - Bloomberg.com
go to original
May 1, 2015

Land Rover's Range Rover Vogue and Range Rover Sport are top sellers in the U.S. and could possibly be produced at a new Mexico factory because it would be tied to the U.S. market, ChamaSrour said.

Mexico City - Jaguar Land Rover is considering building a plant in Mexico, following other luxury car makers lured by cheap labor and free trade agreements.

Mexico is a "very strong option" for Jaguar Land Rover to invest in, possibly more than $500 million, said Joseph ChamaSrour, Jaguar director general for the brand in Mexico. "Three years from now it could be interesting to have a plant in North America, and Mexico would definitely be a very strong candidate because of the cost of labor, the logistics and the expertise of the whole supply network," he said in an interview in Mexico City.

Jaguar, owned by India's Tata Motors Ltd., would tread a well-worn path to Mexico, Latin America's top vehicle producer, which has already wooed Germany's premier luxury brands. Last year, BMW AG committed $1 billion to start turning out 150,000 cars in 2019, following Volkswagen AG's Audi and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz in deciding since 2012 to build cars in Mexico.

Last month Toyota Motor Corp., the world's best-selling automaker, said it will spend about $1 billion to begin producing Corollas in 2019 in Mexico, its first car factory in the country as it ends a self-imposed freeze on new plants following the financial crisis. Hyundai Motor Co. may also build a factory in the country, its managing director in Mexico said earlier this month, joining a roster of other Asian manufacturers including Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.

Automakers are flocking to Mexico to take advantage of a low-wage yet highly experienced labor base, and export access to the U.S. and other countries through the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Land Rover's Range Rover Vogue and Range Rover Sport are top sellers in the U.S. and could possibly be produced at a new Mexico factory because it would be tied to the U.S. market, ChamaSrour said. He didn't rule out producing Jaguars at the plant.

Original article

Bank of Mexico Changes How Loan Costs Are Calculated to Spur Competition

laht.com

MEXICO CITY – The Bank of Mexico said Monday it was implementing a series of changes effective Oct. 26 that would make the calculation of the annual percentage rate (APR) on loans more exact and clear, spurring greater competition in lending.

The objective is to “specify, clarify and simplify the methodology for calculating” the APR on loans, as well as the factors that financial companies use in determining and disclosing the total cost of loans, the central bank said in a statement.

Among the rules being implemented is one that requires lenders on automobile loans to include the cost of mandatory collision insurance in the calculation of the APR.

Cash deposits that borrowers are required to provide, as well as commissions charged for securing preferential rates, must be included in the APR’s calculation.

The rules also cover how commissions, insurance premiums and other costs are calculated in the APR, and they list the different factors that must be accounted for in APR calculations, the Bank of Mexico said.

The rules update and change regulations adopted in 2009 in an effort to make the APR “a tool for information and comparisons that can be used by public users of loans made by financial and business entities, as well as increasing efficiency,” the Bank of Mexico said.

BlackRock to invest in Mexico’s Infrastructure

theyucatantimes.com

BlackRock Inc , the world’s largest asset manager, is looking to invest in infrastructure projects in Mexico, according to sources familiar with the situation.

As Mexico has opened up to foreign capital in recent years, BlackRock’s infrastructure investment group sees an opportunity and is setting up a team of specialists to work out of its Mexico City office, said the sources, who wished to remain anonymous because they are not permitted to speak to the media on the record.

A BlackRock spokesman declined to comment.

BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink has declared his affinity for Mexico before. In a blog post on BlackRock’s blog last June, he wrote that Mexico City was one of his favorite cities and encouraged millennials to live there.

“Mexico is finally beginning to unlock its true potential as an economic powerhouse,” he wrote. “Over the next few decades, capital is going to flow more effectively in Mexico, the workforce will become better trained, and it will be easier and easier to do business.”





The Mexican government last year said it planned to raise 7.7 trillion Mexican pesos ($515.46 billion) in infrastructure investment through 2018, but in late January cut its 2015 budget by nearly 3 percent and shelved a $3.75 billion high-speed train tender as part of its austerity measures.

Earlier this month, Mexico’s Finance Minister Luis Videgaray urged the private sector to take a bigger role in billions of dollars worth of planned public works and the opening of the country’s energy sector, weeks after scaling back its own spending plans due to slumping oil prices.

BlackRock has an office with about 30 people in Mexico City as part of its iShares exchange-traded fund business, and is looking to hire investment specialists in Mexico’s infrastructure, the sources said.

The challenge for BlackRock is that many institutional investors, including private equity firm, KKR, are also looking to invest in infrastructure projects in Mexico.

A KKR spokeswoman declined to comment on Wednesday March 25th, 2015.

The sources would not comment on any specific infrastructure projects that BlackRock’s infrastructure investment group is considering. Most recently it has been focused on renewable energy projects in the United States.

BlackRock has an office with about 30 people in Mexico City as part of its iShares exchange-traded fund business (Photo: Yahoo)

 

In February 2015, the New York-based firm announced that a fund managed by its infrastructure investment group had purchased a 50 percent interest in a Deaf Smith County, Texas-based wind farm from EDF Renewable Energy, a power producer that has developed projects in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

BlackRock’s infrastructure investment group has $6 billion in invested and committed assets, $1.5 billion of which is in renewable energy, according to the firm.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/

(REUTERS Reporting by Jessica Toonkel; editing by Linda Stern and Richard Chang)

México: A Preferred Place for Investors

by Murry Page
28 Apr 15
mazmessenger.com

According to a recent survey of 25 countries by the international consulting firm A.T. Kearney, México ranks number 9 of the countries in which investors want to put their money. México moved up from the 12^th position it held in last year’s survey. The survey revealed that México’s approval of major structural reforms boosted the confidence of investors.

The sectors of the Mexican economy that attracts more interest from foreign investors are mainly those related to structural reforms in the energy sector and telecommunications.

The advance in the rate of foreign capital entering the country is due to several circumstances, such as the strong industrial and manufacturing integration with the United States, as well as the monetary policy implemented in México for years.

Ricardo Haneine, partner at A.T. Kearney, said, “Monetary discipline is what has distinguished México and that has given stability and has enabled it to maintain and reduce the volatility that has been in currency markets by the strengthening dollar.”

The confidence index of foreign direct investment for 2015 from A.T. Kearney puts the United States in the lead, followed by China, United Kingdom, Canada,Germany, Brazil, Japan and France.
In the Americas, México is ranked fourth, after the United States, Canada and Brazil.

(from Televisa News)

Tata’s Jaguar Sees Mexico as Strong Option for Land Rover Plant

bloomberg.com

by Nacha Cattan

Jaguar Land Rover is considering building a plant in Mexico, following other luxury car makers lured by cheap labor and free trade agreements.

Mexico is a “very strong option” for Jaguar Land Rover to invest in, possibly more than $500 million, said Joseph ChamaSrour, Jaguar director general for the brand in Mexico.

“Three years from now it could be interesting to have a plant in North America, and Mexico would definitely be a very strong candidate because of the cost of labor, the logistics and the expertise of the whole supply network,” he said in an interview in Mexico City.

Jaguar, owned by India’s Tata Motors Ltd., would tread a well-worn path to Mexico, Latin America’s top vehicle producer, which has already wooed Germany’s premier luxury brands. Last year, BMW AG committed $1 billion to start turning out 150,000 cars in 2019, following Volkswagen AG’s Audi and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz in deciding since 2012 to build cars in Mexico.

Earlier this month Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s best-selling automaker, said it will spend about $1 billion to begin producing Corollas in 2019 in Mexico, its first car factory in the country as it ends a self-imposed freeze on new plants following the financial crisis. Hyundai Motor Co. may also build a factory in the country, its managing director in Mexico said earlier this month, joining a roster of other Asian manufacturers including Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.

Automakers are flocking to Mexico to take advantage of a low-wage yet highly experienced labor base, and export access to the U.S. and other countries through the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Land Rover’s Range Rover Vogue and Range Rover Sport are top sellers in the U.S. and could possibly be produced at a new Mexico factory because it would be tied to the U.S. market, ChamaSrour said. He didn’t rule out producing Jaguars at the plant.

U.S. company plans 1st Mexico-built plane

 

Russian helicopters are among the aircraft on display at this week's fair.

factory in Mexicali

 

 

Mexico News Daily | Friday, April 24, 2015

mexiconewsdaily.com

 

 

Mexico’s first Aerospace Fair this week was the site for the announcement of another first: an airplane to be built entirely in Mexico.

 

United States aircraft manufacturer Spectrum Aeronautical announced it will invest US $300 million in a factory to build one of its executive jets. Construction will begin in two and a half years on the Mexicali, Baja California, plant, whose production is expected to be 200 aircraft per year, said Spectrum CEO Linden Blue.
 
The plane will be an executive model with up to eight seats and a maximum speed of 815 km/h.

During the fair’s opening ceremony on Wednesday, President Enrique Peña Nieto announced that Mexico’s goal is to be in the top 10 in aerospace investment by 2020. The country is currently No. 14 in terms of production and last year the industry generated exports valued at $6.4 billion. The 2020 target is $12.5 billion.

The president observed that aerospace export revenues have increased by 26% compared with 2012, making Mexico the sixth largest aircraft parts supplier to the United States, the world’s largest market, surpassing Brazil, China, Israel and Italy.

Peña Nieto noted there are over 300 aerospace companies in 18 states in Mexico, nearly five times more than there were 10 years ago.

To help meet the country’s growth target, Mexico’s state development bank had an announcement of its own.

Bancomext CEO Enrique de la Madrid said in a statement the bank plans be a part of the aerospace expansion through a financing program to help the industry take off. The new program will be similar to ProAuto, a joint project of the bank and several federal government agencies that provides credit to domestic auto parts firms that supply the auto makers.

De la Madrid said the automotive and aerospace sectors are priorities for the bank although it remains committed to expanding funding and support to all companies involved in manufacturing regardless of sectors.

More firms will be looking to grow because the bank expects a migration of production and investment from China to Mexico in the next few years.

“The reality that exists in Mexico is that the manufacturing sector remains the engine of exports and is an increasingly important player in the supply chain of North America, the world’s largest economic zone,” said the banker.

The Aerospace Fair wraps up tomorrow with an air show. It is being held at the air force base in Tecámac, State of México.
Source: Milenio (sp)
 

- See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/u-s-company-plans-1st-mexico-built-plane/#sthash.42XJuW4N.dpuf

Governor Talks “Straight” with Pulmonia Drivers

by Maureen Dietrich
25 Apr 15
mazmessenger.com

The Governor warned those who put the port at risk would lose their vehicles and their concessions.

In port yesterday for several official events, Sinaloa Governor Mario López Valdez commented on a demand from pulmonia drivers in Mazatlán that they be given the same consideration as taxi companies with respect to selling their services to cruise ship passengers within the cruise ship docking area.

In an agreement reached between the Secretary of Tourism, tour operators, taxi, pulmonia and Auriga drivers last week, taxi companies were given permission to set up a stand within the passenger landing area. Pulmonia and Auriga drivers must stay on the street outside the gates to offer their services.

Pulmonía drivers said they would not take action against the cruise ship tourists nor initiate another blockade as occurred on April 14, but they would protest in front of the Secretary of Tourism offices if their demands were not met.

In reply to the pulmonia drivers’ demands, the Governor said those who put the port at risk would lose their vehicle, their concession and would be brought before the Ministerio Público charged with damaging the destination.

“Be careful,” he warned, adding he did not want to think about anyone putting the port at risk so that all that was fought for so hard is lost.

He is giving notice and wants to be clear, he said, that it was not easy rescuing the port and recovering cruise ship arrivals. He sent a message through the Secretary of Tourism that they would not investigate who was at fault during any conflict that affects the destination and would seize the vehicles, cancel concessions and charge them with damaging the destination.

(from Noroeste)

Mexican President to Visit Mazatlán Next Week

by Maureen Dietrich
25 Apr 15
mazmessenger.com

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto will make this fifth visit to Mazatlán, and his seventh to Sinaloa, next week.

Sinaloa Governor López Valdez announced the President would arrive on Wednesday, April 29. At 11:30am he will inaugurate the Libramiento Mazatlán, the Mazatlán bypass toll road that opened to traffic in December last year.

The road which connects in the north to the Culiacán-Mazatlán autopista and in the east to the Mazatlán-Durango highway includes yet-to-be constructed three kilometer feeder roads to the airport and the city.

The Governor said at the press conference that they now have authorization to construct the airport road.

(from Noroeste)

Goodyear expected to announce new factory

 

The company is nearly as famous for its Blimp as it is for tires.

 

Mexico News Daily | Thursday, April 23, 2015

mexiconewsdaily.com

 

A new US $550-million tire factory will be announced tomorrow in Mexico City, Reuters reported this morning.
 
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company said last May it was planning a new consumer tire plant for North America to serve replacement and original equipment markets in North and Latin America. Initial production capacity was to be six million passenger and light truck/SUV tires per year.
The company declined to comment on the report of tomorrow’s announcement, which came from two sources familiar with the plans, Reuters said.

The factory is expected to be built in the state of San Luis Potosí and begin operating in 2017. It would be the company’s first in North America in 25 years, since it opened a factory in Napanee, Canada, in 1990.

Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, Goodyear has facilities in more than a dozen countries.
Tomorrow’s announcement would be the third in just over one week. Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Company last week announced assembly plants worth $1 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively.

Source: Reuters (en)
 

- See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/goodyear-expected-to-announce-new-factory/#sthash.1ADaPlcc.dpuf

Canada Relaxes Visa Requirements for Mexicans

by Maureen Dietrich
23 Apr 15
mazmessenger.com

Last Tuesday Canada announced new relaxed visa requirements which will allow Mexicans who already have non-immigrant visas for Canada or the United States to enter Canada without the necessity of obtaining further documentation.

The new requirements will go into effect in 2016.

The Canadian government also plans to initiate a website in Mexico for its Electronic Travel Authorization program where travellers can apply for tourist visas on line. The cost of a tourist visa to Canada from Mexico is $100Cdn, or approximately 1,250 pesos.

(from Noroeste)

Mexico moves up in copper production

Buenavista copper mine in Sonora.

Mexico News Daily | Wednesday, April 22, 2015

 

Record copper production last year by mining conglomerate Grupo México propelled Mexico into 10^th place on the list of the world’s top copper producers.

Mexico moved up one from 2013, bumping Indonesia out of the No. 10 spot, with total production increasing 11% to 522,000 tonnes, according to the latest annual copper survey by Thomson Reuters.
 
Grupo México-owned Southern Copper, with operations in Mexico and in Peru, finished the year as the fifth-largest copper producer in the world with output of 665,000 tonnes, the same ranking it held last year.
 
Chile is the world’s biggest producer by far, with production last year totaling 5.7 million tonnes. China was second with 1.6 million.

Southern Copper’s record-breaking output was attributed to the US $1.38-billion investment it made last year in its controversial Buenavista mine in Cananea, Sonora, where a devastating toxic spill took place last August.

The company was fined 23 million pesos for releasing 40,000 cubic meters of copper sulphate solution into two rivers.

Source: El Financiero (sp)
 

- See more at: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mexico-moves-up-in-copper-production/#sthash.237udklU.dpuf

Mexico lures in auto plants

thenews.mx

Car companies are accelerating plans to build factories in Mexico. AP PHOTO/PAUL SANCYA

Labor costs, few tariffs attract foreign business

BY TOM KRISHER AND CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN
The Associated Press

DETROIT – Mexico has become the most attractive place in North America to build new automobile factories, a shift that has siphoned jobs from the United States and Canada, yet helped keep car and truck prices in check for consumers.

In the past two years, eight automakers have opened or announced new plants or expansions in Mexico. Just last week, Toyota announced a new plant in Guanajuato to build the popular Corolla, work now done in Canada, while Ford unveiled plans for Mexican engine and transmission factories.

Low labor costs and fewer tariffs are the swing factors. A worker in Mexico costs car companies an average of $8 an hour, including wages and benefits. That compares with $58 in the United States for General Motors and $38 at Volkswagen’s factory in Tennessee, the lowest hourly cost in the United States, accord- ing to the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank in Ann Arbor, Michigan. German auto workers cost about $52 an hour.

Mexico also trumps the United States on free trade. It has agreements with 45 countries, meaning low tariffs for exporting globally. That, along with low labor costs, convinced Audi to build an SUV factory in the state of Puebla. The German automaker will save $6,000 per vehicle in tariffs when it ships a Q5 to Europe, compared with building the same vehicle in the United States, says Sean McAlinden, chief economist at CAR.

Audi also sells the Q5 in the U.S., where tariffs on cars built in Mexico were dropped under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The cost savings also should allow automakers to add expensive fuel-saving features to meet stricter U.S. government gas mileage requirements without raising car prices. Two-thirds of cars made in Mexico are shipped to the United States.

While Mexico’s auto industry booms and workers welcome the above-average wages, they are speaking out more loudly about working conditions.

Mexican auto production more than doubled in the past 10 years. The consulting firm IHS Automotive expects it to rise another 50 percent to just under 5 million by 2022. U.S. production is expected to increase only 3 percent, to 12.2 million vehicles, in the next 7 years.

Automakers now have 18 factories in Mexico, many built in the past 10 years. In four years, five more will be built, moving the country from the world’s seventh-biggest auto producer to fifth.

The shift means jobs that could have gone to the United States or Canada went south. The number of auto-making jobs in Mexico has risen almost 40 percent since 2008, from 490,000 to 675,000 last year, according to government and industry statistics. During the same period, U.S. auto manufacturing employment grew 15 percent to near- ly 903,000.

Toyota’s new plant will create 2,000 new jobs, while Ford’s $2.5 bil- lion investment will add 3,800 jobs.

For Mexican workers, the plants “originally appear like marvelous places because you can earn a salary in exchange for good work,” says Huberto Juárez, a professor at the Center for the Study of Economic and Social Development at the Autonomous University of Puebla.

Some Japanese automaker plants start workers at 90 to 150 pesos per day, or $6 to $10, Juárez says. Others, such as Volkswagen, have paid more than double that. Juárez says Mexico’s auto-making wages are now below China, but better than Mexico’s minimum wage of $4.50 per day.

There is pressure to improve working conditions at Mexican factories. Last week, three former Mazda factory workers publicly complained of injuries and of being worked longer than legally allowed. A union official announced protests in support.

Even so, Juárez says workers probably will stay put. “The big threat is always going to be unemployment. That’s why they stay. Because you leave there and where are you going to go?”
Initially, automakers with Mexican factories faced quality problems due to an unskilled work force. But companies with longtime factories in Mexico, such as Ford and Nissan, have resolved those issues, according to McAlinden.

Despite shipping costs, it’s still cheaper to build cars for the United States in Mexico, McAlinden says.

A U.S.-built Chevrolet Sonic subcompact costs about $700 more to make than a comparable Mexican-built Ford Fiesta, McAlinden says. That’s even with a labor agreement at the Sonic factory in Michigan that allows 40 percent of the workers to be paid lower wages than longtime union employees.
 

The United Auto Workers complain that companies building in Mexico are taking advantage of “slave-like” wages. “American manufacturing workers could have had good paying jobs that respect basic human dignity,” says UAW President Dennis Williams.

Still, the auto industry’s investments aren’t limited to Mexico. Automakers poured $46 billion into improving U.S. factories from 2010 to 2014. U.S. auto-making employment grew 37 percent during that time.

Ford pointed out that 80 percent of its annual North American investments are in the United States, where spending “will continue at about the same sizable level going forward.”

Car buyers should see benefits from lower costs in Mexico. U.S. government fuel-economy requirements call for raising mileage of the new car fleet to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The technologies needed, including turbocharged engines and multi-speed transmissions, are costly. And with gasoline just over $2 per gallon, buyers don’t want to pay extra. So McAlinden says moving engine and transmission production to Mexico makes sense.

Mexico and Panama Sign Free Trade Agreement

theyucatantimes.com

The presidents of Mexico and Panama signed a free trade deal on Thursday April 2, moving Panama a step closer to joining a regional pact that includes several major Latin American economies.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and his counterpart Ricardo Martinelli concluded the accord in Panama City, one of the prerequisites for Panama joining the Pacific trade alliance, which comprises Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru.

“Signing this trade agreement brings us closer to our wish to be part of the Pacific Alliance,” Martinelli said.

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto (L) and his Panamanian counterpart Ricardo Martinelli (Photo: Reuters)

Panama and Costa Rica are among the Central American nations seeking to enter the Pacific Alliance, which covers more than 210 million people and puts an end to more than nine-tenths of tariffs on goods and services traded between its members.

A senior Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Panama could join the alliance later this year.

According to figures from the Mexican Economy Ministry, total trade between Mexico and Panama was worth just over $1 billion in 2013, the vast bulk of it Mexican exports.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/

Health Department Announces “War” on Illegal Cigarettes

by Maureen Dietrich
22 Apr 15
mazmessenger.com

Illegal cigarette packages sell for 30 pesos and are often on sale for two for 50 pesos.

The south Sinaloa delegate of the State Commission for the Protection against Health Risks (Coepris), Faustino Heredia Niebla, has declared war on businesses selling illegal cigarettes and has asked for help from Culiacán to accomplish the attack.

The delegate’s statement follows an article published yesterday in the Spanish language daily Noroeste newspaper uncovering the sale of illegal cigarettes in Mazatlán in a store a few meters from the Coepris offices.

According to Coepris, smoking illegal cigarettes is even riskier than legal ones due to the fact they are not regulated, and the contents and quantities of chemicals are not known.

In a report issued several weeks ago, the Federal government stated Sinaloa is sixth in the country for the consumption of illegal cigarettes, including Mazatlán. Coepris detected the importation of 80,000 illegal cigarettes in containers in the port in 2012, the largest quantity seized in the history of the country.

In local Mazatlán small tiendas, illegal cigarette packages sell for 30 pesos and are often on sale for two for 50 pesos. Legal cigarette packages sell for between 36 pesos and 47 pesos.

(from Noroeste)

Airlines Continue Expanding Service To & From Mexico

Tim Wilson - GAYPV Magazine
April 20, 2015

Airlines are responding to increasing demand for service to Mexico by widening service options to the country's many destinations. Greater air access contributes to boosting international tourist arrivals.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The news from the airlines regarding Mexico continues to get better. Traditionally the jet set in Mexico have had to do their traveling by bus. Not so great for a short trip to Puerto Vallarta or somewhere else for the weekend.

The most important news is Southwest Airlines announcing last week that they've applied for a new route from Denver, Colorado to Puerto Vallarta. Why the interest in Latin America? Latin America (which includes Mexico) is considered to be one of the most lucrative markets, after Asia, for growth by US airline companies. The market is expected to grow 5% over the next 10 years as compared to only 3% in the U.S. domestic market.

However, it is not all one sided. The Mexican airlines are also finding their way into the US. Mexican carrier Volaris announced April 16, 2015 the launch of new international service connecting the city of Leon in Guanajuato with Los Angeles, California. With four flights a week, the new service is scheduled to initiate operations on June 8, 2015. Volaris is in fact the carrier operating the greatest number of routes between Mexico and the US with 136 routes to 59 outstanding destinations on both sides of the border, and from Leon they operate 40 flights per week.

Conde Nast Traveler indicates VivaAerobus wants to take over the low budget airline market in Latin America. They launched service three times weekly March 28, 2015 from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport to Monterrey and Guadalajara. VivaAerobus flies to three U.S. destinations, in addition to DFW Airport. All this was made possible when VivaAerobus ordered 52 new A320 aircraft in 2013 with 8 available for operation this year.

Mexico's jet set is traveling more. Statistics from Grupo Aeropuerto del Pacifico show from January to March 2015 domestic air arrivals to Puerto Vallarta airport increased 20.7% from 2014. That was more than the increase from international visitors (14.5%). This is only going to get better as Mexico's economy grows.
 

Financial Times Names Mazatlán a “City of the Future”

by Maureen Dietrich
20 Apr 15
mazmessenger.com

The newspaper gathered information on 421 cities on the continent of which 77 were of medium size including Mazatlán.

For the second consecutive year, the British newspaper The Financial Times, one of the most prestigious financial publications in the world, has put Mazatlán among the top ten “American Cities of the Future 2015-2016” in the category of medium sized city with best economic expectations and profitability.

The April 16^th edition positioned the port in second place in Mexico and sixth in Latin America in the category of “Cost Effectiveness.”

The article, which identifies large, medium, small and micro cities with the best economic future in America (including The United States and Canada), gathered information on 421 cities on the continent of which 77 were of medium size including Mazatlán, and evaluated the cities in five categories: economic potential, ease of doing business, lifestyle, cost effectiveness and connectivity.

Mazatlán was positioned second in Mexico along with the city of Durango in cost effectiveness.
The study took into consideration diverse factors favouring Mazatlán, such as average salaries and income, rental costs for offices and industry, the price of electricity, location of four and five star hotels in the central zone, cost of gas, minimum salary, cost of exports and imports, cost of establishing a business, business taxes and exchange rates.

The Financial Times article also highlighted cities along the Corredor Económico del Norte such as Torreón and Saltillo in Coahuila and Ciudad Júarez in Chihuahua.

(from Sectur press release)

And now, Carlos Slim is in the Oil Business

theyucatantimes.com

Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim, who is ranked by Forbes as the world’s second-richest man, reportedly established his own oil company, named Carso Oil & Gas, Mexican media reports said on Wednesday April 15.

The company was formed after shareholders of the subsidiaries of Slim’s industrial conglomerate, Grupo Carso, voted in February 2015 to merge Carso Infraestructura, Construccion y Perforacion and Condumex Perforaciones into Carso Oil & Gas.

According to a report released by the new company, its assets amount to 3.5 billion pesos (approximately 230 million dollars), which are placed in 17.7 million shares.

Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Forming Own Oil Company. (Photo: Google)

Earlier in an interview with Reuters, Slim said that he remains upbeat about the energy reform in Mexico, adding that up to 50 billion dollars should be injected into the sector.

Last year, Mexico completed a major overhaul of its energy sector, effectively ending the state monopoly held by state-owned oil company Pemex and opening the sector for private investors.
Right now, Slim’s core business is related to telecommunication markets in Mexico and Latin America.

Apart from the companies America Movil, Telcel and Telmex, Slim’s main assets include Grupo Carso, which currently controls a number of large-sized Mexican companies.

In January 2015, Slim became the largest shareholder in the parent company of the New York Times newspaper.

Source: http://sputniknews.com