“Yes, there is investment in the country, but it is not enough. It is not reaching all sectors and regions so that there are opportunities for all Mexicans. In the north of the country, national and foreign investments arrive, but they represent about 18% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which added to public investment –which is around 2.5% of GDP– represents just over 20% of GDP. If we want to grow at significant rates every year, investment should be 24%-25% every year, and it has to reach more regions of the country,” he said.
Del Valle considers that Mexico has a series of tools that make it attractive, both for national and foreign investment.
The main one is the Mexico-United States-Canada Agreement (T-MEC)where there is an opportunity to increase the participation of Mexican companies in states on the other side of the border that are currently dominated by European companies and from other regions.
“When we say that we are the main commercial partner of the United States, we do not understand the detail. There are states with a predominant participation of Mexico, such as Texas, Arizona, California, and Colorado, the Midwest with a very important participation of the automotive sector. However, if we go to northwestern united statesMexico’s shares drop dramatically”.
Added to this are some infrastructure works, which although they have focused on transportation in recent years -as is the case of the Mayan Train and Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA)–, also represent the entrance for growth in commercial terms, such as the Transisthmian Corridorwhich is currently taking place in the southeast of the country.
“It is a project for the development of the country in the long term, and I believe that it will be in some way a detonator for the development of the country in the next 30 years,” he said. “You have to understand it as a general infrastructure project; It is not only a train that goes from one place to another, we are talking about infrastructure of industrial parks, ports, railways, which are going to give dynamics to that region”.
On the other hand, the president of the Mexican Business Council considers that there has been proper management of public finances, specifically in the area of debt. However, he considered that there is an area of opportunity for take on more debt for productive purposes. “On the more aggressive or conservative side, I prefer it to be on the conservative side and maintain a very manageable level of debt,” she points out.
Despite these conditions, Del Valle considered that there are still important challenges, such as the construction of a certainty environment in legislative terms, but also in terms of security, both for companies and consumers.
Hence, when referring to the eventual successor to President Andrés Manuel López Obradorthe representative of the private initiative considered a priority a vision of the current situation of the country, as well as its potential.
“Whoever comes later has to be a person aware of the reality of our countryof the great advantages that we have mentioned, and also of the important disadvantages or lags that we live in our country (…) We have the capacity and all the tools to once again make a dynamic Mexico, full of opportunities, reach where nobody has access to other opportunities”, he concluded.