Private investment needs legal certainty so that Mexico continues to be attractive to investors and that these investments generate quality jobs. And, on the other hand, public investment must be a development lever that provides the infrastructure and public services necessary for Mexico to be a more competitive country and to be able to provide social welfare to its inhabitants.
However, public and private investment at the end of 2021 are insufficient to spark economic recovery. The growth rate of investment slowed down over the course of the year, so it is important to monitor whether the evolution of investment in 2022 behaves as a lever for growth or rather as the explanatory component of the stagnation observed in the last two quarters of 2021.
If the efforts of the different levels of government are not channeled to encourage greater private investment, as well as an expansion of public investment as a percentage of GDP, it seems to me that we will be closer to the second scenario than to the first.
Some might argue that the inauguration of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) is a significant step in the use of public resources as a lever for growth, however, investment is only a trigger for economic growth and the generation of quality jobs when fixed capital is used productively.
For these dynamics to take place and have positive effects for the population, it is necessary that the resources be channeled to profitable and productive projects, and in the case of public investment, with high social profitability. Only in this way can an environment with sustained growth be fostered.
In this sense, an airport is an example of the virtuous circle of investment, since large investments are required for its construction, operation and maintenance, and at the same time, they generate jobs (direct and indirect) and create new investment opportunities when these are strategic and are duly planned in their location, connectivity, access and operations.
How can we then determine if the AIFA is a good investment?
On the one hand, there is the pragmatic position. The conception of the New International Airport of Mexico (NAIM) was in response to a public problem, the congestion of the Benito Juárez International Airport (AICM); After the cancellation of the NAIM, the public problem remained, so efforts were channeled -resources, rather- to the restoration and adaptation of the AIFA as a solution to said problem.