Mexico’s economy is currently slowing, but Carlos Slim offered an optimistic forecast for the coming years after meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday.
After leaving the National Palace in the historic center of Mexico City, Mexico’s richest man was asked what he thought about the current state of the Mexican economy and the prospects for Latin America’s second-largest market.
“Is a good year coming for Mexico?” asked a reporter.
“Years. Many years. There are still many good years ahead,” said Slim as he slowly left in his car with Business Coordinating Council (CCE) President Francisco Cervantes sitting next to him.
The billionaire in his eighties, owner of companies such as Telcel, Telmex, Sanborns and Carso Infrastructure and Construction, said that the Mexican economy is currently in “good” shape, although growth has slowed this year, and stated that the Mexican economy has “a lot of potential. ”
The economy has “a lot of strength when we start doing more significant things with the United States,” Slim said, referring to joint initiatives such as the Mexico-U.S. semiconductor partnership.
The magnate – currently ranked the 19th richest person in the world, according to Forbes – said that there would be “a lot of private investment” in Mexico in the coming years, and emphasized that 2025 would be a “very important” year because “a lot of private investment” will occur. ” new project will start.
Slim said his company would collaborate with the government on several projects, but did not reveal which projects. When asked whether he would contribute to the construction of the new railway project that Sheinbaum was planning, he admitted that he did not know yet.
#Astillero, column by @julioastillero
Yesterday, the richest man in the country and one of the most relevant people in the world, #CarlosSlim, and the president of the Business Coordinating Council (@cceoficialmx), Francisco Cervantes, visited the National Palace. According to first reports,… pic.twitter.com/3o0KYOg6G5
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Slim enjoyed a close relationship with Sheinbaum and his predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Carso Infrastructure and Construction led the consortium that built a section of the Maya railway during former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term, and also contributed to the construction of Mexico City metro’s Line 12, whose elevated section collapsed in 2021, claiming the lives of 26 train passengers .
Cervantes, the CCE president, told reporters that private and public investment was a major focus of the meeting with Sheinbaum.
“Extraordinary meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum and Engineer Carlos Slim to promote national and foreign investment, create jobs and fight poverty,” he wrote on social media.
“…There are many opportunities ahead for our economy and a good future for Mexico,” Cervantes said.
Sheinbaum: Slim will help ‘increase’ private investment in Mexico
At a morning news conference Wednesday, Sheinbaum said he spoke with Slim “generally” about “how he views this country” and “the importance of private investment.”
“I talked to him about the regional relocation and development programs that we have,” he said, referring to the government’s efforts to attract foreign companies to Mexico and ensure that nearshore investments are spread across the country.
“He was very interested,” Sheinbaum said before describing Slim as “an educated person who was always worth talking to.”
“It was a polite conversation,” he said, adding that the conversation mainly focused on how Slim could help the government “increase private investment … for the development of the country.”
He reiterated that the goal of investment is not only economic growth but also “prosperous development.”
“So it’s been a very good discussion, and the reality is he’s going to help us move forward,” said Sheinbaum, who last week assured Mexican and United States business leaders that their investments in Mexico were “safe.”
Slim predicted in late 2022 that Mexico’s economy would grow rapidly in the coming years as the United States reduces its dependence on Chinese-made products. At the same time, he said that increased investment in manufacturing capacity in Mexico could spur annual economic growth of 6% or higher, nearly double the economic expansion recorded in 2023.
The new federal government appears determined to reduce Mexico’s dependence on Chinese imports by increasing domestic production capacity. Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard recently said that the Sheinbaum administration is considering “how we can reduce all the imports that we have” and aims to “increase what is produced in Mexico.”
With reports from El Financiero, Aristegui Noticias, La Jornada and Milenio