None of the federal government’s approved and proposed constitutional reforms would harm investment in Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday after meeting with more than 200 business leaders at the United States-Mexico CEO Dialogue meeting in Mexico City.
In support of the statement, Sheinbaum and Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters that companies on Tuesday announced plans to invest more than $20 billion in Mexico by 2025. However, most of those investments had previously been announced.
At a news conference at the National Palace, Sheinbaum said the meeting with 240 business leaders was “very good” and emphasized that the government had addressed the business sector’s concerns regarding recently enacted justice reforms as well as a number of reform proposals that have not yet passed Congress, including those aims to dissolve a number of autonomous government institutions.
He also said that there would be ongoing dialogue between the government and the business sector to remove their “doubts” about his government’s policies.
“Your investments are safe in Mexico,” Sheinbaum told the CEOs during a speech at the annual meeting.
Referring to judicial reform, the energy reform proposal currently before Congress and a number of other constitutional bills introduced by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in February, the president said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that “none of these reforms pose a problem for investment in Mexico.”
“What happened was just the opposite. “The rule of law will be strengthened, the national electricity system will be strengthened,” said Sheinbaum.
Investors are particularly concerned about plans to allow citizens to elect all judges in Mexico, including Supreme Court justices. Many investors – and other investors – worry that judges sympathetic to the ruling Morena Party’s legislative agenda will dominate the country’s courts, effectively removing an important obstacle to government power and possibly posing a threat to their investments.
The energy reform proposal seeks to include in the constitution the majority (54%) of the electricity generation market in the Mexican state, a move that could discourage private investment in the sector.
Ebrard hails ‘investment announcement made today’
At the start of the post-CEO Dialogue press conference, Ebrard said that “the investment announcement made today in the presence of President Claudia Sheinbaum” exceeded $20 billion.
The Minister of Economy referred to four investment announcements for 2025.
The Associated Press reported that “most” of the investments announced (or reaffirmed) on Tuesday “are not new, nor are they completely certain.”
For example, Mexico Pacific’s plan to build an LNG plant and export terminal in the Gulf of California in Puerto Libertad, Sonora, “has been in the pipeline since at least 2020, and is still contingent on approval and construction of a cross-border gas pipeline. ,” said AP.
The company’s CEO, Sarah Bairstow, co-chaired the US-Mexico CEO Dialogue on Tuesday and spoke at Sheinbaum’s press conference at the National Palace.
“We’ve had a very constructive dialogue here today, which is very important for the bilateral relationship between the US and Mexico. It was amazing to hear the vision directly from chairman itself around investment in this country and support for these much-needed assets,” he said.
“At Mexico Pacific, we are proud to be developing Saguaro Energía’s LNG facility and accompanying gas pipeline. “This is the largest foreign direct investment into Mexico to date and we have certainly reaffirmed our investment based on the conditions we see here for investment in Mexico,” Bairstow said.
Ebrard said that Sheinbaum delivered a message of “reassurance” to investors at Tuesday’s meeting, and stated himself that “investments in Mexico are safe.”
Sheinbaum: Investment approvals must be accelerated
Sheinbaum told CEO dialogue participants that “starting in January next year, we will create a Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency.”
“In one institution we will centralize everything related to simplifying and digitizing bureaucratic procedures,” he said.
“This will allow investments to become a reality in a matter of months, not two or three years.”
At a news conference, Sheinbaum said that a bill authorizing the creation of the new agency would be submitted to Congress “soon.”
“… One of the reasons why national and foreign investors avoid investing in Mexico is because of delays [completing] bureaucratic procedures,” he said.
“… If we facilitate this, then it’s a huge incentive [for investors]he said.
Sheinbaum also told reporters that the administration outlined its “investment strategy” to U.S. and Mexican business leaders present at the meeting.
“[It includes] housing investment, railway investment, highway investment, port investment,… infrastructure investment in general,” he said.
“… Basically that’s the dialogue. The majority of [business] room was present, as well as Mexican businesspeople… and [there was] a very important representation of United States companies,” he said.
When asked about reviewing – or even renegotiating – the USMCA in 2026, Sheinbaum said he hoped to keep the North American free trade pact as is.
“We have the idea of maintaining the agreement with slight modifications,” he said.
Francisco Cervantes, president of Mexico’s influential Business Coordinating Council, said at the same news conference that Sheinbaum had made it clear he strongly supported investment in Mexico.
“In the vote of the president, the measures to be taken in Mexico have been ratified, and they are [promoting and supporting] investment,” he said.
The new federal government appears determined to take a very proactive approach in seeking new investment in Mexico, as demonstrated by Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O’s recent meeting with the CEOs of JP Morgan and BlackRock.
In the first six months of 2024, foreign direct investment exceeded US$31 billion, a new record for Mexico. The government hopes that even bigger figures may be recorded in the near future as companies act on their investment announcements and other foreign companies are attracted to the country amid the ongoing nearshoring trend.
With reports from El Financiero, El Economista, Reforma and AP
