Mexico’s private sector announced 209 FDI projects creating over 99,700 jobs between January and September of 2024, according to the country’s Ministry of Economy. The investments are worth $64b.
Projects are mostly focused on the manufacturing sector which makes up 56% of the FDI intake. Construction takes 12%, commerce 11%, mass media 10% and transport 8%.
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The automotive industry is the most represented within these investments. The main investor nations are the US (46%), Germany (11%) and Spain (8%).
As a new president takes the helm, what is in store for the FDI landscape in Mexico?
Sheinbaum’s softer tone
Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has taken a softer tone regarding the role of foreign investment than her predecessor and mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).
As the ruling Morena party prepared to pass a highly controversial judicial reform that would see all judges appointed through elections, AMLO was clear that the reform was, at least partly, aiming to hurt foreign investors.
“Are [the judges] going to continue defending foreign companies that come to loot, rob and affect the economy of the Mexican people? […] Are they going to continue representing these companies?” he stated.
As worries about what the judicial reform would do to investment confidence rose, Sheinbaum took a softer approach and met with foreign business leaders and investors to assuage their nerves.
“I say this very clearly, be assured that the investments of national and foreign shareholders will be safe in our country,” she added in her inauguration.
Analysts say that there are many signs that Sheinbaum is ready to open the clean energy space. For these efforts to succeed, she will have to contend with the oil industry, the judicial reforms and anti-foreign investor tendencies in her party.
