by Kelly Simmons, Managing Editor and Senior Writer
Three of Mexico's northern border states, Baja California, Nuevo Leon and Chihuahua, lead the country for productivity. Baja California and Nuevo Leon are in first and second place and Chihuahua has jumped to third from sixth in just one year. The change was announced at a mid-March meeting of the second Congress of Businesses in Chihuahua City.
Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana are still the primary focus for foreign investments in the maquiladora industry in Mexico, according to a recent report in El Norte. 70 percent of the industry is located along the northern border with the United States, offering a growing potential for border communities in the United States to become suppliers or servicers to the billion dollar maquila industry. In Ciudad Juarez there are 258 maquila plants employing 169,927 workers whose gross production is $5 billion, up 26 percent over last year. In Tijuana, there are 517 maquila plants employing 107,925 workers whose gross production is $4.3 billion, up 29 percent over last year.
And the industry continues to grow at a record pace. In early March, Chihuahua Governor, Francisco Barrio inaugurated a new maquila in Ojinaga for the mountain bike manufacturer, RoadMaster. Roadmaster began with an investment of $6 million, created 320 jobs and now has a daily production of 2,500 bicycles. The U.S. based company is now the largest employer in the area.
Meanwhile concerns over the controversy surrounding the recertification of Mexico's drug fighting efforts by the U.S. have been linked to the biggest one day drop in the value of the peso in more than a year, in early March. The peso has been considered overvalued by many, in part because Mexico's rate of inflation is hovering around 25 percent. Indeed a leading economist told a group of El Paso businesspeople recently to expect a devaluation of the peso to at least 9 pesos to the dollar after the national elections in July. It is believed that the predicted slump in the peso value will have a lesser impact on Mexico's economy overall because the economy is growing at a healthy 7.6 percent for the past several months and the government has about $23 billion in foreign reserves. U.S. manufacturers with maquila operations in Mexico are expected to benefit from a decline in the peso due to decreased labor costs and cheaper local materials. A significant drop will mean lean times for retailers in U.S. border communities who depend in part on Mexican shoppers for their business.
Sources: Diario de Juarez, El Norte, El Paso Times