diciembre 2014 - enero 2015

XII - 20

14I - 20

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Negociospara exportadores

The Lifestyle The Fine Art of Exhibiting

Special FeatureMexico, Dressed to Compete on International Runways

ThE ConsolIDATIon oF InFRAsTRuCTuRE

WoRks In MExICo

Mexico is on the move. Our country has concluded an important transforma-tive cycle that includes 11 structural

reforms. With these profound changes, Mexico is breaking the restraints that have prevented it from reaching its full potential.

Six of these transformative reforms aim to elevate the productivity and competitiveness of our economy, to accelerate its growth. They form a platform that will enable us to drive de-velopment in the coming years.

With the Labor Reform, Mexico ad-vances towards a more efficient and flexible labor market that permits the incorporation of women and young adults. Meanwhile, the Economic Competition Reform establishes clear rules that set competing companies on a level footing and bring down entry barriers to new participants across all sectors.

In the same way, the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Reform encourages effective competition in the sector, enabling Mexico to close the digital gap and integrate more Mexi-cans into the knowledge society. In addition, it

generates great opportunities for new produc-tive investments and latest technologies.

The Tax Reform increases the State’s finan-cial capacity and favors public investment in pri-ority areas for economic activity, such as science, technology, and infrastructure. In its turn, the Financial Reform gives place to the conditions that allow the robust Mexican bank to par-ticipate more actively in the country’s growth, through more credit options and at lower inter-est rates for families and businesses.

Finally, the Energy Reform will allow the par-ticipation of a higher number of companies, thus modernizing the sector with more productive in-vestment and cutting-edge technologies. This en-sures the supply of electricity and hydrocarbons at competitive prices for industries and homes.

The transformative reforms are already a real-ity. Now, the Mexican Government is putting them into action. To do so, we follow an agenda of ac-tions in concrete terms that will allow them to be implemented effectively. By combining the efforts of authorities, the private sector, and citizens, we are building a more prosperous Mexico.

Enrique Peña NietoPresident of the United Mexican States

Table of Contents December 2014 | January 2015

cover feature

The ConsolidaTion of infrasTruCTure Works in MexiCo

From ProMéxico

Special ReportInvestment Envelops

the Energy Landscape in Mexico

Special FeatureMexico, Dressed to Compete

on International Runways

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Premium Knits

Dues

Grupo Industrial Brigitte

Uniformes Unión

Entretelas Brinco

EDC de México

Special Feature: Textile and Footwear Industries

figures

Guest OpinionSmog Slowly Lifting From Mexico City’s

Public Transport

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Mexico’s Partner

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Terminal Marítima Mazatlán

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Aldesa

Katoen Natie

Lintel

Tuscor Lloyds

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The Lifestyle The CompleTe Guide To The mexiCan Way of life

The LifestyleBriefs

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Enrique Norten:The Mexican Who Changedthe Face of Architecture

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A Taste of Mexicoin Barcelona

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ThE FINE ART OF ExhIBITING

Many of Mexico’s contemporary art galleries are rated among the most important in the region and several have an international presence. Each has its own unmistakable voice.

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Five Mexican Spirits to Lift the Spirits

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| Negocios ProMéxico

December 2014 | January 2015

Para exportadores

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Conceptos clavepara incursionar con éxito en nuevos mercados

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Logística: pieza clave del comercio internacional

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Sobre el cumplimiento de las obligaciones fiscalesy el comercio exterior

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La importancia de la banca en el comercio exterior de México

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LA MISIóN: pymes mexicanas con

presencia global

THE NEW MEXICO CITYINTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The most important infrastructure work of the last decades

• The New Mexico City International Airport will contribute to create the identity of Mexico in the 21st Century

• The New Mexico City International Airport is a model that will be the inspiration for future airports

• The biggest airport in Latin America

• The airport will be six times bigger than the actual one with a surface of 4,430 hectares

• 6 runways with triple simultaneous operations

• A terminal building with 550,000 sqm of construction

• 120 million passengers in its last stage

• 1.2 million tons of cargo for 2030

• First international airport in the world with LEED Platinum certi�cation

WHY A NEW AIRPORT?

• It will generate employment

• It will increase the investments

• It will elevate the productivity

• It will strengthen the business environment

• It will allow an equilibrated regional development

De ProMéxico

74 Breves 76 Méxicoen el mundo

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ProMéxiCofrancisco N. González Díaz

Ceo

Karla Mawcinitt BuenoCommunication and image

General Coordinator

Sebastián escalante Bañuelosdirector of publications and Content

[email protected]

Copy Editingfelipe Gómez antúnez

Jorge Morales Becerra contreras

[email protected]

Cover Photoarchive

Negocios ProMéxico es una publicación mensual editada por ProMéxico, Camino a Santa Teresa número 1679, colonia Jardines del Pedregal, delegación Álvaro Obregón, CP 01900, México, DF Teléfono: (52) 55 5447 7000. Portal en Internet: www.promexico.gob.mx; correo electrónico: [email protected]. Editor responsable: Gabriel Sebastián Escalante Bañuelos. Reserva de derechos al uso exclusivo No. 04-2009-012714564800-102. Licitud de título: 14459; licitud de contenido: 12032, ambos otorgados por la Comisión Calificadora de Publicaciones y Revistas Ilustradas de la Secretaría de Gobernación. ISSN: 2007-1795.

Negocios ProMéxico año 7, número XII 2014 | I 2015, diciembre 2014 - enero 2015, se imprimió un tiraje de 13,000 ejemplares. Impresa por Cía. Impresora El Universal, S.A. de C.V. Las opiniones expresadas por los autores no reflejan necesariamente la postura del editor de la publicación. Queda estrictamente prohibida la reproducción total o parcial de los contenidos e imágenes de la publicación sin previa autorización de ProMéxico. Publicación gratuita. Está prohibida su venta y distribución comercial.

ProMéxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of their economic solvency. The institution might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the responsibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when stated otherwise. Although this magazine verifies all the information printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions, inaccuracies or mistakes. December 2014 | January 2015.

download the pdf version and read the interactive edition of

Negocios ProMéxico at negocios.promexico.gob.mx.

ediTorial CounCil

Consejo ediTorial

Ildefonso Guajardo villarreal

francisco de rosenzweig Mendialdua

enrique Jacob rocha

francisco N. González Díaz

embajador alfonso de Maria y campos castelló

Luis Miguel Pando Leyva

francisco Javier Méndez aguiñaga

rodolfo Balmaceda

Guillermo Wolf

Jaime Zabludovsky

Gabriela de la riva

adolfo Laborde carranco

Silvia Núñez García

María cristina rosas González

ulises Granados Quiroz

Karla I. Mawcinitt Bueno

This publication is not for sale.

Its sale and commercial distribution are forbidden.

11

Fromproméxico.

Mexico is destined to be-come a world-class logis-tics platform that facilitates mobility, people-to-people connectivity and trade of

merchandise and services, generating na-tionwide prosperity and growth.

The thrust behind multiple infrastructure projects in the country is a strategic program to accelerate national economic development.

In this regard, the National Infrastruc-ture Plan 2014-2018 provides an historic investment of over 600 billion dollars to expand and modernize 3,000 kilometers of highways and increase our seaport ca-pacity, in order to handle from 280 to 500 million tons a year. This investment also considers the construction, expansion and modernization of 14 airports, includ-ing the new Mexico City International Airport, which will increase its capacity to 120 million annual passengers, among other unprecedented transport and com-munications projects.

Mexico is adding institutional efforts to enhance physical connectivity within the country through the development of

ground-breaking infrastructure projects that bring our communities closer together. National and international connectivity has also been boosted by streamlining trade and customs procedures so that business in our country is increasingly competitive.

In this issue of Negocios, we are proud to share with you the successful results in the development of national infrastructure.

In addition, this issue addresses the textile and clothing industry in Mexico, highlighting its relevance on the inter-national market. Our country is an im-portant exporter of leather goods and footwear, and has developed coordinated strategies with the public and private sec-tor to penetrate new markets. In 2013, Mexico exported more than 6 billion dol-lars in textile products and garments and is now a firmly established supplier of textiles and clothing to the US.

Mexico is renowned for its innovation in design, style and quality. Multiple companies have undertaken high value-added strategies to continue the country’s success in interna-tional fashion showcases. We hope the con-tents of this edition will be of your interest.

Welcome to Negocios!

Francisco N. González DíazCEO

ProMéxico

13

BRIEFS

IT

Chinese information technology equipment and services giant Huawei will invest approximately 1.5 billion usd in the central state of Querétaro, in the construction of four information and communication technology facilities.

The investment will be made over the next five years and will generate over 1,100 jobs. The four centers will be a Global Technical Care Center, a Regional Center for Network Opera-tions, a Regional Innovation Center and a Regional Technical Training Center.

The Innovation Center is already under construction in El Marqués industrial park and is slated to be operational in the second half of 2015.

www.huawei.com

GROWING STRONG IN MExICO

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Mexican high-performance boutique auto maker Vuhl will establish its first manufacturing plant in the central state of Querétaro. The 10 million usd facility is expected to produce chassis, suspensions and do the final assembly of the company’s Vuhl 05 model.

www.vuhl05.com

AUTOMOTIVE

NEW hOME FOR MExICAN SPORTS CAR

US cereal and snack maker Kellogg’s plans investment of ap-proximately 52 million usd in Mexico over the next three years. Resources will focus on the company’s major production plant in the central state of Querétaro, to upgrade areas such as sustainability, productivity, and innovation, and target the healthy-lifestyle market niche.

www.kelloggs.com

FOOD

LONG TERM BET

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BRIEFS BRIEFS

US beverage giant Constellation Brands will build a new cardboard packaging plant in the northern state of Coahuila. The 50 million usd facility will provide packaging for the Modelo beer brand.

www.cbrands.com

MANUFACTURE

US off-road vehicle manufacturer Polaris Industries plans investment of 110 mil-lion usd to expand operational capacity at its production plant in the northeast-ern state of Nuevo León. Expansion is

AUTOMOTIVE

PAINTING A SuCCESSFuL BuSINESS

expected to focus on painting and weld-ing processes for all-terrain and light utility vehicles.

www.polaris.com

uNPACkED INvESTMENT

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AUTOMOTIVE

METALLURGICAL

A WELL LIT PATh TO SuCCESS

ExPLORING NEW OPPORTuNITIES

Austrian automotive lights manufacturer ZKW has a 40 million usd investment underway to build a production plant in the central state of Guanajuato. The site is expected to provide lighting systems

TenarisTamsa, the Mexican subsidiary of Luxembourg-based pipe maker Tenaris, plans investment of approximately 350 mil-lion usd over the next two years. Outlays are intended to boost capacity for produc-tion of steel drilling pipe in the face of an expected increase in deep-water petroleum drilling in Mexico in the coming years.

www.tenaristamsa.com

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AUTOMOTIVE

Italian packaging injection molder EuroPlast is planning to estab-lish a mold-making operation in the central state of Querétaro. At an investment of 2.5 million usd, the facility will produce special-ized molds for the automotive industry.

www.europlast.mx

TARGETING IN MExICO

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US plastic injection molder Technimark inaugurated a new 5 million usd process plant in the central state of Guanajuato. The site –the company’s third in Mexico– will provide molding processes for rigid packaging.

www.technimark.com

PLASTICS

TEChNIMARk OPENS NEW PLANT

Mexican-US auto parts manufacturer Sistemas Automotrices de México (Sisamex) inaugurated a Technological and Human De-velopment Center in the northeastern state of Nuevo León at a cost of approximately 7 million usd. The laboratory complex is planned to develop innovations for the company’s product line of axle and brake components.

www.sisamex.com.mx

AUTOMOTIVE

INNOvATING ThE FuTuRE

for regional OEMs such as Volkswagen, General Motors, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Volvo and Audi.

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Italian renewable energy developer Enel Green Power has completed and connect-ed to the grid its new wind farm Dominica I in Mexico.

The power plant is located in the mu-nicipality of Charcas, San Luis Potosí, and owned by Dominica Energía Limpia, a subsidiary of Enel Green Power Mexico. It is the first operational wind farm in the state of San Luis Potosí.

With a total installed capacity of 100 MW, Dominica I comprises 50 wind tur-bines of 2 MW each and is capable of gen-erating up to 260 GWh per year.

Construction of the wind farm re-quired a total investment of around 196 million USD. The project is supported by two long-term PPAs for the supply of ener-gy, worth a total of about 485 million USD.

This wind farm has enabled Enel Green Power to reach an installed capacity in Mexico of nearly 300 MW, whilst another 200 MW are currently under construction with the Sureste and Dominica II plants.

www.enel.com

RENEWABLE ENERGY

ENEL GROWS WITh ThE WIND

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When you think about the San Diego-Ti-juana region, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. This area has an exten-sive binational business community that includes a growing number of cross-bor-der partnerships, joint ventures and alli-ances. San Diego’s thriving wireless tele-communications, software and biotech-nology sectors, along with Tijuana’s large number of world-class manufacturing facilities, create the perfect link between R+D and manufacturing.

Cross-border infrastructure is also blooming: expanded natural gas linkages will soon provide a cleaner, cost effective energy supply, and the new Binational Ter-minal connecting Tijuana’s international airport to San Diego is expected to start operations in 2015.

Taking a closer look at Tijuana, El Florido Master Plan stands out. Its loca-

INFRASTRUCTURE

A REGION LIkE NO OThER

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Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Li-te-On will invest 12 million USD to es-tablish a production plant in the western state of Jalisco. The plant is expected to produce components for vehicle naviga-tion systems.

www.liteonit.com

ELECTRONICS

A BuSINESS WITh CLEAR DIRECTION

German freight shipper DHL Express car-ried out an expansion of its domestic air freight hub in the central state of Queré-taro at a cost of approximately 14.5 mil-lion usd. The expansion will allow DHL Express to increase its capacity at the dis-tribution center by 250%, to meet growing demand driven by the region’s aerospace and automotive industries.

www.dhl.com

LOGISTICS

GROWING AT CRuISE SPEED

tion is only a 15-minute drive from the Tijuana-San Diego border and it has a population of 150,000 inhabitants. Many housing developers have chosen the area, which now has over 35,000 houses, where factory line workers and supervi-sors live. The availability of a diversified labor force is plentiful.

El Florido’s newest industrial area, La Encantada Industrial Park, has companies like Precision Dynamics, RSI, Ryerson, Al-legion and Smiths. In 2015, Essilor and G-Box will begin their manufacturing op-erations on site. La Encantada Industrial

Park offers state-of-the-art infrastructure and services. Complete build-to-suit capa-bilities as well as full support in the pro-cesses of obtaining licenses and permits are backed by 25 years of experience. A turn-key project with high-end tenant improve-ments is delivered in six to eight months from planning to completion. Environ-mental integrity, economic viability and fantastic connectivity make La Encantada Industrial Park an important factor to con-sider when looking for a competitive edge.

florido.com

AUTOMOTIVE

Chinese metal caster IKD Auto Products and Mexican zinc and aluminum alloy specialists Faeza Alloyers are teaming up to establish a new process plant in the central state of Guanajuato. The 9 mil-lion usd first stage of the operation is planned to produce small cast parts for automotive OEMs.

www.ikd-china.com

www.faeza.com.mx

STRONG AS STEEL PARTNERShIP

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Negocios ProMéxico |

18 December 2014 | January 2015



INvESTMENT ENvELOPS ThE ENERGy LANDSCAPE IN MExICOthe recent energy reform has changed the face of the Mexican power sector. the gateways to the power generation, transmission, and distribution markets have been flung open, and investment from private companies is expected to start flooding in.

Mexico’s new energy landscape features the prominent presence of renewable energies and the Mexican government is swift to confirm its commitment to a 35% of clean energy power generation by 2024. Additionally, the government’s National Infrastructure Program 2014-2018 aims for an efficient interconnec-tion of clean technologies to the national energy grid. The modernization and development of the grid’s transmission lines is expected to further evolve the de-velopment of renewable energy genera-tion projects.

According to Mexico’s Energy Re-form: A Game Changer in the Nation’s History –a recent publication by law firm Goodrich Riquelme y Asociados– proj-ect investments from the private sector could reach 27% of overall investment in the Mexican energy sector, and pri-vate investments that originate from the structural reforms are expected to reach 20 billion usd annually between 2015 and 2018. The study also predicts that by 2018, these investments will represent 15% of the energy sector’s total invest-ment capital.

While the finer details of the Energy Reform were being ironed out, several projects in the energy sector were put on hold. Francisco González, ProMéxi-co’s CEO, has stated that trend is due to change over the next two years. As new projects start to materialize, he expects that 80% of them will be in the wind

by wallace porter* and michelle adams**

Special reportSpecial report

electricity tariffs in the country, an am-bition that will depend on the constant participation of private entities. Another player that will help to make that vision a reality is InterGen, a company that signed a contract in February to sup-ply gas generated electricity from its La Rosita thermoelectric plant to Baja Cali-fornia’s water commission. In the same state, IEnova –the company responsible for the operation of the Energía Costa Azul LNG storage plant– is developing the Energía Sierra Juarez wind farm. That project will require an investment of 300 million usd during its construc-tion stage, and is poised to become the largest wind energy development in the state.In April 2014, IEnova announced that it will sell 50% of the project to In-terGen, an initiative that is still being as-sessed by regulators from both countries. Energía Sierra Juárez’s commitment to Mexico’s goal of reducing emissions is clear since it is estimated to prevent 1.5 million tonnes from being released into the atmosphere every year.

The participation of international players will continue to play an impor-tant role in the Mexican energy market. Private banks, in particular, are aware of the future that those companies hold in the wind energy sector, especially consid-ering that the rules of the market have changed. In anticipation for Open Sea-son II, Santander México has formed a joint venture with Spanish wind park de-veloper Gamesa Corporación Tecnológi-ca and is aiming to build wind parks with an installed capacity of 500 MW in Oaxaca. That effort will consolidate the partnership as the largest private investment group in the sector and will strengthen Santander México’s position in the energy market.

For Actis Capital, it is important to assess the macro-level elements of a country prior to making an investment decision. According to Michael Har-rington, Actis Capital’s Director of En-ergy for Latin America, one of Mexico’s advantages is its competitive installation costs. The cost of installing a wind farm is roughly 2 million usd per megawatt, whereas the cost in other Central Ameri-can markets can approach 3 million usd. Michael Till, Co-Head of Energy at Actis Capital, commented that, backed by the Energy Reform, Mexico has developed compelling fundamentals for investing

sector, 15% in solar, and the rest will be distributed between biomass, geother-mal, and hydroelectric. González also stressed that most companies that nego-tiated projects prior to the Energy Re-form had already anticipated the arrival of that legislative change. Despite the un-certainty caused by the Energy Reform process, significant financial resources have been allocated in 2014. According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance study, this year investment in Mexico’s renewable energy sector will surpass the 2010 record of 2.4 billion usd. During the first half of 2014, investment reached 1.3 billion usd; a significant figure, con-sidering that last year’s entire investment only amounted to 1.6 billion usd. This year is destined to be a record breaker, with Mexico and Central America ex-pected to install 1 GW of wind capacity, surpassing the 757 MW record of 2012. The figure is likely to leap to 1.3 GW in 2015 and 2016, while solar installations in the region are expected to increase to 193 MW in 2015 and 355 MW in 2016. The new landscape offers boundless op-portunities to the private sector, and it is through the eyes of the private sector that we can gather whether those goals are within easy reach.

The investment stemming from the private sector flaunts an international profile, with companies arriving from the US, Spain, Denmark, and China. The Spanish energy giant Iberdrola recently announced an investment of 5 billion usd to be allocated between 2014 and 2018. According to Eduardo Andrade, Corporate Director of Iberdrola México, the financial resources will be designated to the generation, transportation, and distribution of energy. Andrade stated that Iberdrola will continue to focus on Mexico due to a certainty that exists in the country, and because the market is gaining momentum continuously. As the largest private energy generator in Mexico, Iberdrola –with support from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)– intends to direct 270 million usd toward a 300MW combined cycle plant in Ensenada, Baja California. The elec-tricity generated by that plant will be delivered directly to CFE for 25 years, as stated in the agreements. Baja Califor-nia’s governor, Francisco Vega de Lama-drid, has declared that Baja California is striving to provide the most competitive

photo courtesy of gamesa

21





photo courtesy of gamesaSpecial report Special report

According to Mexico’s Energy Reform: A Game Changer in the Nation’s History –a recent publication by law firm Goodrich Riquelme y Asociados– project investments from the private sector could reach 27% of overall investment in the Mexican energy sector, and private investments that originate from the structural reforms are expected to reach 20 billion usd annually between 2015 and 2018. The study also predicts that by 2018, these investments will represent 15% of the energy sector’s total investment capital.

in power generation, an evolving and supportive regulatory framework, and a deep project finance capacity.

The certainty provided by the new framework has also sparked an interest in non-traditional renewable sources. Reykjavik Geothermal started pursuing Mexico after finding out about the gov-ernment’s aforementioned commitment to include 35% of renewable sources in its energy mix by 2024. Geothermal energy could play an important role in the fulfillment of that objective, as is evidenced with the drafting of second-ary legislation of the Energy Reform aimed at facilitating the development of that energy source. One of the main rea-sons why the utilization of the country’s geothermal potential of approximately 9GW has not been optimized was the absence of such legislation. Mexico has the fourth largest installed geother-mal capacity in the world at 964.5MW, which proves that energy source still has substantial development potential. Reykjavik Geothermal formed a joint venture with Mexxus Drilling, a lead-ing Mexican geothermal drilling services provider with experience in supporting CFE’s geothermal activities including Los Humeros and Cerro Prieto, which are two of Mexico’s four geothermal plants. The joint venture, Mexxus RG, was created without any concessions in mind or in place. However, CFE award-ed it a concession to develop a geother-mal project in Ceboruco, Nayarit, which will be the first geothermal IPP conces-sion in Mexico.

While the legislative shortcomings have been taken care of, financing con-tinues to be the biggest challenge for the

nology Fund. The model will allow the installed capacity of the project to be ex-panded from its initial 30 MW to an ad-ditional 200 MW for the year 2020. The involvement of IDB, as well as the flexibil-ity of SENER and Nafinsa, indicates that the new legislation for geothermal energy is creating confidence among investors, in spite of the inherent risks involved in these projects.

The allocation of monetary resources, as well as the participation of international heavyweights in the first year following the en-actment of the Energy Reform, is aligned with the legislation’s paramount goal of attracting capital. Nevertheless, Mexico’s steep climb to achieve the targets set out by the General Cli-mate Change Law will be arduous. Backed by the Energy Reform, and with the support of experienced players in the private sector, the

task appears to be a little less overwhelming. Mexico’s transition to a dynamic renewable energy market should be swift and hopefully it will increase the country’s competitiveness and industrial capacity. N

* Senior editor of Mexico Energy & Sustain-

ability Review.

** editor of Mexico Energy & Sustainability

Review.

development of geothermal energy. Chris McCormick, Director of Strategy and Project Finance for Reykjavik Geother-mal, explains that the exploration phase alone requires an investment of approxi-mately 5 million usd for each well and that building a plant can cost up to 4 mil-lion usd per megawatt. That compares to roughly 1 million usd per megawatt for a combined cycle natural gas plant. Fortu-

nately, Mexico has the ability to diversify development risk, enabling the creation of financial structures that facilitate devel-opment. Nacional Financiera (Nafinsa), Münich RE, IDB, and the Ministry of Energy (SENER) are aware of this condi-tion and have developed a risk mitigation strategy to cover it. SENER and Nafinsa will head the risk mitigation program with funds from IDB and the Clean Tech-

The participation of international players will continue to play an important role in the Mexican

energy market. Private banks, in particular, are aware of the future that those companies hold in the

wind energy sector, especially considering that the rules of the

market have changed.

23





photos archiveGuest opinion

The Mexican Institute for Competitive-ness (IMCO) reports that an estimated 3.3 million man hours a day are lost due to the traffic, since many of the city’s workers spend up to four hours a day in the commute. Cars also generate 18% of the capital’s CO2 emissions and lead to 24,000 deaths a year nationwide on top of 14,000 more from poor air quality. In the last twenty years, the vehicle park in Mexico has doubled to around 3.5 mil-lion but 32% of these are over 20 years old and 11% have no emission control mechanisms. Some analysts suggest that combined externalities across Mexico’s five largest cities cost the country about 4% of GDP.

One statistic is actually misleading: 20% to 30% of the 22 million trips made a day in Mexico City are made by car, says Guillermo Calderón Aguilera, General Director of the Mexico City Metrobús, while 70% to 80% are made by public transportation. However, cars take up around 80% of the roadways, leading to a disproportionate impact on the city’s mobility. Furthermore, UN Habitat finds that 66% of transportation spending in the city has been dedicated to improving infrastructure for cars, in-cluding the second floor of the Periférico –the capital’s main ring road.

To compound the situation, the mas-sive part of the population that is using public transport is not exactly enthused at it. IMCO statistics report that 90% of users say that on the whole, public transport is uncomfortable, 80% see it as unsafe and 70% think it is too slow. However, it is time to fight back.

Many public transport options in Mexico concern privately owned mi-crobuses that operate solo, with little supervision as to maintenance and se-curity, and that account for many traffic accidents. Those also tend to congregate along Mexico City’s busiest commuter routes. It is estimated by Mexico City’s authorities that 43% of these microbuses congregate on the city’s 10 most popular routes. That leads to significant worsen-ing of congestion, given the hop-on hop-off nature of these vehicles.

The local government has been taking active steps for the last decade to move Mexico City toward a model of urban mobility. In so doing, it has built five lines for the Metrobús, designed a mas-sively successful system of public bicycles

named Ecobici, and is expanding these two along with its metro to provide as many people as possible with an efficient and sustainable journey from home to work and back again.

Mexico City’s vision of urban mobil-ity has been developed through collabora-tion with international bodies such as the Institute for Transportation and Develop-ment Policy (ITDP). Calderón Aguilera describes the pyramid of transportation in the city as being inverted. “Right now, cars are at the top of the pyramid, getting the lion’s share of transportation spend-ing, despite accounting for a minority of commuters. Meanwhile, pedestrians, who should be at the top, are at a disadvantage as they have trouble navigating a city de-signed for cars to move with ease.”

The pyramid, as he described, was part of a new mobility law announced in July 2014. That law guarantees the right to mobility to Mexico City residents, which might sound rather ineffectual if it was not matched by a consolidation of transport operators. It creates a regula-tory body that will oversee all transport operators from January 2015, ensuring that new bus, metro, BRT and Ecobici ex-pansions are part of one united transpor-tation roadmap for the capital.

That is why the Metrobús has been a runaway success. Occupying a dedicated lane of traffic on each route it uses, the Metrobús vehicles are comfortable, clean and safe. Calderón Aguilera, who has headed up Mexico City’s Metrobús sys-tem since its inception almost 10 years

ago, lists its accomplishments. “Our mis-sion was to get cars off the road, reduce CO

2 emissions and provide people with a safer and faster way to get around. We have succeeded in all of those. Since 2005, the Metrobús’ expansion to five lines has taken over 1,300 microbuses off the roads and has reduced the time of the average commute along its routes by 40%. Furthermore, 17% of our users are car owners who make the conscious decision to leave their cars at home and use Metrobús to get to work. That means 150,000 less car journeys a day.”

With 105 kilometers of dedicated road across five lines and a sixth to be added in 2015, Metrobús is growing. It carries 900,000 passengers a day and estimates that just one of its articulated buses carries the passengers that would otherwise take up 126 cars. So go the statistics for Metrobús’ passenger num-bers –but the impact of the chosen ve-hicles is equally influential.

The Metrobús was the first public transport system to implement Euro III, IV, and V in Latin America, and any heavy vehicle manufacturers wishing to bid for Metrobús spots must fit the city’s require-ments for emissions reductions, including the use of exclusively ultra-low sulfur die-sel. So far, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Scania, Dina, and MAN are the companies whose buses trundle along the Metrobús routes. By 2018, Metrobús aims to reach 200 ki-lometers of coverage city-wide.

However, for all of those efforts, Me-trobús cannot do it all alone. Another

success story has been that of Ecobici, which Tanya Müller, Secretary of Envi-ronment for Mexico City, says greatly en-couraged public participation in sustain-ability. “One of the elements that have the biggest impact on quality of life is the time it takes to commute. Mexico City, as a whole, saw an increase of 40% in the use of bikes in the last couple of years. Ecobici alone saw an increase of 50% in its total users in 2013. There is a predis-position among residents to change their transportation habits, as long as they can do so efficiently and safely.”

Meanwhile, the metro remains the central pillar of the city’s urban mobil-ity system. With 12 lines winding their way through 226.5 km of track connect-ing 195 stations and carrying 4.4 million passengers a day, one might think it is well equipped to service Mexico City’s needs. Yet it is only the eighth biggest metro in the world, smaller than Madrid or Berlin.

Finally, for those commutes that re-quire shuttling outside of Mexico City, the long proposed light rail line from Mexico City to Querétaro would help alleviate growing road traffic in that di-rection. That has been one of the pledges on the transportation agenda of President Enrique Peña Nieto. With a cost estimate of 3.75 billion USD, the high-speed rail-way would ideally carry 23,000 passen-gers a day, leading to 18,000 cars being taken off the road.

The public sector efforts have certain-ly been the backbone of the city’s trans-port reform. However, they have been matched by increasing efforts from the private sector. For example, 2014’s trans-port wunderkind, Uber, first rolled out into Mexico City streets in June and has made its usual splash. Car-sharing service Carrot has also put up pick-up points around the city but has so far not had a massive impact on carpooling.

Consistent and ongoing funding –pub-lic and private– transportation and mobil-ity projects is a concern. Those are some of the efforts transforming Mexico City’s image from a city beleaguered by transport and pollution problems into one which is determined to break their back. The likes of Beijing or Tehran might do well to take a page out of Mexico City’s books. N

*Senior editor of Mexico Automotive Review.

** editor of Mexico Automotive Review.

Guest opinion

SMOG SLOWLy LIFTING FROM MExICO CITY’S PUBLIC TRANSPORTIBM’s 2011 commuter Pain Survey rated Mexico city as the most painful city for commuting. this situation has now risen to such a level that people will actually avoid trips altogether when possible due to the traffic. of course, that is not possible for the more than 22 million trips taken a day by the residents of Mexico city. However, the public and private sector efforts have been very important to the city’s transport reform.

by chris dalby* and mariana palacios**

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cover featurecover feature

ThE CONSOLIDATION OF INFRASTRuCTuRE WORkS IN MExICOthe Ministry of communications and transportation (Sct) is making headway in the construction of a modern Mexico. With the addition of initiatives and the joint efforts of all sectors, the country is being pushed forward and established as a high value-added global logistics platform that influences national and international markets.

by ministry of communications and transportation (sct)

The Federal Government is executing a program of highly ambitious works aimed at establishing a vital strategic connectiv-ity that boosts the country’s growth and economic development. Infrastructure de-velopment impacts the economic momen-tum of Mexico, leveraging its privileged geographic position.

The government’s commitment is to consolidate infrastructure as an effective lever to spur national development, which is a necessary step on the way to transfor-mation. Data from the SCT indicate that from 2013 to 2018 private investment will climb to more than 800 billion pesos to clinch infrastructure projects or finish those already started.

On land, on the coasts, in the skies and even in space, Mexico is flying into the fu-ture with a number of infrastructure works that will bring about enhanced social inte-gration and improved living conditions.

The addition of kilometers to the net-work of highways, major roads, bridges and rural roads across the country and the development of airspace projects with the building of new airports or putting satel-lites in orbit, will be common goals. Fur-thermore, the movement of cargo in ports and providing Wi-Fi connectivity in public places nationwide leads to more and better services.

The SCT has identified more than 1,500 strategic infrastructure projects to develop in the 2,440 municipalities around the country. Infrastructure proj-ects are already underway in more than 70% of Mexico’s municipalities, among them the construction of 46 new highways and 90 major roads. This represents more than half of what has been achieved in the history of the country, with the develop-ment of more than 3,000 kilometers of

federal government will be a symbol of identity and reference in the 21st century. This project is vital to the country, and once in operation will move 120 million passengers a year, with the consequent eco-nomic spillover.

Another great project to move Mex-ico is the recovery of passenger trains to transport millions of people. Particularly important in this respect are the Mexico-Toluca (Estado de México) and Mexico-Querétaro railroad lines and the electric train linking Guadalajara, Jalisco and the Metro of Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Furthermore, there is the commitment to provide Wi-Fi connectivity in 250,000 public sites including schools, hospitals, libraries, cultural buildings and others, to

The National Infrastructure Program 2014-2018 being developed in the country is the most ambitious project in the history of Mexico. President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has so far completed nine highways, 12 major roads, 1,467 rural roads and service roads.

roadways, as well as the launching of eight railroad lines, three of which will be high speed.

The National Infrastructure Program 2014-2018 being developed in the country is the most ambitious project in the history of Mexico. President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has so far completed nine highways, 12 major roads, 1,467 rural roads and service roads.

These infrastructure works amount to 19,269 kilometers that will enrich the national road network. They involve an investment of close to 106 billion pesos and will generate more than 600,000 jobs. Among the infrastructure works that have been developed are:

Mexico-Tuxpan Corridor. The current administration finished this road 20 years after it was started. It crosses the Sierra Norte of Puebla reducing road time to 2 hours 45 minutes. With these new roads, the port of Tuxpan has become the closest port to the center of the country.J Caborca-Sonoyta Highway. With the

modernization and expansion of traf-fic lanes, this road crosses the desert of Altar. It is the only road that connects to the northwest of the country.

J Jerez-Tlaltenango Highway. This road is in Zacatecas and communicates the north with central Mexico connecting with the Torreón-Guadalajara road.

J Texcoco-Calpulalpan Highway. Com-municates the center of the country with the Gulf of Mexico making it eas-ier to get around and increasing road safety for users.

J La Laguna Northern Bypass. Com-municates strategically with the coun-try’s northern border. This road has increased the region’s communication and boosted productivity.

J Palenque Airport. Modern terminal with the capacity to receive 300 thou-sand passengers a year.

J Lázaro Cárdenas Port. A new contain-er terminal has been modernized and equipped to increase its cargo capacity by 50%.

J Resurfacing Works in Cancún, Quin-tana Roo. Around 75 kilometers of 109 streets were resurfaced in order to boost tourism in Cancún, Quintana Roo. An additional 300 kilometers of farm roads have been built to support the region’s inhabitants.In addition to these works currently in

the process of completion, the new Inter-national Airport of Mexico City (AICM) will be built; the emblematic work of the

photo courtesy of sct

bring technology and information into all corners of the country. The goal for 2014 has already been surpassed with 65,000 sites connected.

These actions support the nation’s growth and competitiveness by invigorat-ing all commercial activities. Thanks to the constitutional reforms pushed by this administration, Mexico has huge growth opportunities. Continuing with the invest-ment program and carrying out the infra-structure works will bolster the country’s economic activity and development. The commitment is to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. Thus, in today’s Mexico, the far-sighted works of the SCT converge to unite horizons and shape the destiny of millions of Mexicans. N

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photos courtesy of tmaz Mexico’s PartnerMexico’s Partner

In just over three decades in Mexico, SAAM Group has invested nearly 200 million usd in the three ports it operates in the country, where its services include containers, general and bulk cargo, shipping, customs clearance and software specialized, among others.

Terminal Marítima Maza-tlán has the capacity to oper-ate 200,000 TEUs per year. In less than two years, it has moved around 30,000 TEUs per year, with annual growth of up to 20%.

“We can do customs clear-ance, cross-docking; we have yards for bulk storage [...] we move steel, copper, and as this port was previously for the automotive sector, we are able to move cars,” adds Chávez. “Our main activities are steel imports and the export of basic commodities from the region. We have specialized warehouses for handling steel of up to 5,000 square meters, which means loading can be carried out very efficiently without damaging the mate-rial. That’s part of the added value we offer in the north of the country,” he explains.

The terminal holds envi-ronmental certifications and is working to obtain ISO 9000 and 14000, which are focused

TERMINAL MARíTIMA MAzATLáN, A GATEWAY TO ThE ASIAN MARkETthe chilean-funded company has been operating since 2012 in the port of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, a state with nearly 650 km of coastline on the Pacific ocean.

by antonio vázquez

In just two years, the Termi-nal Marítima Mazatlán in Sinaloa has become one of the most important seaports run by the Chilean group SAAM, and one of the main ports for imports and exports in different sectors of the Mexican economy.

In 2011, the Port Author-ity of Mazatlán (API in Span-ish), an organization that works with the government of Mexico for the operation of this port in Sinaloa –a state that has more than 650 kilometers of coastline on the Pacific Ocean– launched a bid

that the SAAM group, a Chil-ean corporation expert in port activities, vowed not to let go.

“We saw an opportunity to expand SAAM’s participation in Mexico. There were several elements that came together: the need for participation, the bid that was launched and the Mazatlán-Matamoros (Tamau-lipas) logistics corridor which, if viewed on a map, is a short-er way to reach China and the eastern US, which makes for a very attractive business potential at the macro level,” says Miguel Chávez, CEO of Terminal Marítima Mazatlán.

The time was ripe for the Chilean company. With over 16 years of operations in the country, at the front of termi-nals in Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico and Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán, SAAM Group decided to invest heavily in Mazatlán, reflected in qual-ity facilities and equipment, in order to export mainly to Asian markets.

The Chilean firm has in-vested nearly 30 million USD in Mazatlán, which has been earmarked for the purchase of mobile cranes, reconstruction of a wharf, construction of ac-

cess routes, acquisition of port control systems and equip-ment, obtaining quality and environmental certifications, and the recovery and design of an electrical network.

The Chilean company is the largest port operator in Latin America, with 11 sites in the region and one in Miami, Florida. In just over three decades in Mexico, SAAM Group has invested nearly 200 million USD in the three ports it operates in the country, where its services in-clude containers, general and bulk cargo, shipping, customs clearance and software spe-cialized, among others.

Chávez stresses that the SAAM terminal in Mazatlán is the only one of its kind, offering a comprehensive service to each of its clients in an area of over 16 hectares which today is ready to oper-ate its various services.

on quality and environmental friendliness.

“Mazatlán is also one of the safest areas of the country. There is a very positive outlook in that regard and part of our plan for 2015 is to demonstrate the potential that exists for of-fering first world freight services from here,” reveals Chávez.

Over a period of about three years, Terminal Marítima Mazatlán intends to grow its operating capacity to establish itself as the primary operating port offering services to seven states in northern and north-eastern Mexico.

“We are focused on growth in the north and northeast. We are seeing the possibility of attracting au-tomotive industries from the Bajío region, expanding our services and providing logis-tics solutions to virtually any industry,” concludes Miguel Chávez. N

www.tmaz.com.mx

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Mexico’s Partnerphotos archiveMexico’s Partner

panies to migrate information related to their transportation operations to a single platform so they can better manage their fleets, merchandise and global trading operations, thereby providing greater cer-tainty as regards their supply chains and the transportation and storage of their goods.

Like its founder, Tsol blurs the borders of North America. “My Mexican engineers are helping implement solutions in the US for Mexican and American companies,” says Markeset.

Tsol also exports know-how to South America, mostly Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. Its most recent suc-cess story, covered by Inbound Logistics magazine in its Sep-tember 2014 issue, involved Yobel, a Peruvian logistics service provider with opera-tions in over a dozen South American countries.

Yobel chose HighJump’s Warehouse Advantage system to manage and control its stor-age operations. Every month, the company handles 15 mil-lion units that need to be sent to some 70,000 geographical locations in Latin America.

After working closely with Tsol and HighJump, Yobel de-cided to enter into an alliance with them to meet the logistics needs of its South American customers.

GrEEn PAsTurEsMarkeset has found in Mexico an ecosystem conducive to the development of its business. Not only are there ample opportuni-ties to be had in the technologi-cal sector, but the country has human capital trained to imple-ment logistics systems.

“Globally, we compete with companies that work out of India and tend to be cheap, but we also compete with American companies whose services are more ex-pensive,” he says.

Tsol is an excellent ambas-sador for a country that wants the rest of the world to view it as a stable economy with fertile ground for the develop-ment of businesses. “Technol-ogy can help show foreign companies that are considering investing in Mexico that we have access to cutting-edge systems,” says Markeset.

Mexico has done its part to optimize logistics tasks: in-frastructure is being developed and the training of human capital promoted. Technol-ogy, insists Markeset, allows companies to be more efficient when it comes to processes as complex as the transportation of goods and inputs, allowing

Mexico has done its part to optimize logistics tasks: infrastructure is being developed and the training of human capital promoted. Technology, insists Markeset, allows companies to be more efficient when it comes to processes as complex as the transportation of goods and inputs, allowing them to reduce both the cost and the environmental impact of transportation.

them to reduce both the cost and the environmental impact of transportation.

Tsol is seeking to step up its participation in the auto-motive supply chain in Mex-ico. According to Markeset, manufacturers are coming here in the understanding they will find the local suppliers and complex logistics services they need to guarantee the delivery of valuable supplies on time.

There should be some great business opportunities in the retail and e-commerce indus-tries in the future, says Marke-set. “Now that we’re emerging from the crisis and recession, we’re seeing a change in com-panies that were previously

reluctant to invest in technol-ogy. In 2013, we saw improve-ments. We did better in 2014 and 2015 is looking promising. We’re seeing an evolution in the thinking of Mexican com-panies as regards technology, particularly among profession-als in the logistics business.”

With Mexico about to enter a new free trade agreement –the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)–, Markeset is confident new win-dows of opportunity will open up in Latin American economies where there are still fiscal barri-ers that make it difficult for tech-nological companies like Tsol to export their services. N

tsolco.com

TSOL, EVERYThING UNDER CONTROLIf smart systems have become essential to our daily lives, how much more so must they be to industries with complex processes and valuable asset flows. tsol’s mission is to offer solutions that keep it all under control.

by omar magaña

Erik Markeset is a logistics and supply chain consultant. He is also an expert on infor-mation technologies that help optimize processes in these two areas and reduce their associated risks and costs.

Markeset has two nation-alities –he is US and Mexican citizen– and one company, Tsol Soluciones en Logística, which selects and implements trans-portation and storage manage-ment systems to meet the needs of companies that depend on precise, well-timed and afford-able flows of raw materials and finished products.

Mexico is a land of op-portunities for technological companies like Tsol. Many companies out there still manage their logistics manu-ally or using spreadsheets and Tsol’s job, he says, is to guide them to a new scenario where specialized hardware and software provides clear, verifiable data on the move-ment of assets.

“Our medium is where logistics and technology converge,” says Markeset, who not only founded and manages Tsol, but who also happens to be president of the Mexican Chapter of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

Tsol doesn’t develop the actual tools; rather, it inte-grates ad hoc products cre-ated by HighJump, Oracle, Llamasoft and the other firms it represents into technological solutions packages tailored to the customer’s needs.

packages for the aerospace, automotive, consumer, food and beverage, hi-tech, manufactur-ing and retail industries, includ-ing solutions for providers of logistics services themselves.

Llamasoft’s products are geared toward the design of

supply chains, the conducting of tests and the anticipation of contingencies that could arise when the process is active, while Oracle has programs like Oracle Transportation Management (OTM), an all-in-one system that allows com-

“We aim to offer the mar-ket a menu of tools and solu-tions for different problems,” says Markeset.

HighJump has a portfolio of warehouse management solutions and integrated supply chain management and control

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photos courtesy of aldesa Mexico’s PartnerMexico’s Partner

Aldesa, which has a presence in countries like Poland, Romania, Guatemala and India, considers Mexico a strategic ally. The country accounts for almost one third of total revenues of the Spanish corporation.

ALDESA, A SUCCESSFUL EqUATION BETWEEN SPAIN AND MExICOestablished in the country for eight years, the Spanish firm has enjoyed annual growth of about 30%.

by antonio vázquez

“We observed that Mexico was an attractive country due to its overall situation, its macroeconomic indicators and the various trade agreements with other countries in Eu-rope.” That is how José María Argüelles, Managing Director for International Development of Grupo Aldesa, summarizes the company’s decision to start operations in the country.

Since 2006, when it es-tablished itself in Mexico, the Spanish firm has grown at a rate of 30% annually in the country and generated employment for about 1,100 people.

That year, when the Span-ish economy was experiencing a boom, Aldesa –a specialist in construction and infrastruc-ture in areas spanning indus-try, the energy sector, tunnels and underground works, rail-roads and concessions– chose Mexico as a point from which to diversify geographically.

The first investment the company made in the country was in Huatulco, in the state of Oaxaca, where it spent some resources in land acquisi-tion to develop a tourist resort.

At that time, Aldesa real-ized the huge business poten-tial that existed in building roads, and in other sectors. Shortly thereafter, the com-pany won a concession to build and operate for 30 years, a 150-kilometer highway project connecting the two major cities in Chiapas: Tuxtla Gutiérrez to San Cristóbal and the Arriaga-Ocozocuatla extension.

In 2008, the company went after something bigger: the bid for the Durango-Mazatlán superhighway. Aldesa subse-quently took charge of other important projects such as the construction, operation and maintenance of the Siglo XXI highway in the state of Morelos.

The year 2013 saw the company’s consolidation in Mexico: it won contracts for more than 5,000 million pesos (over 380 million USD).

“We are a company with Spanish equity but with more than 1,000 employees in Mexico –and 95% of them are Mexicans,” says Argüelles.

Why has a firm like Aldesa been so successful in Mexico? Argüelles explains that the model it developed in Spain has been brought to Mexico but adapted to the country’s needs, taking into account the opinions of the directors here.

“We are trying to bring over a model that has been success-ful for us in Spain working with energy service companies. In Mexico it involves making a large investment in munici-palities, then as a result of the savings you make with the new technologies, you can pay off the debt acquired with the company and at the same time improve the town’s lighting,” says Argüelles.

Aldesa, which has a pres-ence in countries like Poland, Romania, Guatemala and India, considers Mexico a strategic ally. The country ac-counts for almost one third of total revenues of the Spanish corporation.

“Aldesa has sought to be at the forefront of the countries where it operates. In Mexico we are in the top 10 construc-tion companies and among the top 500 companies,” empha-sizes José María Argüelles.

If the European company has something, it is the humil-ity to learn from the surround-ings where it works. “We come

to learn, not to teach, to take the best aspects of the two countries,” says Argüelles.

The talent of Mexican human resources has been a surprise. Argüelles rates Mexi-can engineers hired by the company as first-world profes-sionals who deal with complex problems and manage to solve them adeptly.

“We have well-trained pro-fessionals from local schools and also from abroad, who, when given a chance to work, develop in an excellent man-ner,” he adds.

Aldesa holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications, which help to reduce errors in each of its processes.

It also maintains an in-ternal sustainability policy that governs, among other things, compliance with local legislation, use of processes that reduce pollution, training for all staff in this area and continuous monitoring of its environmental objectives.

According to José María Argüelles, the structural re-forms promoted by the gov-

ernment of Mexico in the last year will attract foreign invest-ment and generate more jobs in the country.

“These are reforms that benefit the liberalization of the economy, which will al-low greater competitiveness and reduce the cost of ser-

vices for citizens. We observe this with tremendous opti-mism, as reforms that are on the right track, perhaps the most important of which has been the energy reform,” he concludes. N

www.grupoaldesa.com.mx

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Mexico’s Partnerphoto courtesy of katoen natieMexico’s Partner

kATOEN NATIE,A STRATEGIC PARTNER IN MExICO

a logistics company with a global footprint takes advantage of business opportunities that exist in Mexico by revolutionizing the supply chain for the industries with the best outlook for the future.

by omar magaña

Katoen Natie operates in Altamira, Tamaulipas; Silao, Guanajuato; Huehuetoca, Estado de México, and Pantaco, Mexico City. Thus, it can offer industries a complete service for the management, movement, storage and transfer of raw materials derived from petrochemicals efficiently and at lower costs, since it exploits the combined advantages of rail and trucking services.

Katoen Natie, a multinational company that has accumu-lated a century of experience in the comprehensive manage-ment of logistics services, has a strategic position for the economic sectors in Mexico that require the continuous and secure supply of plastic

“The company sees Mexico as a strategic point of signifi-cant growth. If we look at traditional markets, growth is either zero or negative; the company seeks markets where there is opportunity for growth and Mexico is among the most important,” he remarks.

Katoen Natie operates in Altamira, Tamaulipas; Silao, Guanajuato; Huehuetoca, Es-tado de México, and Pantaco, Mexico City. Thus, it can offer industries a complete service for the management, move-ment, storage and transfer of raw materials derived from petrochemicals efficiently and at lower costs, since it exploits the combined advantages of rail and trucking services.

The most recent of the investments made by the firm in the country covers the years 2012-2013, for the construction of an intermo-dal terminal in Huehuetoca, Estado de México –about 65 kilometers north of Mexico City– which is interconnected to the railroads run by Kan-sas City Southern de México and Ferromex.

According to Rubio Echa-niz, the metropolitan area of Mexico City consumes 60% of the plastic resins that are mobilized by the company in his charge. That led to the decision to develop a distribu-tion center with the features of the one that Katoen Natie established near the Circuito

Mexiquense and Mexico-Querétaro highways.

The Belgian company spent 25 million USD on building the distribution center on an area of 10 hectares, with five more in reserve. It manages the loading of up to 230 rail-cars and the transfer of some 20,000 tons of plastic products every month for distribution in the Valley of Mexico by truck. The terminal also has an 18,000-square-meter ware-house and a bagging machine.

The connectivity of the intermodal terminal with the railroad –together with the six kilometers of track owned by Katoen Natie– has transformed the dynamics of logistics and supply of the chain value of the plastics industry in Mexico because the materials that previously were moved on a smaller scale using the highways can now circulate in large volumes, reducing the cost and environ-mental impact of the transfer.

Furthermore, Katoen Natie maintains strategic partner-ships with trucking companies that comply with regulations for handling petrochemicals.

“We look for market leaders that meet the highest interna-tional standards. We are part of the petrochemical sector and the industry has some statutes and procedures such as full respon-sibility for product handling,” highlights Rubio.

ConnECTInG ThE CEnTEr And ThE CoAsTKatoen Natie views its inter-modal terminal in Huehuetoca as a logistics platform that allows Mexican companies, as well as receiving imported raw materials, to export goods manufactured in the center of the country from the ports of Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas and Altamira.

“The terminal has grown even better than our investment plans and that has given us great encouragement,” says Rubio.

For its part, the transfer terminal which Katoen Na-tie set up in Silao helps to strengthen the supply chain for the automotive and footwear industries in the Bajío region. The terminal is located in Parque Industrial Silao FIPASI and allows the operation of railcars up to 90 tons.

“Given the strategic posi-tion of Mexico with respect to the most dynamic market in the world, the US, the country must support policies for infrastructure develop-ment that favor the optimal movement of goods,” believes Rubio. “We definitely need to remove bottlenecks in order to provide a better service and I think the federal gov-ernment is already dealing with this,” he adds.

The automotive sector, for example, is enjoying a good period and the arrival of new carmakers to Mexico paints a good picture for a company that is contributing to opening up new supply channels, par-ticularly for goods related to petrochemicals and specialty chemicals, two of the seven business units that constitute Katoen Natie globally.

“The per capita consump-tion of plastic resins in Mex-ico, compared to countries in Europe or with the US, is one third or less but there is opportunity for growth,” concludes Rubio. N

www.katoennatie.com

resins and other derivatives of the petrochemical industry.

Since 2001, the company of Belgian origin, with David Rubio Echaniz at the head of operations in Mexico, has seen fit to invest in those regions of the country that are considered important

nodes for the input, genera-tion, transfer and receipt of plastics that will be required in the future by thriving in-dustries such as the automo-tive sector. “We see it as an interesting area with a lot of growth,” says its director and representative in Mexico.

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photos courtesy of lintel Mexico’s PartnerMexico’s Partner

“We have developed projects for industrial parks based on what the customer requires. We have built parks for the electronics, medical device, food processing, and of course, automotive sec-tors,” says Barreda Araiza.

Chrysler, Getrag, Yazaki, Honeywell, Johnson & John-son, Motorola, Lexmark, Phillips, Epson, Lear, Becton Dickinson, Wistron, Conti-nental, Koito, Magna, and Omron –among other pres-tigious global brands– have a presence in the industrial parks created by Lintel.

According to the com-pany, 90% of its customers have returned to develop new projects and 95% are cor-porates with foreign capital, mainly from countries like Canada, Germany, Japan and the US.

“Lintel works with each customer to define the scope and requirements of each project. We offer added value to our clients. For example, in order to serve them in countries like Japan, we employ translators to facili-tate dialogue. Additionally, we provide assurances that the infrastructure required for their process will not be a problem. We also ensure that people working in the company are close to their homes, reducing commuting times for workers, among other positive things,” ex-plains Barreda Araiza.

Among its flagship proj-ects is the development of the industrial parks Santa Fe I, II, III, IV and V in Puerto Interior Guanajuato, one of the most ambitious industrial developments in Mexico in recent years –about 72 automotive companies have established themselves in the development, which has served as a trigger for the formation of a new automo-tive cluster in the region.

“Bringing the first company to a new industrial park is a real challenge. Companies do not know if the park is going to succeed or not, they want com-panies that provide credibility. The name Lintel in association with this kind of development has intrinsic value: we plan the product, we investigate loca-tion, soil characteristics, studies, service feasibility, everything that provides certainty,” says Barreda. He adds that with the support of organizations such as ProMéxico, Lintel has approached other markets, specifically in Asia, and has participated in trade missions that have allowed it to become known elsewhere.

Throughout its existence, Lintel has created more than

According to the company, 90% of its customers have returned to develop new projects and 95% are corporates with foreign capital, mainly from countries like Canada, Germany, Japan and the US.

10,000 jobs and also holds ISO 9001: 2008 quality man-agement certification.

Among its immediate plans, the firm has in mind the consolidation of its re-cent developments –Colinas de Lagos, Colinas de León and Colinas de San Luis. In the coming years, the com-pany plans to exploit the full potential of the automotive sector which is becoming es-tablished in the Bajío region of Mexico.

“By the nature of the business we anticipate an automotive sector in growth, so we will be seeking to work in other states as well,” con-cludes Miguel Barreda. N

www.lintel.com.mx

“There are great advan-tages in the Bajío region, such as geographic location and a network of suppliers, which together with Mexico’s various trade agreements and the domestic workforce have attracted major auto manufacturers, most recently Honda, Mazda and BMW,” Barreda points out.

For business people, that means an encouraging outlook for the economy because locally the automo-tive industry recorded an average growth rate of more than 5%.

In that context, an experi-enced and knowledgeable firm like Lintel will be present in order to attract more interna-tional firms in the industry.

LINTEL, WhEN A FACTORY IS PART OF LIFE

Building an industrial park is not only about raising walls and creating a service infra-structure. That is something well understood by Lintel, a Mexican company that has forged its own path in the creation and development of industrial parks for over three decades.

Lintel began operations in 1983 in Ciudad Juárez in the border state of Chihuahua.

Today, it has offices in central Mexico, in states like Guana-juato and San Luis Potosí.

“We are a company known for quality and innovation in the construction industry and industrial real estate develop-ment. We are also a socially responsible company, commit-ted to the development of the country and to transforming the communities in which it invests capital,” says Miguel

this design builder and developer of industrial parks has established hundreds of projects across the country, representing about 18 million square meters for the industrial sector.

by antonio vázquez

Barreda Araiza, who is in charge of attracting new proj-ects to the company.

Over its 31 years of histo-ry, Lintel has revolutionized the field of industrial park construction. In all that time, it has developed over 18 mil-lion square meters of that type of infrastructure.

The company has had a hand in hundreds of projects in some 25 cities in Chihuahua,

Sonora, Baja California, Coa-huila, Nuevo León, Estado de México, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí and Aguascalientes.

In Guanajuato alone, where it has strategic offices, Lintel has developed five parks within Puerto Interior Guanajuato and another one in León, Guanajuato, each with an approximate cost of 400 million pesos (about 30 million usd).

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Mexico’s PartnerMexico’s Partner photos courtesy of tuscor lloyds

for its different customers). Similarly, from Mexico it has established connectivity to Brazil, Colombia and some Asian countries.

“About four years ago we opened an office in Hong Kong that has been very suc-cessful. Year on year we have grown our figures for import and export between Asia and Mexico, so we opened another office in Manzanillo, Colima, on the Mexican Pacific. Those operations have grown 25% in a very competitive market,” says Hernández.

Mónica Hernández ex-plains that the Tuscor Lloyds

“Tuscor Lloyds has been operating for 20 years in Eng-land and is now a well-known company that has worked with other logistics agents. The length of time in business and continual customer satisfac-tion speak for themselves,” said Hernández, who consid-ers that one of the factors in-fluencing the firm’s decision to establish a branch in Mexico is its geographic location, which allows it to function as a door to both Europe and Asia.

Similarly, “the national railway infrastructure en-ables the distribution of cargo across the country,” says Hernández. Last but not least, the trade agreements signed between Mexico and other

Tuscor Lloyds can handle products ranging from wines and spirits, to moving whole factories from one country to another. The company is a logistics operator that offers a full service because it has its own ships and containers, allowing it to specialize in container cargo between Mexico and Europe and Asia.

nations means that customs clearance is faster.

“In the past three or four years, tariffs on the footwear and apparel industry from China have begun to be re-moved. That has presented us with great opportunities, as happened with the trea-ties signed with the European Union,” says Hernández.

“We also want to increase imports and exports to Cen-tral America, something we will do throughout 2015, when we promote greater commercial traffic from Mex-ico with that region and with South America,” concludes Mónica Hernández. N

www.tuscorlloyds.com.mx

office in Mexico combines two roles: one commercial and one as an intermediary for markets in Asia and Europe.

The services offered by the firm include cargo, containers, bilateral trades, export packaging, heavy duty cargo, insurance, oversized cargo, project cargo, supply chain and vessel leasing.

“Tuscor Lloyds’ presence in Mexico is very strong. We have customers like Wal-Mart that has a 24/7 demand for services; we have the largest papermakers, based in Burgos, and we are working for New Holland, which has presence in the state of Querétaro. Those are larger accounts, with a greater volume,” Hernández said.

Tuscor Lloyds can handle products ranging from wines and spirits, to moving whole factories from one country to another. The company is a logistics operator that offers a full service because it has its own ships and containers, allowing it to specialize in con-tainer cargo between Mexico and Europe and Asia.

TuSCOR LLOyDS, MExICO’S WINDOW ON EUROPE AND ASIA

From the Gulf of Mexico, Tuscor Lloyds –a British com-pany that offers cargo, con-tainer, and ship rental services, among others– has found in Mexico the perfect window for import and export to Eu-rope and Asia.

Based in Manchester, United Kingdom, the company

has maintained a presence in Mexico for 16 years, making the country one of its oldest international operations.

“We decided to open oper-ations in Mexico since we had an account with Volkswagen. In early 2000, that allowed us to increase the amount of fares to Europe and the Medi-

With 16 years in Mexico, tuscor Lloyds runs maritime import and export operations with the european and asian markets.

by antonio vázquez

terranean from Mexico. That came hand in hand with other accounts, such as Wal-Mart, and gave us the opportunity to expand import traffic to Mexi-co,” explains Mónica Hernán-dez, Commercial Director at Tuscor Lloyds Mexico.

Thus, from the ports in the state of Veracruz and Altamira

in Tamaulipas –both located on the Gulf of Mexico– the firm has managed to connect the country with Northern Eu-rope and the Mediterranean.

In the port of Veracruz, Tuscor Lloyds has become the second and third forwarder with the largest amount of imports (about 13,000 TEUs

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Special featureSpecial feature photos archive

MExICO, DRESSED TO COMPETE ON INTERNATIONAL RuNWAyS

Mexico’s apparel and footwear indus-tries have a long tradition of innovation dating back to Pre-Colombian and Colo-nial times. Today, these two sectors have adopted added-value strategies to give them a competitive edge on international markets, despite obstacles such as unfair trade practices.

The domestic footwear industry pro-duces 300 million pairs of shoes a year (2.6 pairs per capita on average), while the apparel industry is valued at an an-nual 21 billion USD, according to their respective business chambers. But the potential of these two sectors isn’t lim-ited to the domestic market: many multi-nationals have found in Mexico the ideal host for their manufacturing operations and an increasing number of Mexican companies are gaining a larger share of foreign markets.

Total foreign trade (imports and ex-ports) in textile products was valued at 16.7 billion USD in 2013, which trans-lates into growth of 3.6% compared to 2012, while exports alone grew at an av-erage annual rate of 6% between 2009 and 2013. The US represented the bulk of exports in this sector (64%), followed by China (11%), India (2%), Canada (2%) and Colombia (2%).

In the leather and footwear indus-tries, total foreign trade increased 6.6% between 2013 and 2014 to 4.1 billion USD. The US accounted for 40% of ex-ports in the period, with China (19%), Vietnam (7%), Brazil (7%), Italy (5%) and other countries making up the re-mainder.

In the 2012-2013 period, total for-eign trade in textiles, leather products and footwear as a whole grew 4.2% to 20.8 billion USD, with exports increasing 4.6% to account for 8.2 billion USD of this figure.

Mexico’s apparel and footwear industries continue garnering recognition for innovation in the areas of industrial processes, design, style and quality, while value-added strategies are helping position the country on international runways as a competitive force.

dEsIGnInG GrowTh In 2013, Mexico exported 6.9 billion USD in textile products, which translates into growth of 2.4% compared to 2012. Suits, tailored suits, overcoat sets, T-shirts and undershirts, sweaters, pullovers, stock-ings, pantyhose, cloth and net curtains, sacks and duffle bags, cotton and syn-thetic and artificial yarns were among the most popular products.

Apparel companies faced a difficult scenario in 2013 and 2014, especially those focused on the domestic market. According to Sergio López de la Cerda, president of the National Apparel Industry Chamber (CANAIVE), a slower economy, compounded by cheap imports that threat-en to displace Mexican-made products, have taken their toll on the sector. This, he says, is why the industry has registered low growth in the last two years.

Notwithstanding, the sector continued to create jobs –330,000 in the period–and its outlook is promising in terms of future growth. López de la Cerda attributes this to the fact that “exporters continue expanding and investing in Mexico because its export

market is becoming increasingly competi-tive. Mexico’s apparel industry is highly es-teemed abroad for its value-added products, its skilled labor and the swiftness with which it is able to meet the demands of markets like the US. Companies operating on the domes-tic market have come under a great deal of pressure, but this hasn’t resulted in layoffs.”

Exports stand at approximately 5.5 bil-lion USD, while imports are valued at 3.8 billion USD. “As a sector, we have a trade surplus of over 1 billion USD. We are one of the industrial sectors with the largest trade balance surpluses, which represents a won-derful opportunity for growth, because to the extent that markets like the US recover, Mexico’s exports will benefit,” he says.

However, rather than wait for the im-petus to come from abroad, CANAIVE is cooperating with the Mexican govern-ment on strategies to get back on the path to growth. “We’ve been working closely with the ministries of Finance (SHCP) and Economy (SE), and the Tax Admin-istration Service (SAT) on strategies to combat the sale of illegal, undervalued products on the domestic market.”

The apparel industry is also forging alliances with businesses with a view to bringing more homegrown suppliers on board. “Right now the situation is com-plicated, but we’ve had a positive re-sponse from certain business chains that understand we need to transform this

In 2013, Mexico exported 6.9 billion usd in textile products, which translates into growth of 2.4% compared to 2012. Suits, tailored suits, overcoat sets, T-shirts and undershirts, sweaters, pullovers, stockings, pantyhose, cloth and net curtains, sacks and duffle bags, cotton and synthetic and artificial yarns were among the most popular products.

by jesús estrada cortés

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Special featurephotos archiveSpecial feature

As in the apparel sector, innovation is key to the footwear industry. One of the many initiatives implemented in this respect is the Mexico-European Union Competitiveness and Innovation Program (PROCEI), which has benefited over 88 companies in the fashion industry.

downward spiral into an upward one. It’s important they support the country’s economy by giving preference to Mexi-can-made products and attracting more consumers,” says López de la Cerda.

Another of the sector’s strategies, he says, has been to promote Mexican brands. “Certain brands have a large market share, but more companies need to develop their own brands to cater, first to the domestic market and then to inter-national ones. The goal is to strengthen Mexican brands so they stand a better chance of penetrating other markets.”

And when it comes to brand develop-ment, innovation is essential to an indus-trial sector like the apparel industry. CA-NAIVE seeks to promote “innovation in product processes and business systems. The term innovation is transversal. We need to draw up strategies that meet the consumers’ needs and surpass their expec-tations,” says López de la Cerda.

Reason why the industry is working on the creative design of garments and busi-ness systems. “It’s about instilling a busi-ness philosophy, identifying market niches

and target consumers, and familiarizing ourselves with their needs so we can create brands and design businesses that target these specific markets.”

To this end, CANAIVE has promoted the creation of the National Center for In-novation in the central state of Pachuca, Hidalgo. Its offices are already functional and “when the infrastructure is in place, market research and design companies will begin to interact, pinpointing in real time the innovations that will enable compa-nies to be more competitive and providing platforms that will afford businesses of all sizes access to information that facilitates the development of their products and brands,” says López de la Cerda.

“The industry is also seeking to collabo-rate with universities with a view to strength-ening middle and upper management, whose executives need to refresh and improve their knowledge of strategies and processes for the development of their companies.”

According to López de la Cerda, “the apparel industry requires made-to-mea-sure financial instruments. Although bank credit is available, due to the nature of our

industries –95% are small and medium companies– , we need financial assistance to raise working capital and purchase equipment […] We need more hi-tech equipment so we can be more competitive and we need to capitalize our companies so they can offer more competitive prices.”

ProMéxico is working with repre-sentatives of the apparel industry to get more companies participating in inter-national expos and trade fairs. “There are specific niches for small and medium companies and others for those that handle large volumes. It’s a question of analyzing the capacities of small and me-dium companies and training them so they can successfully participate in inter-national events and close business deals and sales,” says López de la Cerda.

Growth estimates for the sector are based largely on the expected results of these strategies and the advantages Mexico enjoys over the apparel industries of other countries. “Mexico has enormous experi-ence in industrial manufacturing and op-erating aspects. There’s versatility, innate creative capacity and high standards as re-gards quality and product development,” says López de la Cerda.

Furthermore, the recent shift in focus has proven to be an ace up the sector’s sleeve. “In 2004, many companies were still pro-ducing low-added-value commodities aimed at the mass market. Today, more and more are manufacturing specialized, added-value products for a higher income target group, making it less likely Mexican-made products will be substituted with foreign ones.”

Specialization is another plus Mexico has to offer. “For example, in the state of Jalisco, highly developed small and medium compa-nies geared toward innovation predominate, whereas Southeast Mexico concentrates on high-volume manufacturing. There are pro-duction facilities all over the country, each with clear-cut areas of specialization,” says López de la Cerda.

Add to this the creative reserves of the industry, where product design and de-velopment take their inspiration from the colorful traditional textiles of Mexico’s indigenous cultures.

And while there have been internation-al scandals relating to working conditions in the clothing industry in other countries, López de la Cerda says that in Mexico “CANAIVE encourages companies in the sector to get certified in social responsibil-ity practices and labor culture.”

In light of these strategies and the ad-vantages Mexico enjoys, its apparel in-dustry looks set to become increasingly competitive. “We’re working closely with the government on actions for the domes-tic market in years to come and are confi-dent that implementing these will result in growth (…) The sector aims to work in a more coordinated fashion in the interests of consolidation,” says López de la Cerda.

A wEll-mArkEd-ouT PATh Mexico’s footwear industry is concentrat-ed in the western state of Jalisco and the central state of Guanajuato. In the 2012-2013 period, exports of leather goods and footwear increased 4.5% to 1.3 billion USD. These were comprised mainly of rub-ber-soled shoes, leather further prepared after tanning, regenerated leather, tanned cow hides and skins, trunks and suitcases and natural leather goods.

In November 2014, Guanajuato hosted the Fifth World Footwear Con-gress. Here, State Governor Miguel Márquez Márquez told an audience of 500 people from 27 countries that Gua-najuato is the country’s top footwear ex-porter, with sales of 12 million pairs of shoes valued at 315 million USD in the first three quarters of 2014. Guanajuato, he added, manufactures 60% of the foot-wear Mexico exports.

“Guanajuato is home to Mexico’s larg-est leather goods and footwear cluster. The industry has consolidated itself as a main-stay of the state economy. Within a radius of 300 kilometers, you can find hundreds of companies that manufacture, distribute, market and supply inputs for the produc-tion chain,” said Márquez.

“It’s a sector,” he said, “that creates thousands of jobs and provides an income for over 130,000 families. We’re talking about over 4,700 economic units, includ-ing manufacturers of footwear and leath-er goods, tanneries and suppliers whose economies depend directly on the leather goods-footwear supply-marketing chain.”

It was at this same congress that the Guanajuato State Footwear Industry Chamber (CICEG) and the industrial chambers of seven other countries decided to standardize shoe size labeling and share technology for the creation of new designs.

According to CICEG President Ys-mael López García, as a result of the agreement and to make life easier for the consumer, the labels of products from

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ec-uador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay will bear the same information.

As in the apparel sector, innovation is key to the footwear industry. One of the many initiatives implemented in this respect is the Mexico-European Union Competitiveness and Innovation Program (PROCEI), which has benefited over 88 companies in the fashion industry.

“Mexican-made footwear is renowned worldwide for its quality and design and the industry is known for its capacity to deliver. Because we are so close to the US market, which is the world’s largest consumer (al-most 2.3 billion pairs of shoes a year), we can meet delivery deadlines Asian companies can’t. This has enabled us to make greater inroads on the US market,” says López Gar-cía, adding that “Mexico doesn’t compete with its Asian counterparts in terms of price, but with value-added products. We’re not competing with poor quality products, but fashionable, top quality ones.”

Guanajuato’s footwear industry is following the path marked out by “Vi-sion 2030”, a study published by CICEG in 2013 that sets growth targets based on three strategic pillars of competitiveness: coordination of the productive chain, sus-tainable development and fair competition.

On a national scale, the Mexican Fash-ion Committee is an integrated strategy pro-moted by companies in the sector and the government whose members include rep-resentatives of the jewelry, apparel, textile, footwear and footwear supply sectors. “The idea is to produce matching outfits. If one company makes a line of shoes, the apparel industry will design garments to go with that style of footwear,” says López García.

And so the apparel and footwear in-dustries look to the future with optimism as they walk down the runway together, cheered on by creative strategies guar-anteed to keep them at the forefront of their sectors in terms of industrial pro-cesses, design, style and quality. N

CANAIVE has promoted the creation of the National Center for Innovation in the central state of Pachuca, Hidalgo. Its offices are already functional and “when the infrastructure is in place, market research and design companies will begin to interact, pinpointing in real time the innovations that will enable companies to be more competitive and providing platforms that will afford businesses of all sizes access to information that facilitates the development of their products and brands,” says López de la Cerda.

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Special featurephotos courtesy of premium knitsSpecial feature

Premium Knits soon found that it enjoyed competitive advantages over other manufacturers in the global arena, due to the proximity of its factory in Puebla to the US and its capacity to deliver rapidly to this, the world’s largest market, two factors that remain decisive in its operations to this day.

PREMIuM kNITS, A BLEND OF YOUNG TALENT AND ExPERIENCEthis Puebla-based family business has evolved naturally with the incorporation of a second generation of young talents into its ranks and is now looking to export its textile products.

by omar magaña

Premium Knits, a Puebla-based company that designs, manufactures and dyes T-shirts, has benefited from the fresh ideas of a second generation of family members that have joined its ranks, combined with the experience of its founding members, Carlos and Jorge Carvajal.

“This fusion of new ideas and expe-rience could help a lot of companies in Mexico improve,” says Carlos’ daughter, Fernanda Carvajal, in interview.

Fernanda and her cousin Jorge are two of a dozen or so young talents that have injected creativity and innovation into the company, mainly in its design and custom-er service areas. They are also responsible

gives its products added value and sets it apart from its competitors.

“It gives us the versatility to make a wide range of products. It’s that differen-tiation in a garment that makes it unique and it’s what people are looking for.”

Its garment dye process and its own specialty washes are done at their own facilities. These processes represent the company’s main “assets,” the last link in a complete manufacturing chain that begins with production of the yarn that goes into its T-shirts and ends with the washing and packaging of the final product. “That re-duces waste and product rejects at our two factories,” says Fernanda.

A hArd-wEArInG sTArTThe central states of Puebla and Tlaxcala have been specializing in the textile indus-try for decades and it was here, 35 years ago, that Carlos and Jorge Carvajal started out making denim pants for the domestic market, recalls Fernanda.

It wasn’t long before the brothers in-stalled their own industrial laundry to soften and wash the fabric to give it a worn effect, putting them one step ahead of other factories in the region. Some years later, they realized it was going to be tough to remain profitable in the same sector, given the influx of Asian manufacturers.

The time had come to rethink the busi-ness and so, in 1997, Premium Knits fold-ed its jeans and started manufacturing and dying T-shirts.

Carlos and Jorge had the necessary in-frastructure but they needed machinery for the treatment of their new products “be-cause the fabric of a T-shirt is much more delicate than that of a pair of jeans,” says Fernanda.

“When we saw our T-shirts were start-ing to become a popular product among our Mexican customers, we decided to open the door to foreign buyers.”

Premium Knits soon found that it en-joyed competitive advantages over other manufacturers in the global arena, due to the proximity of its factory in Puebla to the US and its capacity to deliver rapidly to this, the world’s largest market, two factors that remain decisive in its opera-tions to this day.

As a result of its incursion into the international market, the company was forced to actively seek certification by its customers and comply with regulations in receptor countries. Likewise, it has had to establish strategies to ensure its products remain profitable after cover-ing costs associated with the transporta-tion of its T-shirts from the factory to the consumer.

“We offer our Mexican customers the same treatment and quality as our foreign customers. That is one of the reasons they choose us,” says Fernanda.

Just as important has been the com-pany’s participation in trade fairs like MAGIC in Las Vegas, which Premium Knits attends every year with the support of ProMéxico.

“Aside from attracting new customers, it’s important for the ones we already have to see us at this type of fair because it gives us credibility and reassures foreign custom-ers we are a serious company,” she says.

Premium Knits’ products are sold in the US market via large distributors who deal with the final customer and follow up on those accounts.

Just recently, Hard Rock, a bar, restau-rant and merchandising chain, approached the company about the manufacture of T-shirts for its branches in Japan. “We have plenty of room to expand,” says Fernanda, adding that Premium Knits is about to launch its own commercial brand, an ex-clusive line for the international market. N

www.premiumknits.com.mx

for conducting market research to ensure Premium Knits keeps up to speed with de-velopments in the fashion industry.

“We analyze trends on the interna-tional market, who’s buying most, who’s buying less, how much consumers are spending on food and other products,” she says.

Creativity is important in any busi-ness and Premium Knits is constantly coming up with new models and designs it thinks will appeal to customers in Mexico and in the US.

The company has its own fabric-dying facilities and has exploited them to the full. A differentiator from day one, that is what

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photos courtesy of dues

upholstery for the public areas of large buildings. During periods of peak de-mand, up to 90 employees are at work on their production lines in addition to the human capital in charge of the area of development and innovation which, each year, presents two new product collections: one in the first quarter and once during August and September.

“We manufacture the textiles and in some cases do the finishing and printing,” says the director.

Innovation is a core activity at Dues which, as a company involved in interna-tional markets, it has been necessary to meet the standards that regulate the industry in countries that are at the forefront and to of-fer products that match these standards.

“One difference that has defined our company and has given us success is that for several years we have been in-troducing and pioneering in Mexico fire retardant fabrics, while raising awareness about their use,” Suárez points out.

Dues has adopted the California standard NFPA 701, which provides

Innovation is a core activity at Dues which, as a company involved in international markets, it has been necessary to meet the standards that regulate the industry in countries that are at the forefront and to offer products that match these standards.

standardized methods for testing fire and flame spread on textiles and films. “The use of these textiles in large build-ings can be a decisive factor in people’s safety,” says Suárez.

In addition, resort developers in-creasingly demand from their suppliers durable and easy to clean fabrics. “We have implemented a lot of technology and adopted synthetic fibers, which are easier to clean and are less absorbent,” remarks Suárez.

“In recent years we have seen a focus on environmental protection. The use of recycled fibers has become important and some hotel chains are even specifying that certain products and tissues make use of environmentally friendly fibers,” he adds.

GrowTh wIThIn And ouTsIdE ThE homEDues works hand in hand with offices in architecture and interior design, as well as with distributors in the US –a market that the firm’s directors observe offers very good prospects.

DuES: ThINkING BIGIn one of the top beach destinations on the northern Pacific coast of Mexico, a company that caters to large hotel groups with a new generation of high standard textiles operates.

The tourist destinations in Mexico and the Americas are of the foremost impor-tance for the company that has run Vale-riano Suárez Suárez in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, since 2003. As a supplier of blinds and curtains, bed linens and upholstery for hotels, Dues depends wholly on the devel-opment of such locations.

The company has participated in the decoration and supply of textiles for hotels in Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Maya, Guadala-jara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Los Cabos, and Mazatlán, as well as in the US (Las Ve-gas), Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.

Projects in one of the leading hotels in Las Vegas, the Royalton in Cancún and the Hyatt in Puerto Vallarta; the refur-bishment of Pueblo Bonito, Marival and Barceló hotels and rehabilitation of re-sorts in Los Cabos –after the damage left by Hurricane Odile in September 2014– mean the textile manufacturing factory

by omar magaña

“We have a strategic alliance with a US distributor who connects us to con-tracts in cities such Las Vegas. We want to strengthen that partnership. The strategy is that we market their prod-ucts in Mexico and they market ours in America,” Suárez adds.

The growth plan for Mexico also entails that Dues establishes a physical presence in all the country’s major cities through showrooms and commercial of-fices, to begin operating from 2015.

As a leader in the market of deco-rative textiles for hotels and a major player in the bed lining sector, Dues considers that new investment in infra-structure in the coming years is crucial. For Suárez, this is the beginning of a bright future for the business. Mexico, says the entrepreneur, favors things happening because it has “young and dynamic people,” a strategic location, good logistics, and suppliers with the right infrastructure. N

www.dues.com.mx

is very active and expects good financial results for the year 2014, after a couple of difficult years for the company.

“We are recovering in a very positive way,” asserts Suárez, who explains that during the second half of 2014, Dues was already working at 100% of its production capacity due to the commitments made in recent months in and out of the country. During the final quarter of the year, the company had to meet the needs of cus-tomers who were affected by the weather phenomenon that hit the coast of northern Mexico. “We have some very important cli-ents who we couldn’t let down. We had to redouble our efforts and work from sunrise to sunset,” recounts Suárez.

InnovATIon As A lEAdInG vAluEDues specializes in the manufacture of coverings for windows but also manufactures decorative textiles and

Special featureSpecial feature

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Special featurephotos courtesy of grupo industrial brigitteSpecial feature

Grupo Industrial Brigitte, a textile com-pany located in the municipality of San Mateo Atenco, Estado de México, has a strategy to bounce back from a recent drop in exports to the US market, where it has been operating for 20 years.

“It’s a slow process, but we’re on the right track,” says Brigitte Director Al-berto Bagdadi.

The company specializes in the manu-facture and sale of ladies’ corsetry, girls’ un-derwear and pajamas for children, young adults and men, and its reentry strategy to the US hinges on offering attractive prod-ucts to the Hispanic community, which is the country’s largest minority group (54 million), accounting for 17% of the total population, according to estimates by the US Census Bureau in 2013. It is also the group with the highest growth rate (2% annual), according to the same source.

Grupo Industrial Brigitte recently contacted ProMéxico for advice on how to complement its reentry strategy to the US market. “We began working with ProMéxico about a month ago and it’s paid off. They got us an appointment with a very important client in the US,” says Bagdadi.

ExPErIEnCE And PrEsEnCEGrupo Industrial Brigitte began operat-ing in Mexico City 40 years ago. It later moved to Estado de México, where it has remained ever since. For just over a de-cade, it focused on ladies’ corsetry and, 17

According to company sources, its differentiator lies in its capacity to create exclusive designs using printing techniques that give its licensed products added value. Brigitte segments some of these products and, for example, has licenses specifically for the children’s market: Brigitte, Winx and Monster High for girls and Ben10, SlugTerra and Justice League for boys, among others.

years ago, it broadened its product range to reach new market segments.

In Mexico the company sells its prod-ucts under the Brigitte brand name, as well as other textiles produced under license, including garments featuring cartoon characters, and has a nationwide presence in department stores and supermarkets like Walmart, Coppel, Soriana, Liverpool, Control, Woolworth, Fábricas de Francia, and Sears, among others. According to Bagdadi, it is particularly strong in the li-censed girls’ underwear –tank top, panties, boxers and tops– and pajamas segment.

The lingerie Brigitte designs and manu-factures for the young female market, mainly panties and brassieres, come in a wide range of fabrics, such as cotton, polyester, elastane and lace, all of Mexican origin, and “meet fashion, comfort and aesthetic require-ments,” says Bagdadi, adding that “There is still a lot of market to be tapped into in Mexico and we remain very competitive.”

According to company sources, its dif-ferentiator lies in its capacity to create ex-clusive designs using printing techniques that give its licensed products added val-ue. Brigitte segments some of these prod-ucts and, for example, has licenses specifi-cally for the children’s market: Brigitte, Winx and Monster High for girls and Ben10, SlugTerra and Justice League for boys, among others.

wEAThErInG ThE uPs And downsMany companies that started out at the same time as Grupo Industrial Brigitte have been left by the wayside, due to the ups and downs of the economy and the emergence of new competitors. In Mex-ico, however, “our cotton products are very competitive and of excellent qual-ity,” says Bagdadi.

In Mexico’s textile industry, companies have tended to specialize in certain market niches. “In this type of industry, Mexico

has enormous potential because it has access to quality cotton and the elastics needed for corsetry products.”

According to the Master Plan for the Cotton Product System published by the National Cotton Product System Com-mittee, “cotton has historically been in high demand in the domestic market be-cause it is a product whose characteristics make it ideal for manufacturing yarns and that has the versatility, texture, com-fort and quality required for the manu-facture of top-of-the-line textiles.”

Other studies, such as the Analysis of the Cotton Production Value Chain in Mexico, drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Livestock and Fisheries (SAGARPA) in 2013, under-score that, after the recovery of the cot-ton industry in Mexico after 2010, the strategy to improve supply chains has centered on improving and certifying its quality.

Until a few years ago, Grupo Industrial Brigitte purchased its raw materials from Colombia and other South American coun-tries but is now turning more and more to Mexican suppliers of knitted fabrics and elastics. “We have approached them with the intention of developing specific prod-ucts with the potential to compete on the domestic market,” says Bagdadi.

This local supply chain has been very important for the firm. It has been one of the reasons the company ended 2012 and 2013 with very good numbers. “Last year (2014) was a difficult one for the domes-tic industry but we’re closing fine,” says Bagdadi, adding that in the medium term, Grupo Industrial Brigitte plans to bolster its position on the international market with several projects and alliances, while consoli-dating its presence on the domestic market with the development of new products. N

brigittebra.com

GRuPO INDuSTRIAL BRIGITTE, A RECOVERY IN SIGhT NORTh OF ThE BORDERafter a dip in exports to the uS, Grupo Industrial Brigitte plans to bounce back by knocking on the doors of the country’s growing Hispanic community.

by omar magaña

49






Carlos Venegas Díaz, commercial director of

Uniformes Unión, directs, coordinates and monitors

a chain made up of 12 SMEs in Mexico, all in the textile industry but each specializing in the

manufacture of a specific garment. Between the 12

they manufacture complete uniforms, which are

containerized in Mexico and shipped to their main client

in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

uNIFORMES uNIóN: ExPORT SUCCESSviewing competitors as partners has been the key to uniformes unión becoming one of the best examples of how an SMe can penetrate larger markets.

by omar magaña

There’s strength in numbers, especially when it comes to small and medium en-terprises (SMEs) who want to leave their home country to conquer new markets.

Carlos Venegas Díaz is commercial di-rector of the textile company Uniformes Unión and an enthusiast of creating export chains that bring together complementary companies in the same industry with the aim of comprehensively meeting the needs of foreign customers.

The entrepreneur directs, coordinates and monitors a chain made up of 12 SMEs in Mexico, all in the textile industry but each specializing in the manufacture of a specific garment. Between the 12 they manufacture complete uniforms, which are containerized in Mexico and shipped to their main client in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Venegas Díaz began his commercial re-lationship with the Puerto Rican client as a shirt supplier, and later began to seek out Mexican companies to cover the range of

In Peru, the employer met with cot-ton suppliers who meet the requirements of his customers in North America, and is already making efforts to establish new in-tegrated chains.

“You have to work hard to realize that someone who is making the same thing you are is not necessarily a competitor but an ally,” says Venegas.

ProduCT dEvEloPmEnTs for nEw CusTomErsUniformes Unión is still turning northward –where its biggest market lies. Venegas has had been advised by ProMéxico in Chicago, Dallas, New York, Toronto and Montreal to explore new export destinations and follow up on existing and potential customers. “It has been very positive for us in terms of ap-proaching the market and knowing what the specific demands are,” he acknowledges.

Driven by customer requirements, Uni-formes Unión has moved from manufac-

turing to the development of textile spe-cialties. Venegas Díaz acknowledged that Mexican SMEs have the opportunity to find customers among their US counter-parts seeking tailored suits rather than vol-ume. And in his view, Mexican companies are competitive thanks to their flexibility and ability to adapt to the changing needs and tastes of their customers. “Large com-panies have their lines of products for ex-port or domestic sale, with their measure-ments and types of fabrics. When a small business comes along they can’t develop a product in smaller quantities,” he explains.

Uniformes Unión is a provider of adap-tive clothing, such as adaptive pants and jeans for incontinence patients that look like street clothes, but with a special cut for patient care, meeting Canadian stan-dards, for the Québec-based company Creation Comfort. It also provides the US company Prevent Products with covers for orthopedic cushions.

During product development, Uni-formes Unión aims to balance the costs of raw materials and production relative to major competitors like Asian suppliers, in addition to leveraging the advantage that gives them the ability to make tailored de-liveries and to resupply in a timely man-ner, when the market so demands. With this in mind, “Mexican and Latin Ameri-can companies have many niches to ex-ploit,” insists Venegas.

A business philosophy based on coop-eration, reciprocity and commitment to the specific needs of customers allows a small company to respond quickly to new manufacturing contracts and participate in new markets.

“We are completely able to develop strong business relationships and strategic alliances with new companies around the world,” concludes Venegas. N

www.uniformesunion.com

customer needs, which Uniformes Unión alone could not satisfy. “Initially, when we spoke to Mexican SMEs about exporting, they didn’t think they could do it by them-selves,” recalls the businessman.

As a result of this partnership, the vol-ume of exports of Uniformes Unión to Puerto Rico rose, and a collective awareness of the power of collaboration, quality care and commitment to delivery times emerged. In the partnership, Unión is the company responsible for checking that the other 11 meet the standards and delivery times.

In sEArCh of AllIEs And nEw mArkETsUniformes Unión was established in 1982 in Ecatepec, Estado de México. A decade later, in 1992, its founders approached the National Foreign Trade Bank (Bancomext) to explore opportunities to enter the global market. As a result, in 1999 Unión textiles came to the US and Canada.

Since then –and after having seen the benefits brought by alliances– Venegas Díaz travels around the world looking for new partners interested in pursuing new customers together. The trade fairs in Central and South America have been revealing. “There is a great deal of inter-est among Latin American companies to develop strategic partnerships with com-panies in Mexico,” says the entrepreneur.

During his last trip to Uruguay, Ven-egas came across a family business like his own that is now a potential ally, open to exchange, which will facilitate the en-try of Uniformes Unión into the South American market, while he will help the Uruguayan company enter the Mexican market.

“This company is reviewing which products may be competitive in order for us to export to South America and we, in turn, are doing the same for them in Mex-ico,” explains Venegas Díaz.

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Special featurephotos courtesy of entretelas brincoSpecial feature

It was the 1940s and in Mexico there was a need for interlinings for the specialized market of tailors: small firms that pro-duced men’s garments and suits.

A Mexican saw a great opportunity in that market niche and began manufactur-ing interlinings for ties. That was the be-ginning of Entretelas Brinco, a company that today continues to manufacture inter-linings for clothing and has expanded its catalog to include industrial design prod-ucts such as automotive and surgical items.

“My grandfather was the one who started making wool blends with animal hair, to weave interlinings. The industry was not as developed then and interlinings for suits were sold to tailors. In those years,

From small-scale production, the company moved to industrialized volumes by the mid-1960s. Thus, from the little over 10 rolls of interlining that Brinco manufactured, it expanded its catalog, which today has more than 150 products that are manufactured in a plant of about 23,000 square meters in Tultitlán, Estado de México, and which employs about 160 people.

we manufactured an insignia interlining, ‘CRIN’, which was so called because it was made with horsehair, which is a very durable material,” says Víctor Mizrahi Co-hen, CEO of the company.

From small-scale production, the com-pany moved to industrialized volumes by the mid-1960s. Thus, from the little over 10 rolls of interlining that Brinco manu-factured, it expanded its catalog, which today has more than 150 products that are manufactured in a plant of about 23,000 square meters in Tultitlán, Estado de México, and which employs about 160 people.

With more than seven decades in the market, the longevity of Entretelas Brinco

is due to one simple reason: “working hand-in-hand with the customer,” says Víc-tor Mizrahi. “The success of the company has been due to working closely with cus-tomers, developing their products. We al-ways analyze the needs that each customer has, we think about how to solve them, the applications they require and the effect they want for each garment,” he explains.

He adds: “Our product has great fea-tures such as resistance to washing and use. Much of that is due to the selection and design of each interlining. It is not only about selling but developing products always in partnership with our customers.”

That formula allowed Entretelas Brin-co to take a great leap and begin to export

in 1985. Today, the Mexican company sells its products in markets in Central and South America, and 25% of its production is exported to the US.

“We export to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, China, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, the US and Venezuela” explains Mizrahi.

He stresses that Entretelas Brinco has maintained a close collaboration with gov-ernment agencies like ProMéxico, partici-pating in trade missions to other countries, such as Paraguay and the US, which has helped it to position itself in other markets.

Thanks to ProMéxico, says Víctor Mizrahi, the company expanded its range of interlinings and ventured into manufac-turing for the automotive industry. Since 2010, Entretelas Brinco extended its divi-sions and in addition to interlinings for clothing, started up production lines fo-cused on the automotive industry and dis-posable surgical devices.

According to Mizrahi, operating from Mexico has been beneficial to Entretelas Brinco, thanks to factors such as human resources trained for any area of produc-tion; its geographic location, meaning it is possible to reach foreign markets in less time, whether by air, sea or land, and the

trade agreements signed by the country with other nations that encourage com-petitiveness.

“Many of the free trade agreements mean we don’t pay tariffs, which gives us a significant advantage over our competitors. Furthermore, the geographical location is a factor that helps us to reach the markets in which we operate faster,” explains Eréndira Maldonado, Export and International Sales Manager for the company.

As if that were not enough, Entretelas Brinco has incorporated ISO 9001:2008 and ISO TS/16949 quality systems into its production processes.

ENTRETELAS BRINCO: TExTILE “SkIN” OF MExICAN qUALITYfor over seven decades, entretelas Brinco has manufactured interlinings for garments and other industrial products; today it reaches markets in the americas and asia.

by antonio vázquez

“Holding these certifications means we can guarantee design processes for creating products that enhance the use of the gar-ment or industrial part for the purpose it is designed for,” says Mizrahi.

Over the next five years, Entretelas Brinco views itself as a company with an increasing presence in markets it has al-ready penetrated, as well as new ones. “We are looking for markets and higher value-added products, where our participation becomes significant in relation to our cus-tomers,” Mizrahi concludes. N

www.brinco.com.mx

53






The firm has experience in the cutting and sewing of any kind of textile goods, manufacturing of components for computers, providing labor for all kinds of packaging needs, assembly for the electronics industry, electromechanical production, and articles for the medical sector, among others.

EDC DE MéxICO: A TALENTED GROWING TEAMexperience and circumstances have enabled eDc de México to establish itself in the manufacturing industry in ciudad Juárez, chihuahua, on the Mexico-uS border.

by antonio vázquez

The experience of the company owner, an expert in the maquiladora sector, and the loyalty of a team of people who had worked with him at another firm, provid-ed a solid foundation for EDC de México.

“Given all the knowledge, the found-er and his team started up the new proj-ect. Many of our customers already knew

about his ability and as a result it was possible to set up a whole manufactur-ing program, acquire a building, and hire staff. To this day, Alejandro Noriega, the founder of EDC, describes himself as a circumstantial entrepreneur,” says Fer-nando Ríos, corporate director of the company.

With offices in Ciudad Juárez, Chihua-hua, and El Paso, Texas, EDC de México describes itself as a company that offers its customers honesty, integrity, respect, qual-ity, leadership, simplicity and trust; values that have allowed it to become a reference point in the maquiladora sector in less than two decades.

“We managed to stay in the business and we are doing more to keep growing. I think that much of the success has been due to the tenacity and effort of all of us involved in this project,” says Ríos, who states that EDC de México is a company that adapts to its customers’ needs to find solutions to their requirements.

The firm has experience in the cutting and sewing of any kind of textile goods, manufacturing of components for comput-ers, providing labor for all kinds of pack-

aging needs, assembly for the electronics industry, electromechanical production, and articles for the medical sector, among others.

“Since our start up we have made all kinds of products and performed all kinds of manufacturing tasks according to our customers’ needs: in the cutting and sewing area everything from lingerie to saddles for horses; in the electric and electronic from wire harnesses to motors; we have pro-vided packaging solutions for little plastic eggs or 10+ components kits; we cut, bind, separate, inspect, and do everything in most production processes,” Ríos explains.

The entire output of the company is for the international market. “Everything we do is for export. Most products right now are going to the US, and some are sent to Asian or European countries,” states Ríos.

As a result, EDC de México decided years ago to establish a liaison office in the city of El Paso, Texas, to serve its US customers.

In Ciudad Juárez, the company plant covers an area of 1,600 square meters and 100 talented people regularly work there –though the number of employees can reach up to 500, depending on the con-tracts and the production season.

Fernando Ríos notes that EDC’s lo-cation puts it on the map with regard to logistical advantages. “Labor also plays an important role; in Mexico we have a high-quality and experienced workforce. We know how to do our job, and everyone in our team has the experience, quality and capacity to make a successful and quality product,” he says.

He adds: “Mexico’s trade agreements have favored companies like ours. To our customers we can assure quality in line with NAFTA, with a first-class workforce and raw materials.”

EDC de México has the ability to meet the production standards that its customers request and is already working on a strategic plan for quality certification for its processes.

“At EDC de México we are aiming for further growth. We want this to become bigger, and a better source of business. We are aiming higher and working hard to achieve it,” concludes Fernando Ríos. N

www.edcms.com

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MEXICO, DRESSED FOR SUCCESS

1,224.61Men's or boys' suits, ensembles, suit-type jackets, blazers, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear)

29.62Brassieres, girdles, corsets, braces, suspenders, garters and similar articles and parts thereof

15.32Women's or girls' blouses, shirts and shirt-blouses

5.44Women's or girls' singlets and other undershirts, slips, petticoats, briefs,panties, nightdresses, pajamas, negligees, bathrobes, dressing gowns and similar articles

662.96T-shirts, singlets, tanktops and similar garments

137.56Sweaters, pullovers, sweatshirts, waistcoats (vests) and similar articles

107.29Panty hose, tights, stockings, socks and other hosiery, including graduated compression hosiery (for example, stockings for varicose veins) and footwear without applied soles

84.28Women's or girls' overcoats, carcoats, capes, cloaks,anoraks (including ski-jackets), windbreakers and similar articles,other than those of heading

11.02Other madeup clothing accessories, parts of garmentsor of clothing accessories

39.24Women's or girls' slips, petticoats, briefs, panties, night-dresses, pajamas, negligees, bathrobes, dressing gowns and similar articles

32.01Women's or girls' blouses and shirts

25.82Track suits, ski-suits and swimwear

MAIN ARTICLES OF APPARELAND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES EXPORTED BY MEXICO IN 2014*(million )

MAIN COTTON PRODUCTSExported by Mexico in 2014* (million )

MAIN EXPORTSOF THE MEXICANTEXTILE INDUSTRYfrom 2000 t0 2014*, million

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted

1,979.98*

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted

1,302.53*

0200400600800

Other made-up textile articles; sets; worn clothing and worn textile articles; rags

757.18*

0

50

100

Carpets and other textile floor coverings

32.07*

Wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horsehair yarn and woven fabric

35.81*

Knitted or crocheted fabrics

0

50

100

Man-made filaments

212.87*

0

100

200

300

400

500

Impregnated, coated, covered or laminated textile fabrics; textile articles of a kind suitable for industrial use

0

100

200

300

400

0

50

100

150

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

50

100

150

200

0

20

40

60

80

100

010203040506070

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Other vegetable textile fibers; paper yarn and woven fabric of paper yarn

1.20*

192.14*

189.94*Cotton

Wadding, felt and nonwovens; special yarns, twine, cordage, ropes and cables and articles thereof

170.54*

Special woven fabrics; tufted textile fabrics; lace, tapestries; trimmings; embroidery

79.06*150.23*

Man-madestaple fibers

41.66*

184.66Track suits, ski-suits and swimwear; other garments

222.17Women's or girls' suits, ensembles, suit-type jackets, blazers, dresses, skirts,divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear)

NOT KNITTEDOR CROCHETED

KNITTED ORCROCHETED

*Jan

uar

y to

Sep

tem

ber

. So

urc

e: B

anco

de

Méx

ico

.

83.66Woven cottonfabrics containing 85% or more by weight of cotton, weighing more than 200 g/m2

7.75Woven cotton fabrics containing less than 85% by weight of cotton, mixed mainly or solely with man-made fibers, weighing more than 200 g/m2

3.20Woven cottonfabrics containing 85% or more by weight of cotton, weighing not more than 200 g/m2

infographic oldemar FiguresFigures

*January to September. Source: Banco de México.

A WELL-MARKED-OUT PATH Mexican footwear exports from 2000 t0 2014*, million

100

200

300

400

500

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

200

300

400

469.37*

TOTAL EXPORTS

330.98*

Footwear with outer soles of rubber, plastics, leather or composition leather and uppers of leather

54.76*

Parts of footwear (including uppers whether or not attached to soles other than outer soles); removable insoles, heel cushions and similar articles; gaiters, leggings and similar articles, and parts thereof

0

24.41*

Footwear with outer soles of rubber, plastics, leather or composition leather and uppers of textile materials

1.19*

Footwear with outer soles of cloth or wood

0

10

20

30

40

50

The Lifestyle

The CompleTe Guide To The mexiCan Way of life



infographic oldemarFigures

The Lifestyle Briefs

Enrique Norten:The Mexican Who Changedthe Face of Architecture

A Taste of Mexicoin Barcelona

Five Mexican Spirits to Lift the Spirits

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The Fine ArT oF exhibiTing

many of mexico’s contemporary art galleries are rated among the most important in the region and several have an international presence. each has its own unmistakable voice.

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58 December 2014 December 2014


Two exhibitions were held as part of Presi-dent Enrique Peña Nieto’s visit to China dur-ing November 2014. The first, Diego Rivera, Pride of Mexico, was presented in the Na-tional Museum of China (NAMOC), one of China’s leading art museums.

The exhibition Diego Rivera, Pride of Mexico comprises 37 works created from 1904 to a year before the artist’s death in 1965. It includes paintings and drawings from an extensive period of Rivera’s life (52 years) that illustrate the artist’s most representative genres and languages. The works highlight Rivera’s classic forms of expression from the early 20th century, his interpretation of cubism, impressionism, and experiments with the techniques in vogue during the time he lived in Europe. The exhibition will be open to the public until December 9, 2014.

The second exhibition is entitled Maya: The Language of Beauty, a Maya sculp-

ART

Mexico-ChinaCultural Cooperation

On November 2014, the Río Secreto na-ture reserve in the Riviera Maya was pre-sented with a World Travel Award for its leadership in the operation of the park.

Located five kilometers south of Playa del Carmen in the state of Quintana Roo, Río Secreto is considered a “a unique ex-ample” of sustainable tourism. Its natural ecosystems include crystal-clear turquoise waters and a system of underground caves sculpted out of stalactites, stalagmites and helictites, which, together with the 15 square kilometers of jungle on which it stands, are managed under a conservation model that has been loudly applauded.

According to the park’s operating di-rector Otto Von Bertrab, this is the fifth consecutive year Río Secreto has received a World Travel Award in the Mexico & Central America’s Leading Nature Re-serve category.

Río Secreto Wins World Travel Award

The non-conformist art of Japan’s Yayoi Kusama (Matsumoto, Japan, 1929) will be shown in Mexico City for the first time at the Infinite Obsession retrospective hosted by the Tamayo Museum from September 26, 2014, to January 18, 2015.

Deemed one of Japan’s most original artists, the exhibition features 100 works dating from between 1950 and 2013, from paintings, works on paper, sculptures, videos and slideshows to installations on Kusama’s inner and public faces.

The retrospective is curated by Fran-ces Morris and Philip Larrat-Smith and includes Infinity Nets, the film Kusama’s Self-Obliteration, records of the happen-ings Love-in Festival and Flower Orgy, the installations Phalli’s Field, I’m Here But Nothing, Obliteration Room and In-finity Mirror Room, as well as previously unseen works from 2013.

museotamayo.org

ART

Infinite Obsessionin Mexico City

TOURISM

Winners of World Travel Awards are chosen based on the votes of tourism pro-fessionals from all over the world.

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ART

A Mexican Artist at the PinchukArtCentre

Mauricio Limón of Mexico was one of 21 artists selected for the Future Generation Art Prize 2014, an international contempo-rary art competition based in the Ukraine that aims to support artists under 35.

A graduate of the National Autono-mous University of Mexico (UNAM), Limón’s portfolio consists mainly of sketches, paintings, videos and perfor-mance art whose main themes are urban characters, their lifestyles and social dif-ferences.

With the prize money, Limón plans to take up residence in Kiev for a short time to finish a series of videos he began shoot-ing in Mexico of a group of men in La Al-ameda, Mexico City’s central park, with a machine used to make corn tortillas.

These images will be juxtaposed with those of a group of Ukrainians using the same machine, which is commonplace in Mexico but not so in those parts. What the artist is interested in is “the thought process behind these characters, the inner world of the social group using the ma-chine and their contrasts.”

Limón’s four-channel video installa-tion complete with tortilla machine sound track can be seen at the PinchukArtCentre –one of Europe’s most prestigious contem-porary art centers– until January 2015, af-ter which it will travel to the Venice Bien-nial in May 2015 along with the works of the other 20 finalists.

pinchukartcentre.org

ture and ceramic art collection that focuses on a fundamental element of pre-Hispanic plastic art: the body seen from four per-spectives –the body as a canvas, the cov-ered body, the animal counterpart and the bodies of the divinity.

Maya: The Language of Beauty will be held at the National Museum of China (NMC), Beijing, located in historic Tianan-men Square, until March 8, 2015.

These two exhibitions have been pos-sible thanks to close collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), through the Mexican Embassy in China, the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA), the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA), the Chinese Ministry of Culture, among others.

www.namoc.org

sp.chnmuseum.cn

www.riosecretomexico.com.mx

www.worldtravelawards.com

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60 December 2014 December 2014


The Aztec EmpireExtends to Oceania

The Return of the Serpent, Mathias Go-eritz and the Invention of Emotional Ar-chitecture will be opening at Madrid’s Reina Sofía Museum on April 13, 2015.

An attempt to reveal Goeritz’s experi-mental, analytical and playful approach to art, the exhibition features some 200 works, including drawings, sketches, scale models, photographs, sculptures and paintings on wood.

Curator Francisco Reyes Palma has promised visitors “a lot of surprises” from an artist who “plays with language as if it were an almost childlike poem.”

According to Reyes, the legacy of Goeritz –who was born in Poland but naturalized a citizen of Mexico where he produced most of his work– remains very much alive today among “conceptual art,” “relational art” or “art mediation” groups that are aware of the processes behind the distribution and reception of their work.

ARCHITECTURE

Mathias Goeritz at the Reina Sofía

HISTORY

The itinerant exhibition Aztecs, Conquest and Glory has received thousands of visi-tors on its travels through Europe. In mid-

September 2014, it opened at the Austra-lian Museum, where it will remain until February 1, 2015.

A wonderful opportunity for people in other parts of the world to learn more about the Aztec civilization, the exhibi-tion consists of no less than 266 artifacts from museums like the Teotihuacán Ar-chaeological Zone, the National Anthro-pology Museum, the National Viceroyalty Museum and the National Anthropology and History Library, including breathtak-ing possessions of Aztec rulers crafted by skilled artisans.

In the 15th Century, while Europe was entering the Renaissance, the Aztecs con-trolled a large empire with a complex social and economic organization and world vision.

Multimedia touch screens reveal the mysteries of this culture rich in folklore, from the origins and evolution of the Aztec people to their religious beliefs and ritu-als, the life of their royals and common-ers, their markets, trade and agriculture, war and the Spanish conquest that finally brought about the fall of the empire.

australianmuseum.net.au

The Return of the Serpent, which focuses on Goeritz’s most emblematic works, leaves the spectator in no doubt whatsoever that his entire oeuvre was based on his perception of art as a meta-artistic project that extends to the social, political and public spheres.

During his lifetime, Goeritz not only produced paintings, sculptures, graphic art and visual poetry but also designed buildings.

www.museoreinasofia.es

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Mexico will be participating in the 56th Venice Biennial with Possessing Nature, a project by Tania Candiani (1975) and Luis Felipe Ortega (1966).

In an attempt to break with the im-mediate present and get us to reflect on the past, the artists have based their project on the notion of Mexico City and Venice as floating cities whose architec-ture is closely tied in with the presence of water.

But while Venice enjoyed almost five centuries of dominance due to its prox-imity to the ocean, the lakes on which Mexico City stands were dried out in colonial times. Possessing Nature looks at how these two cities have evolved in terms of lifestyle, social memory, singu-larities and differences.

Mexico at the Venice Biennial

New York’s Botanical Garden plans to stage a recreation of Frida Kahlo’s garden and studio home as part of the exhibition Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden and Life that will be showing from May 16 through No-vember 1, 2015.

Featuring species of flowers and plants Frida planted in her garden, mainly ones native to Mexico, the aim of the exhibition is to illustrate the textures and colors of these same flowers and plants that appear in her portraits and other works.

A dozen paintings and original draw-ings of Frida’s inspired by botanical themes will also be on show, along with a few works by her husband, Diego Rivera.

This will be the first exhibition of Frida’s work held in New York in over a quarter of a century.

Kahlo (1907-1954) was born in Mex-ico City, where she had two main homes: the Blue House in the Coyoacán district, and her studio home in San Ángel, where she produced some 100 works.

www.nybg.org

ART

New York to Recreate Frida Kahlo’s Garden

ART

Details on the form the piece will take and its support medium won’t be revealed until the exhibition opens on May 9, 2015, at the Arms Room of the

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Venetian Arsenal, where it will remain on show until November 22, 2015.

www.labiennale.org

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December 2014 | January 2015 December 2014 | January 2015

The Lifestyle The Lifestyle

Walls, windows, spaces, forms, colors and lines all acquire a fresh perspective in the works of Enrique Norten (Mexico City, 1954), coming together in an act of pure creation that can only be described as sub-lime.

Norten founded TEN Arquitectos (Taller Enrique Norten) 28 years ago and his artistic superiority and prestige have grown with every new undertaking. Today his is a familiar name on the contemporary architecture scene.

ENRIQUE NORTEN:The Mexican Who changedThe Face oF archiTecTure With offices in Mexico and New York and a portfolio of international projects, TEN Arquitectos is one of the most prestigious architecture firms on the planet.

by antonio vázquez

TEN is an acronym that spells the num-ber ten, the highest qualification many in-stitutions grant. In Enrique Norten’s case, TEN means just that: excellence, concepts and ideas that materialize into extraordi-nary buildings.

According to the famous New York gallery owner Max Protetch, Norten is the most important architect Mexico has pro-duced since the mythical Luis Barragán.

With offices in Mexico and New York, TEN Arquitectos is among the internation-

al elite in its field and has left its mark on cultural, tourism, educational, recreation-al, residential, corporate, urban, interior design and landscape projects in Mexico, the United States, Europe and various countries in Latin America.

Mexico City’s National Theater School, built by Norten in the mid-1990s, has a cylindrical roof that TEN says was the result of “a dialogue between the proj-ect and its natural and urban context”. The building, which has three stage areas,

New York is a city that has embraced the talent of this

creative Mexican architect, who designed the Brooklyn

Public Library for the Visual and Performing Arts and the

New York Public Library, which is currently undergoing

construction. Scheduled to open its doors in 2015, this

20-million-usd project includes a three level building that

stands on some 2,600 square meters of land.

rehearsal rooms, reading rooms and of-fices, constitutes Norten’s contribution to the city’s artistic and educational heritage.

And when it comes to putting Mexico in the international spotlight, Norten sur-passed himself in 2004 with the space he created for an exhibition of artifacts from the Aztec Empire at New York’s Guggen-heim Museum. Availing himself of folds and incisions, he managed to ensure the hundreds of Pre-Hispanic pieces on dis-play were visible from every angle in the room.

New York is a city that has embraced the talent of this creative Mexican archi-tect, who designed the Brooklyn Public Li-brary for the Visual and Performing Arts and the New York Public Library, which is currently undergoing construction. Scheduled to open its doors in 2015, this 20-million-usd project includes a three level building that stands on some 2,600 square meters of land.

Likewise, the Bowery and Harlem Park hotels, the Sebastian+Barquet Gallery and the BAM South Side building in New York’s cultural district play a part in the architectural magic Norten has invoked to captivate New York.

TEN Arquitectos has also been invited to participate in urban design projects, like the New Orleans River Front, a long term project for the refurbishment of four and a half miles of river bank that pro-vides for synergies between commercial, cultural and open spaces and transporta-tion systems.

Norten graduated from the Iberoamer-icana University in 1978 and the extensive body of work he has since created has been the theme of exhibitions in Russia, France and Germany and has been recognized by organizations like the Society of American Registered Architects, the Municipal Art Society of New York and the World Cul-tural Council.

But there’s more to his calling as an architect than creating. Sharing his knowl-edge is just as important to Norten, who holds the Miller Chair at the University of Pennsylvania, the O’Neil Ford Chair in Architecture at the University of Texas and the Lorch Professor of Architecture Chair at the University of Michigan. Nph

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FiFTy24Mx

This gallery has become a firm favorite among the increasing number of cultural options on the stately Roma district’s art corridor. An offshoot of the Fifty24 San Francisco project, Fifty24Mx has shown the work of artists of the stature of Este-van Oriol, Pedro Friedeberg, Peter Ken-nard, Elisa Malo, Meredith Dittmar and Acamonchi, among other well-known names in the world of contemporary art. One of its distinguishing marks is its fo-cus on the handiwork of the artist and the originality with which he intervenes his materials of choice, as opposed to mere symbolic representations of an object tak-en out of context.

fifty24mx.com

yAuTepec

This project is directly linked to Alexis Maya, who has earned a name on the con-temporary art market. Founded by Daniel Elbahara and Brett W. Schultz, in the six years since it opened its doors it has tak-en calculated risks in a bid to appeal to a broad public, coming up with an attractive portfolio that includes lesser known works by emerging talents, balanced out by pieces by more established artists. Its walls have been graced by the likes of Aníbal Catalán, Calixto Ramírez and Alexis Mata, to name just a few.

yau.com.mx

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THE FINE ART OF ExHIbITINgMany of Mexico’s contemporary art galleries are rated among the most important in the region and several have an international presence. Each has its own unmistakable voice.

by rogelio villareal

Mexico’s vast cultural wealth isn’t limited to its most deeply rooted traditions but also extends to the contemporary art expressions that have lent it its own unique identity over the last century, an identity that has found its voice in the hands of talented curators.

From the selection of works by Mexican talents to those of artists from other coun-tries, the level of professionalism of Mexico’s curators has given rise to galleries and exhi-bition centers that have earned international recognition.

It was during the last quarter of the 20th century that Mexico managed to position

itself on the international art gallery and museum circuit, where it continues to con-solidate its reputation as a showcase for con-temporary art.

The list of Mexican galleries is a long one but some of the more successful proj-ects include Eds, Patricia Conde, Altiplano, Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, Proyectos Monclova, Kurimanzutto, Labor, Nina Menocal, Yautepec, Fifty24Mx, OMR, Vértigo, Curro & Poncho, Diéresis, Myto and Alfredo Ginocchio.

Let’s take a gander at some of the ones based in Mexico City.

KuriMAnzuTTo

Number 20 on the list of the world’s top galleries, Kurimanzutto has been promot-ing contemporary artists like Dr. Lakra, Minerva Cuevas, Gabriel Kuri, Roman Ondak, Sofía Táboas, Fernando Ortega and Eduardo Abaroa since it was founded in 1999 by José Kuri, Mónica Manzutto and Gabriel Orozco. The gallery is located in the city’s San Miguel Chapultepec dis-trict and aside from its exhibition spaces per se has a documentation center and re-search area.

www.kurimanzutto.com

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pATriciA conde

With a distinct leaning toward photogra-phy, the Patricia Conde Gallery aims to establish itself as a key player on Mexico’s art exhibition scene and afford its artists exposure abroad. Founded in 2003, the works of photographers like Francisco Mata Rosas, Ana Casas, Dulce Pinzón, Ga-briel Figueroa and Yolanda Andrade have breathed life into Conde’s project, which has a strong presence on today’s gallery circuits and a bright future.

www.patriciacondegaleria.com

proyecTos MonclovA

José García founded Proyectos Monclova in 2005 in the Roma Norte district and has con-sistently selected examples of contemporary art that have enabled it to get a foothold in Mexi-co’s gallery circuit in Mexico, to the point where it is now a familiar name on the country’s con-temporary art scene.

In 2012, the artists Teófilo Cohen and David Trabulsi joined García, broadening the gallery’s horizons and allowing it to further its mission of catapulting its artists to international acclaim and with them Proyectos Monclova as a gal-lery that promotes research and art of an export standard.

proyectosmonclova.com

The Nina Menocal Gallery began life as the Ninart Gallery in the thriving Roma district and has been setting the bar since the early nineties when Menocal became the first gal-lerist to treat Mexican spectators to the work of contemporary Cuban artists. The gallery later opened its walls and floors to photo-graphs and videos, paintings and installation art by artists from Mexico and other Latin American countries, generally young, up-and-coming talents that are trying to carve out a place in Mexico’s art circuits.

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Alfredo Gunocchiowww.ginocchiogaleria.com

Altiplanowww.altiplanogaleria.com

Arróniz Arte Contemporáneowww.arroniz-arte.com

Curro & Ponchocurroyponcho.com

Diéresiswww.dieresis.com

Edswww.edsgaleria.com

Laborwww.labor.org.mx

Myto Gallerywww.mytogallery.com

Vértigovertigogaleria.com

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Three decades in the business of hunting down and selecting works of art and cu-rating exhibitions have established OMR as one of the most prestigious galleries in the country. Patricia Ortiz Monasterio and Jaime Riestra have remained true to their calling to promote independent art that is or has the potential to be significant in na-tional and international art circles. In ad-dition to its exhibition space, OMR has its own bookstore, library and research stu-dio to encourage artists and the public at large to acquire a greater appreciation of contemporary art.

www.galeriaomr.com

In 2008, Menocal’s dedication to her profession was acknowledged when her name was featured on the list of owners and managers of the world’s 30 leading art galleries published in the book Wom-en Gallerists in the 20th and 21st Centu-ries. Now located in the city’s San Miguel Chapultepec district, artists like Arturo Cuenca, René Francisco, Omar Torres and Carlos Aguirre have shown here.

www.ninamenocal.com

wAnT To see More?

ninA MenocAl

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The chef’s underlying goal is to preserve the distinct Mexican

flavors of his dishes in a country that is over 9,000 kilometers

from their source. And he has managed to do just that, while

fusing them with European ingredients and respecting the

changing seasons of the year.

A TASTE OF MExICOin Barcelona

An ancestral Mesoamerican culinary tradition and a chef from Menorca, Spain, have

come together to create one of Barcelona’s most original restaurants: Oaxaca Cuina

Mexicana, located in Pla de Palau, one of this cosmopolitan city’s main squares.

Chef Joan Bagur –a seasoned traveler and enthusiast of Mexican cuisine, especially that of Southern Mexico– combines the spicy, acidic notes of Mexican food with the aromatic flavors of Iberian cuisine to produce exquisite and often unexpected textures and fusions. The restaurant’s bar, Oaxaca Cuina Mexicana Mezcalería, is the only one in Europe to carry over 200 types of mezcal to complement its menu.

It was at the turn of the century that Bagur traveled to Mexico, where his sense of taste was captivated by the flavors he discovered here. For 15 years he worked alongside Carmen Ramírez Degollado “Titita,” founder of the famous Mexican restaurant El Bajío, and in close quarters to Diana Kennedy, an acclaimed research-er of Mexican food and author of books like The Cuisines of Mexico, The Essential Cuisines of Mexico and Oaxaca al gusto. At El Bajío, Bagur learned the techniques of the mayoras –the name given to tradi-tional indigenous cooks– who measure out

by antonio vázquez

photos courtesy of oaxaca cuina mexicana

the ingredients of their dishes in handfuls and pinches. He later traveled to the prov-inces, where he snuck into the kitchens of restaurants and markets, only to fall hope-lessly in love with the country’s traditional fare after sampling and researching its di-versity and complexity.

Back in Spain, Bagur created his own contemporary version of traditional Mexi-can cuisine with his partner, Iñaki Lz. De Viñaspre, and came up with a menu that is a veritable work of art.

The chef’s underlying goal is to pre-serve the distinct Mexican flavors of his dishes in a country that is over 9,000 ki-lometers from their source. And he has managed to do just that, while fusing them with European ingredients and respecting the changing seasons of the year.

Oaxaca Cuina Mexicana is for people who want to try something new. The menu features a wide variety of fish, meat, poul-try and seafood dishes, like cod in Tikin-xik sauce (a Maya sauce popular in the Yu-catán Peninsula), anglerfish with goosefoot and green mole (a sauce made with several kinds of chili peppers, almonds, peanuts, ground corn, cinnamon, chocolate and a whole host of other ingredients), cochinita pibil made with Iberian pork, Michoacán-style pork carnitas, chicken in black mole from Oaxaca, marrow in Galician salsa, Sonora-style rib of beef, salsa ground in a stone mortar, guacamole, tuna in mezcal sauce, prickly pear salad and lime soup. For dessert, patrons can choose from a citrus and pulque soup (an alcoholic bev-erage made from the maguey plant) and guava atole.

A deep respect for ancestral Mexican cuisine is what makes eating at Oaxaca Cuina Mexicana an authentic experience, washed down with a shot of mezcal and crowned by the genius of a chef with a restless palate. What better way to enjoy a taste of Mexico in Barcelona! N

www.oaxacacocinamexicana.com

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rAicillA

There are records going as far back as the 16th Century of raicilla being made by indigenous communities, which equated its consumption with mystical experiences.The method for distilling raicilla is simi-lar to that used for mezcal and tequila, the only difference being the type of plant and its age. The agave it is made from is known as lechuguilla and must be at least six years old before it is cut.

Lechuguilla is native to Jalisco, which explains why raicilla is produced exclusively in that state, namely in the municipalities of Atenguillo, Cuautla, Guachinango, Mascota, San Sebastián del Oeste, Talpa de Allende, Atengo, Ayutla, Cabo Corrientes, Chiquilistlán, Puerto Vallarta, Tecolotlán and Tomat-lán, several of which are deemed the most striking in all of Mexico in terms of their natural beauty.

Raicilla is a popular beverage in Puerto Vallarta, especially among for-eign visitors to this tourism destination of breathtaking scenery that lies within the beverage’s appellation of origin.

Drinking raicilla should be a sensory experience and those in the know recom-mend Raicilla de Crisanta, a distillery lo-cated between Mascota and Puerto Val-larta. In Mexico City, a popular watering hole where raicilla drinkers gather is La Nacional in the Roma district.

MezcAl

They say the best mezcals are produced in Oaxaca, where an age-old tradition of dis-tilling the beverage and the type of maguey it is made from have earned the region appellation of origin. Some brands have a maguey worm suspended in the liquid at the bottom of the bottle, which is sup-posed to go down with the last swig.

Needless to say, Oaxaca is the best place to sample mezcal, although it’s also produced in Guerrero, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas and other states in the country such as Guanajuato and Tamauli-pas. A trip includes numerous attractions. One option is to book a room at the Azul Oaxaca boutique hotel in the city center and order a shot of the king of mezcals: Casco Legendario.

If a trip to Oaxaca is out of the ques-tion, Pujol, Chef Enrique Olvera’s res-taurant in Mexico City, carries the best known brands, or make a reservation at Guzina Oaxaca restaurant –it has a menu created by Chef Alejandro Ruiz from the internationally acclaimed Casa Oaxaca– both located in the Polanco district. If you’re already familiar with the neat ver-sion and are looking for something new, Bar Artemisia in the Roma district mixes up some mezcal-based cocktails that will surprise even connoisseurs.

TequilA

By far the most popular spirit in Mexico, its appellation of origin demands compli-ance with strict standards: if it wasn’t pro-duced in Jalisco or certain municipalities of Nayarit, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas and Michoacán and doesn’t contain at least 51% blue agave, it isn’t tequila.

In Mexico City, we recommend the cocktails at Limantour, which has branch-es in the Roma and Polanco districts and is rated one of the 50 best bars in the world. Another option is La Casa de las Sirenas besides the Templo Mayor in the city’s

FIvE MExICAN SpIRITS TO LIFT

THE SpIRITSSimilar in origin but produced

using different methods, the subtle flavors of these spirits speak to a

long Mexican tradition of distilling alcoholic beverages.

Their common denominator is the maguey or agave plant, whose juices, transformed into mezcal, tequila, raicilla, sotol and ba-canora, are synonymous with Mexico, where those plants grow from the deserts in the north to the jungles of the south.

The five spirits are similar but definitely not the same. Their unique aroma, flavor and color depend on the type of maguey they are made from, which in turn depends on the soil and weather conditions in that

by diana osuna

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particular region and the distilling process used, among other factors.

Many roads lead to the fruits of the agave plant. Sometimes it’s best to sample them in the towns where they are produced; other times they’re best accompanied with a traditional dish in a fine Mexican restaurant. It all depends on your mood, curiosity and how much time you have on your hands. But there is no doubt that these spirits will delight even the most discerning of palates.

Historic Center, which has a list of 250 tequilas.

Another mandatory point-of-call is the Tequila and Mezcal Museum in iconic Garibaldi Square, where you can sample dozens of brands.

But if you really want to get to the roots of this particular spirit, a visit to Casa Cu-ervo in the town of Tequila, Jalisco, is a must. Here you’ll also find La Capilla, where Javier Delgado converts his visitors into tequila disciples with concoctions like “La Batanga”.

Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle


bACAnoRA

Bacanora is produced in North Mexico from the vivipara agave. A colorless spirit, it is similar to mezcal –many consider the two distant cousins.

There is evidence to suggest bacanora was consumed as far back as the 16th Cen-tury by the indigenous communities of So-nora, the state that produces the greatest volume of the spirit. Like raicilla and sotol, bacanora was once prohibited and was also associated with otherworldly experiences.

In recent years, bacanora distilleries have sought tighter regulation in an attempt to reach a larger market.

Word has it the best bacanora is found at its source. We recommend you stay at Ha-cienda Los Magueyes in Bacanora, Sonora. Here you can visit the nurseries where the vivipara agave is grown, the bottling factory and warehouses.

Containing up to 40% alcohol, bacano-ra is a spirit for seasoned throats only. The best brands include Puro Chuqui, produced by Hacienda Los Magueyes, and Bacanora Pascola.

soTol

This spirit is obtained from a maguey known as sereque, a desert variety of the plant that is so fragile it was classed as an endangered species just over a decade ago. In 2002, the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango were granted appellation of origin, resulting in a considerable increase in its consumption and distribution.

Sotol is an organic beverage and has an alcohol content of between 38 and 45%. Made using traditional methods, it has a strong, smoky flavor. There are several brands on the market and its varieties in-clude young, aged and rested sotol. You can also find cured varieties made with da-miana, wereke, golden shower tree flowers and green apple.

The perfect accompaniment to fresh foods, its aged version is an excellent di-gestive, especially after eating red meat.

One of the more traditional, well-known brands is El Excéntrico, produced by a distillery located between Coahuila and Durango. Tours of the facilities are available and you get to sample the end product.ph

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Negocios ProMéxico

Para ExPorTadorES

La miSióN: PyMes Mexicanas con Presencia global

Canacintra y ProMéxico han estrechado lazos de colaboración para contribuir en conjunto a la internacionalización de las pequeñas y medianas empresas mexicanas, de cara a los compromisos

comerciales que el país está por asumir.

LogíSTica: Pieza clave del coMercio internacional

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SoBrE EL cumPLimiENTo dE LaS oBLigacioNES FiScaLES

y el coMercio exterior

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méxico EN EL muNdo

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coNcEPToS cLavEPara incursionar con éxito

en nuevos Mercados

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en el coMercio exterior de México

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Para Exportadores

deproméxico.

La distribución de bienes y servicios en los mercados in-ternacionales representa un gran reto para las empresas que han consolidado su par-

ticipación en el ámbito local, pero desean extender sus operaciones o cobertura a otras regiones. En esta edición se publican un par de reflexiones relacionadas con este tema y se exponen algunos factores relevan-tes en el proceso de internacionalización de las pymes mexicanas. Debe incentivarse que más de estas empresas participen en nuevos mercados, aprovechen la apertura económi-ca del país y el vínculo comercial con mer-cados tradicionales y no tradicionales.

La logística y el desarrollo de infraes-tructura son dos componentes cruciales en la apertura y competitividad comercial de las naciones. En esta edición se incluye una interesante reflexión en torno al desarrollo logístico nacional, el cual se ha consolidado como uno de los más modernos en América Latina. Se señalan varias áreas de oportuni-dad –sobre todo en las cadenas de suminis-tro– y se enfatizan algunos de los esfuerzos

realizados en distintos niveles para optimi-zar los procesos logísticos nacionales.

También se incluye una entrevista en tor-no a la relevancia de los apoyos financieros que ofrece la banca, y su incidencia en la promoción de exportaciones y la consolida-ción de proyectos. Los respaldos financieros repercuten directamente en la concreción de iniciativas comerciales en otros países, por lo que deben utilizarse los servicios que ofrece la banca, además de aprovechar las sinergias institucionales existentes sobre este tema.

Por último, se menciona la importancia del cumplimiento oportuno de las obli-gaciones fiscales de las empresas. Los as-pectos contables y administrativos deben supervisarse de forma permanente con el propósito de evitar contratiempos que obstaculicen el progreso o conclusión de las actividades comerciales. También se incluye una infografía sobre el comercio internacional de México, que reúne datos representativos relacionados con la parti-cipación del país en distintas regiones.

Esperemos que los contenidos de esta edición sean de su interés.

¡Bienvenidos a Negocios ProMéxico!

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BrEvEs

Según estimaciones de la Comisión Eco-nómica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), los países de América deberían invertir 6.2% anual de su producto inter-no bruto (PIB) –unos 320,000 millones de dólares– para satisfacer sus demandas de infraestructura en el periodo 2012-2020.

Según la base de datos de inversio-nes en infraestructura económica en América Latina y el Caribe, la inversión promedio regional fue de 3.49% del PIB (2012). Costa Rica fue el país que más invirtió en infraestructura (en total 5.47% del PIB entre inversión pública y privada), seguido por Uruguay (5.08%), Nicaragua (4.93%), Bolivia (4.47%),

INFRAESTRUCTURA

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La Cámara Nacional de la Industria Edi-torial Mexicana (CANIEM) fomenta la presencia del libro mexicano en otras re-giones del mundo. Desde hace más de 50 años agrupa a la mayoría de los editores de libros y publicaciones periódicas del país, y promueve su difusión, defendiendo los intereses de sus agremiados y colaborando con las instituciones públicas y privadas para fomentar la lectura, entre otros fines.

Un objetivo permanente de la CANIEM es que México tenga una mayor presencia en el extranjero mediante estrategias co-merciales y promocionales que incidan en la promoción de exportaciones de libros y contenidos nacionales.

La CANIEM orienta a las empresas que estén interesadas en asistir a eventos editoriales en el exterior. Se coordina con autoridades culturales y comerciales de otros países y mantienen su representación permanente en eventos internacionales rea-lizados en Bolonia (Italia), Book Expo of América (Nueva York), y Fráncfort (Ale-mania). La CANIEM también participa en las ferias que se realizan en distintos países en Centroamérica –México ha sido invita-do de honor en varias ocasiones–, así como en países de América del Sur.

INDUSTRIAS CREATIVAS

LiBros y coNtENido dE méxico EN EL ExtErior

Perú (4.46%) y Brasil (4.10%). México registró 3.32%, el mismo nivel que tuvo Panamá en ese año.

Los países en América Latina y el Cari-be deben invertir más recursos en este ru-

En estos espacios, la CANIEM estable-ce contactos con profesionales del sector en el extranjero y asesora a los editores afilia-dos en sus negociaciones, sobre todo en lo concerniente a la compra o venta de dere-chos editoriales, libros y traducciones, entre otros contenidos. En 2013 las exportacio-nes de libros y contenidos fueron de 141.5 millones de dólares, lo que representó un in-

cremento de 3.4% respecto al año anterior. Cabe destacar que México será el invitado de honor en la próxima Feria del Libro que se realizará en Londres, Inglaterra en 2015, con el objetivo de promover la ven-ta y la difusión de la producción de los autores, editores y contenidos mexicanos.

www.caniem.com

bro que es fundamental para la inserción regional en la economía global y para me-jorar la calidad de vida de sus habitantes.

www.cepal.org

BrEvEs BrEvEs

Durante 2013 –con la asistencia del Pre-sidente Barack Obama como anfitrión– se efectuó la Primera Cumbre de Inver-sión SelectUSA en la que participaron más de 1,300 personas provenientes de 60 países. También acudieron goberna-dores, alcaldes y oficiales de desarrollo económico de casi todo el país, entre otros funcionarios.

La Segunda Cumbre de Inversión Se-lectUSA se realizará el 23 y 24 de marzo de 2015 en el Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center (cerca de Washington, D.C.) con el propósito de:• Aprendersobreelclimayoportunida-

des de negocios e inversión en Estados Unidos, incluyendo los proyectos de infraestructura a través de la Iniciativa de Inversión Build America.

sE rEaLizará cumBrE dE iNvErsióN 2015 EN Estados uNidos

• Programarreunionesprivadaseindi-viduales con empresarios, proveedo-res de servicios y autoridades regio-nales y municipales.

• Conocerelpuntodevistadediferentesoradores corporativos y de alto nivel del gobierno federal, así como sobre las leyes, iniciativas e incentivos existentes para los inversionistas, entre otros. El mercado estadounidense es reco-

nocido por su clima de negocios trans-parente, justo y estable y presenta una oportunidad incomparable para los in-versionistas extranjeros.

El Gobierno de ese país, a través del programa SelectUSA, brinda servicios de primer nivel a las pymes, así como a em-presas multinacionales para que establez-can inversiones productivas en los Estados

En el marco de la vigésimo segunda Cumbre de Líderes de las Economías del Foro de Coo-peración Asia-Pacífico (APEC), el Presidente Enrique Peña Nieto afirmó que la conectivi-dad y la infraestructura son aspectos funda-mentales para impulsar el comercio, la pro-ductividad y la competitividad de la región.

México busca convertirse en un centro logístico de alto valor agregado. El Progra-ma Nacional de Infraestructura (PNI) 2014-2018 inició una nueva etapa en la construc-ción, modernización y conservación de la infraestructura nacional.

El PNI prevé una inversión histórica superior a los 600,000 millones de dólares, considera la ampliación y modernización de 3,000 kilómetros de autopistas y un aumen-to en la capacidad de los puertos de 280 a 500 millones de toneladas al año. Asimismo, prevé la construcción del nuevo Aeropuer-to Internacional de la Ciudad de México (AICM) para incrementar su capacidad a 120 millones de pasajeros anuales.

www.presidencia.gob.mx

INFRAESTRUCTURA

méxico sE coNvErtirá EN uN cENtro Logístico dE aLto vaLor agrEgado

INVERSIÓN Y COMERCIO

Parques industriales en Cuautitlán Izcalli (Estado de México), Mexicali y Tijua-na (Baja California), Puebla y San Luis Potosí participan en el programa piloto para la obtención del Nuevo Esquema de Empresa Certificada (NEEC).

El objetivo del proyecto piloto es que la Administración General de Aduanas (AGA), la Asociación Mexicana de Parques Industriales (AMPIP) y la Confederación de Operadores Económicos Autorizados de Latinoamérica, España y el Caribe (COEA-LAC) identifiquen la operación de un parque y sus usuarios con el fin de redactar el per-fil real del recinto. Una vez que el proyecto concluya se presentarán los beneficios de este esquema para desarrolladores y almacenes.

t21.com.mX

INFRAESTRUCTURA

ParQuEs iNdustriaLEsEN Busca dE cErtificacióN

Unidos. Asimismo, proporciona informa-ción sustantiva sobre las ventajas para operar en el país, brinda orientación sobre estándares, reglas y regulaciones federales, facilita información e investigaciones ac-tualizadas sobre las cadenas de suministro adecuadas para la empresa, así como insu-mos sobre la capacitación y las fuentes de financiamiento más convenientes.

Según últimas proyecciones, Estados Unidos tiene con una población superior a los 319 millones de personas por lo que representa el mercado más impor-tante en el mundo. Asimismo, mantiene tratados de libre comercio con 20 países, lo que facilita el acceso a consumidores en otras regiones. Su fuerza laboral es muy competitiva, desarrolla actividades de investigación y desarrollo de vanguar-dia, además de proteger los derechos de propiedad intelectual, entre otros facto-res que han incentivado la operación y establecimiento de nuevos negocios.

www.buyusa.gov/mexico

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BrEvEs BrEvEs

energía renovable

La empresa regiomontana Deacero pro-yecta invertir alrededor de 250 millones de dólares en una nueva planta de ciclo combinado para producir 250 megawatts (MW) de electricidad al año.

La planta, ubicada en Celaya, Gua-najuato, se construirá con el fin de redu-

A través de la Fundación José Cuervo, Tequila Cuervo invertirá 300 millones de dólares para crear un corredor turístico en cuatro etapas, hasta el 2040, en el munici-pio de Tequila, Jalisco.

La nueva ruta turística unirá median-te un tren a Tequila con Puerto Vallarta y Guadalajara en Jalisco, así como con San Miguel de Allende en Guanajuato.

El proyecto busca ser un detonador de inversiones en comercios, hoteles y servi-cios en general a lo largo del corredor.

www.mundocuervo.com

TURISMO

EL tEQuiLa: uN NEgocio rEdoNdo

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Red Ambiental, una de las principales compañías mexicanas dedicadas al ne-gocio de recolección y confinamiento de basura, construirá una nueva base de ope-raciones en Nuevo León, en el municipio de Salinas Victoria, en el que invertirá 80 millones de pesos.

La nueva unidad –cuya construcción iniciará en el 2015 y será casi cuatro ve-ces superior a la que construyó la com-pañía en el municipio de Santa Catarina en 2012– dará mantenimiento a todas las unidades de recolección de basura de los municipios de Monterrey, Apodaca, Escobedo y San Nicolás.

www.redambiental.com

SUSTENTABILIDAD

NEgocio LimPio

El Gobierno de la República invierte más de mil millones de dólares en los puer-tos del país, 75% más que el promedio anual durante la década pasada, aseguró el Coordinador General de Puertos y Ma-rina Mercante, Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa durante la 103 Convención y Exposición Anual de la Asociación Americana de Au-toridades Portuarias (AAPA) celebrada del 3 al 9 de noviembre en Houston, Texas.

En 2013, el comercio marítimo en México creció 6.8%, mientras que el PIB lo hizo 1.2%. Destacó el desarrollo de varios proyectos de infraestructura por-tuaria como el de Lázaro Cárdenas, Mi-choacán que se convertirá en un parque logístico que albergará contenedores y di-ferentes tipos de carga. Hace unos meses inauguró la primera etapa de la segunda terminal de contenedores de este puerto. Se contempla que para 2018 sea la pri-mer terminal totalmente automatizada de América Latina, con una eficiencia de 200 contenedores por hora buque.

Asimismo, se indicó que en el puerto de Manzanillo se construye un nuevo tú-nel ferroviario para que los trenes entren y salgan las 24 horas del día los siete días de la semana. Se mencionó que el puerto de Veracruz ha recibido inversiones por casi

INFRAESTRUCTURA

méxico iNviErtE más dE miL miLLoNEs dE dóLarEs EN sus PuErtos

Maxcom Telecomunicaciones invertirá aproximadamente 910 millones de pesos en capital expenditures (CAPEX) para aumentar y modernizar su infraestructu-ra y atraer a más usuarios.

La firma espera que en 2015 los seg-mentos residencial y comercial sean los que presenten los mejores márgenes y apunta-len el crecimiento de Maxcom, una vez que se hayan puesto en marcha las nuevas tecnologías inalámbricas de la compañía.

www.maxcom.com.mx

TELECOMUNICACIONES

aPuEsta a futuro

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ENErgía LimPia, mENorEs costos

cir costos en el consumo de electricidad en la empresa.

Deacero consume 400 MW al año de energía eléctrica, por lo que reducirá sus gastos con este proyecto.

www.deacero.com

4,600 millones de dólares con el propósito de consolidarse en 2024 como uno de los principales puertos de América Latina.

Puerto Progreso, situado en la pe-nínsula de Yucatán ha diversificado sus servicios y maneja en la actualidad todo tipo de carga, así como cruceros y em-barcaciones turísticas, mientras que el puerto de Tuxpan –más especializado en servicios relacionados con el petró-

leo– se trabaja en el dragado del canal de navegación a una profundidad de 45 pies, además de la construcción de una nueva terminal de contenedores y carga de automóviles. De esta manera, se con-solidará como un punto estratégico para el suministro de combustible y carga de manufactura comercial en el país.

www.sct.gob.mx

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Diciembre 2014 | Enero 2015

Para Exportadores Para Exportadores

MÉXICOEN ELMUNDOEl comercio internacionalde México en cifras

Fuente: Banco de México, Global Trade Atlas (cifras revisadas, noviembre de 2014).

Por sector

ExportacionesMillones de dólares

VariaciónMismo periodo en 2013

Productos metálicosmaquinaria y equipo

8.3%

ESTADOS UNIDOS

234,388 (79.7 % del total)

#3

#4

#7

#9

#8

#1

#2

#6

#5

COLOMBIA$3,427 | 1.2%

CANADÁ$7,863 | 2.7% ESPAÑA

$4,916 | 1.7%ALEMANIA

$2,674 | 0.9%INDIA

$2,084 | 0.7%CHINA

$4,699 | 1.6%JAPÓN

$1,991 | 0.7%

BRASIL$3,721 | 1.3%

Alimentos, bebidas y tabaco

-1.4%

186,610

Enero-septiembre 2014Millones de dólares

Minerometalurgia

4.2%

10,111

Química

8,425

Productos de plásticoy caucho

7.1%

7,837

Manufacturera

279,395

6.7%

Extractivas

4,305

13.1%

Rubro

Ene.Oct. ‘14

Variación ’13

Petroleras

37,350

-9.9%

Agropecuarias

10,042

10.0%

Principalessocioscomercialesde México

$ Exportacionesacumuladas deenero a septiembre

Millones de dólares

%Participación delas exportacionesmexicanas totalesEnero a septiembre de 2014

331,092 millones de dólaresentre enero y octubrede 2014 (un incrementode 4.7% con respecto almismo periodo en 2013).

-16.5%

8,274

(Cifras oportunas,noviembre 2014)

de 2014

PAÍSES BAJOS$1,644 | 0.6%

10#

85





Para Exportadores Para Exportadoresfotos archivo

Es preciso determinar con anticipación si una empresa está lista para acceder a nue-vos mercados; para ello se debe analizar si la empresa cuenta ya con los procesos y la estructura necesarios para concretar ope-raciones en el exterior, sin que esto impli-que un descuido del mercado interno. Asi-mismo, se debe evaluar qué tan fácil o di-fícil será colocar sus productos o servicios en el mercado objetivo, o si será necesario primero adecuarlos a los gustos o requeri-mientos particulares del mercado objetivo. Por último, es necesario asegurarse de que los canales de distribución y la logística de transportación sean competitivos, a efecto de que el proceso de internacionalización se concrete sin mayores contratiempos.

coNcEPtos cLavEpara incursionar con éxito en nuevos mercados

Posicionar bienes y servicios en mercados internacionales

representa un gran reto para las empresas que se han consolidado en su ámbito local. Las empresas

que desean internacionalizarse y participar con éxito en nuevos

mercados deberán considerar ciertos factores cruciales.

por ÓSCAR pERALTA CASARES*

Las empresas deben tener procedi-mientos muy estrictos, desde aspectos como el reclutamiento y la selección del personal, hasta la elección de la calidad de sus materiales o los métodos de abas-tecimiento de materias primas, sin dejar de lado cada uno de sus procesos inter-nos. Es deseable que los procesos pro-ductivos y el sistema de gestión de cali-dad de la empresa se midan a través de indicadores clave de desempeño.

La comercialización debe impulsarse a través de una red de personas que tengan el perfil comercial necesario para cada mercado. Cada región tiene sus peculia-ridades, por lo que la demanda de sus mercados siempre será distinta. Deberá evitarse homologar los criterios de mer-cado, sobre todo si se desea impulsar una estrategia de comercialización exitosa.

Antes de emprender la conquista de nuevos mercados debe determinarse si con la capacidad instalada actual es posi-ble asegurar la entrega en tiempo y forma. También debe corroborarse si el servicio ofrecido es adecuado para el cliente, y si con los recursos humanos actuales se po-drá absorber la responsabilidad que im-plica tener tareas adicionales.

Estudios dE mErcado y nuEvos productosCada país tiene sus propios usos y cos-tumbres de acuerdo al gusto y preferen-cias de sus consumidores; que un pro-ducto sea bien aceptado en un mercado determinado –incluso si éste es muy exi-gente– no garantiza su aceptación en otro. Debido a ello, es indispensable evaluar cuál es la aceptación del producto o ser-vicio en cada mercado, no solo en térmi-nos de funcionalidad o de aplicación, sino en detalles tan simples como el color del producto, su empaque o etiquetado, o el nombre adecuado de la marca o produc-to. Asimismo, las regulaciones y norma-tividad aplicables en el mercado objetivo nunca deberán tomarse a la ligera.

Un estudio de mercado es una de las tareas que se debe realizar desde el prin-cipio, pues éste puede marcar la diferen-cia entre sobrevivir en el exterior o fallar en el intento; servirá para potenciar las ventajas del producto y entender las di-ferencias que guarda con otros. También podrá determinar si existe competencia directa e identificar cuáles son las dife-rencias de calidad y costo, por mencio-nar algunos factores.

Es indispensable evaluar cuál es la aceptación del producto o servicio en cada mercado, no solo en términos de funcionalidad o de aplicación, sino en detalles tan simples como el color del producto, su empaque o etiquetado, o el nombre adecuado de la marca o producto.

Logística, distribución y ExportaciónSon muy distintas la distribución y logística de transportación de un producto especiali-zado –un envase para la industria farmacéu-tica, por ejemplo–, que la de un producto básico –como una cubeta de plástico o una refacción automotriz– o uno agroalimenta-rio; sin embargo, en cualquier caso deben conocerse con precisión los requisitos para su exportación: si puede enviarse como carga consolidada o en un contenedor completo, si requiere incoterms (international commercial terms) –libre a bordo o si su precio incluye costo, seguro y flete–, si es necesario contar con un certificado de origen y si algún acuer-do comercial facilita la transacción o reduce el pago de algún impuesto, entre otros.

Si no se tiene en casa a un experto en estos temas, se recomienda contratar a un asesor en comercio exterior –puede ser un agente aduanal– que facilite ese proceso, sobre todo cuando se vinculan estos trámi-tes con la logística y distribución de pro-ductos en el exterior.

sobrE Los procEsos y La EstructuraLos procesos que influyen en la creación de valor en una empresa son el alma de cualquier organización. Cualquier cade-na es tan fuerte como su eslabón más débil; esto significa que, en una cadena de procesos, la falla de alguno pondrá en riesgo el esfuerzo conjunto de toda la cadena. Por ello es indispensable medir todos los procesos de la organización bajo el siguiente argumento: si un pro-ceso no se mide no se puede controlar, y un proceso que no se controla tampoco podrá mejorarse; dicho de otra forma: para mejorar cualquier proceso es nece-sario controlarlo, y para controlarlo es necesario medirlo.

La globalización crea competencia y la competencia incide en la mejora de procesos dentro de las organizaciones. La internacionalización no solo es una bue-na opción para crecer y acceder a nuevos mercados, en muchos casos es necesaria a efecto de mantener la competitividad de la empresa o sus productos.

La exportación de bienes y servicios hacia nuevos mercados y la internaciona-lización de operaciones representan gran-des retos para muchas empresas naciona-les, sobre todo para las pymes que han iniciado la conquista de ciertos nichos de mercado o que se han consolidado con algún perfil de consumo. Sin embargo, una vez que se realicen las evaluaciones pertinentes y se tenga la certeza de que la empresa ya está preparada para su in-ternacionalización, los beneficios serán sumamente prometedores, por lo que no debe detener su emprendimiento. N

*Vicepresidente, Grupo GMI.

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Para Exportadores Para Exportadoresfotos archivo

Según datos del informe Perspectivas Eco-nómicas de América Latina 2014: Logís-tica y competitividad para el desarrollo, publicado por la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE), la logística engloba una diversi-dad de elementos fundamentales para la comercialización de bienes. Comprende todos los servicios y procesos necesarios para su transporte, desde su producción hasta la recolecta del consumidor final.

Los procesos logísticos incluyen diver-sos componentes blandos, como los pro-cedimientos administrativos y aduaneros, la organización y la gestión del transporte, costos de empaque, almacenaje e inven-tario, los servicios de seguimiento y loca-

Logística: pieza clave del comercio internacional

por gUILLERMO wOLF*

La logística es la columna vertebral del comercio. En el ámbito internacional constituye la base para la apertura comercial, la competitividad y la globalización económica, así como para el desarrollo del transporte y la industria de bienes y servicios, convirtiéndose en pieza fundamental para el crecimiento económico.

lización, y el uso de las tecnologías de la información durante el proceso; también incluye elementos duros, como la infraes-tructura de transporte o telecomunicacio-nes y la infraestructura de almacenamiento que facilita la conectividad a lo largo de la cadena de suministro.

El concepto actual de logística com-prende actividades del sector privado como la acción del Estado a través de la instrumentación de políticas públicas para el diseño, suministro, facilitación y regula-ción de actividades. El correcto desempeño logístico también depende de la participa-ción gubernamental en el desarrollo de in-fraestructura –o prestación de servicios– y en el comercio transfronterizo.

De acuerdo con el portal empresarial Alto Nivel los primeros desarrollos logísticos en México se impulsaron por la industria au-tomotriz, dadas las exigencias del consumi-dor en términos de calidad, funcionalidad y rapidez en la entrega de mercancías.

Se han generado cambios en la proyec-ción de nuevos líderes, así como en la com-plementación de diversas áreas, en la es-pecialización y establecimiento de alianzas estratégicas. Todos estos factores, aunados a la llegada de compañías extranjeras, han logrado que la logística en México sea una de las más modernas en América Latina.

Desde hace varios años los sectores público y privado han cimentado una red logística nacional e internacional para la exportación de productos en la que se dis-tinguen diferentes componentes: almace-nes, industrias, transporte y áreas produc-tivas. La logística mexicana asegura que el flujo de materiales se integre a tecnologías de la información, armonizando la venta al cliente, el costo e incluso la estadística e inventarios que sean necesarios para ase-gurar una logística eficiente.

La globalización también se ha con-vertido en un elemento fundamental para elevar la competitividad de las cadenas productivas, lo cual ha creado condiciones óptimas para que los bienes generados se coloquen en el mercado y generen recursos e infraestructura para desarrollar un siste-ma logístico avanzado.

México tiene algunas áreas de oportu-nidad. De acuerdo con datos procedentes del Índice de Desempeño Logístico 2014 elaborado por el Banco Mundial, México se ubica en la posición 50 de 160 econo-mías evaluadas. Es bien sabido que uno de los factores que más contribuyen a tener altos costos en logística no es la distancia entre los socios comerciales, sino la confia-bilidad de la cadena de suministro.

Adicionalmente, como parte de los esfuerzos para impulsar el desarrollo de mejores sistemas logísticos en México, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) –en conjunto con la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) y la Secretaría de Economía (SE)– elaboró

un estudio que permite definir las opcio-nes y ejemplos que pueden ser tomados en cuenta por el país a fin de optimizar sus procesos y complejos logísticos, y el plan para su instrumentación.

El proyecto se denomina Sistema Na-cional de Plataformas Logísticas en Mé-xico (SNPL), propone fortalecer el papel competitivo de la oferta exportadora en México y optimiza la eficiencia de los pro-cesos de distribución nacional garantizan-do su correcta articulación con el territo-rio, su conectividad con las redes de trans-porte y los nodos de comercio exterior.

En este marco, la American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham), en su misión por contribuir al fortalecimien-to de la comunidad de negocios en el país, además de apoyar la consolidación y faci-litación del comercio con Estados Unidos también impulsa la competitividad del sec-tor, a través de sus comités de logística y de políticas de comercio.

En este sentido, se ha promovido la homologación de los criterios del Nuevo

Esquema de Empresa Certificada (NEEC) y el Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). Hay empresas de talla internacional que creen en el país y que continúan invirtiendo, tal es el caso de FedEx Express, miembro activo de Am-Cham que recientemente realizó una de las inversiones más importantes para México y la región al adquirir MultiPack y al cons-truir un nuevo hub nacional en México para consolidar ambas empresas y garan-tizar la cobertura en el país. Esta empresa continúa expandiendo su red de puntos de venta, facilitando a las pymes el acceso al mercado internacional.

FedEx Express es un facilitador y socio de negocios de las empresas mexicanas en lo que a exportación e importación se re-fiere, reduciendo los tiempos de tránsito y agilizando su cadena de suministro, al apro-vechar los beneficios del nearshoring –tras-lado de operaciones comerciales o produc-tivas lo más cercano posible a un mercado nacional– el cual está cobrando más rele-vancia ya que muchas empresas manufactu-reras buscan reducir sus costos de logística y llevar sus productos al mercado meta de manera más eficiente, operando cerca de Estados Unidos.

Un estudio reciente de AlixPartners muestra que la situación económica en Mé-xico ha hecho que el país sea uno de los me-jores destinos para practicar nearshoring, superando incluso a Estados Unidos.

Algunas de las ventajas que ofrece el nearshoring en México son los bajos cos-tos de flete e inventario, así como el tiempo de salida al mercado estadounidense. Asi-mismo, entre otros factores, el huso hora-rio permite una coordinación de opera-ciones más ágil entre empresas de Estados Unidos y México. N

*Vicepresidente y Director General Ejecutivo

de American Chamber of Commerce of México

(AmCham).

La globalización también se ha convertido en un elemento fundamental para elevar la competitividad de las cadenas productivas, lo cual ha creado condiciones óptimas para que los bienes generados se coloquen en el mercado y generen recursos e infraestructura para desarrollar un sistema logístico avanzado.

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soBrE EL cumPLimiENto dE Las oBLigacioNEs fiscaLEs y el comercio exterior

El Servicio de Administración Tributaria –entre otras tareas– realiza visitas domiciliarias para verificar el cumplimiento de las obligaciones fiscales y aduaneras de los contribuyentes. El objetivo es revisar aspectos contables, pedimentos, comprobantes de pago de contribuciones, informes, mercancías, control de inventarios y restricciones no arancelarias, a efecto de que fluyan las actividades comerciales sin contratiempos.

por FéLIx pONCE-NAVA CORTéS*

Toda la maquinaria que se ubique dentro de la planta y la mercancía de procedencia ex-tranjera deberán resguardarse en los lugares que hayan sido declarados, informando de manera inmediata a la autoridad competente sobre un cambio de domicilio fiscal. De la misma forma el sistema de control de inven-tarios debe estar actualizado.

Para cumplir puntualmente con todas las obligaciones fiscales descritas es necesa-rio tener contacto directo con un especialista en comercio exterior y aduanas. Asimismo es necesario poner especial atención en los servicios contables cuando se realizan me-diante terceros, ya que es común que no haya comunicación entre los responsables de la operación de la empresa y los del trabajo administrativo.

También es común que algunas organiza-ciones deleguen la atención de visitas domi-ciliarias del SAT a personal no especializado, lo que puede ser perjudicial para la empresa debido a que las réplicas a la autoridad son muy importantes y la imprecisión en ciertas afirmaciones podría dificultar la defensa de los intereses del contribuyente. Antes de lle-gar a un acuerdo conclusivo con la autori-dad deberá analizar y planear la estrategia legal a seguir, y la posibilidad de impugnar la resolución de manera que el contribuyente no sea víctima de un acto arbitrario.

Es muy importante documentar duran-te el procedimiento cualquier arbitrarie-dad o falta por parte de la autoridad, ya que, de ser necesario, las mismas pueden convertirse en argumentos importantes en los tribunales competentes si hubiese un proceso. En particular debe tenerse cuida-do con los siguientes temas:• Verificacióndeorigen• Valoraciónaduanal• Contratoderegalías• Pago de Impuesto al Valor Agregado

(IVA) en operaciones de comercio exterior• Cuotascompensatorias• Clasificaciónarancelaria

Es importante mencionar que todo aquel que paga impuestos tiene derechos fundamentales que deben ser respetados, por lo que es importante identificar las malas prácticas en los procesos de recau-dación y en la ejecución de visitas domi-ciliarias para ejercer efectivamente los derechos fundamentales y, en caso de ser vulnerados, hacer uso de todos los recur-sos disponibles para hacerlos efectivos. N

*Abogado asociado en Basham, Ringe

y Correa S.C.

Para cumplir puntualmente con todas las obligaciones fiscales descritas es necesario tener contacto directo con un especialista en comercio exterior y aduanas. asimismo es necesario poner especial atención en los servicios contables cuando se realizan mediante terceros, ya que es común que no haya comunicación entre los responsables de la operación de la empresa y los del trabajo administrativo.

fotos archivo

En los últimos años el Servicio de Admi-nistración Tributaria (SAT) ha hecho más estrictas sus políticas de recaudación y ha implementado el uso de nuevas herramientas –fotografías y aparatos de geolocalización, entre otras– para verificar domicilios fiscales e incrementar el número de revisiones y visi-tas domiciliarias a contribuyentes. Esto dio como resultado una recaudación histórica de 32,788 millones de pesos en el primer tri-mestre del año, un incremento de 81% res-pecto al mismo periodo durante 2013.

Aunado a lo anterior, si la autoridad aduanera detecta alguna irregularidad o no se comprueba la legal estancia o tenencia de mercancía en territorio nacional, se iniciará un recurso llamado Procedimiento Admi-nistrativo en Materia Aduanera (PAMA), lo que implicará un embargo precautorio.

Es importante para los contribuyentes atender adecuadamente una visita domi-ciliaria, pues con ello es posible prevenir multas por parte de la autoridad fiscali-zadora, ahorrar tiempo y dinero, y evitar riesgos para la operatividad y competitivi-dad del contribuyente.

Las empresas deben instruir a su perso-nal administrativo para que maneje adecua-damente la información de la empresa y sus documentos. La información relacionada con operaciones de exportación e importa-ción debe estar respaldada, las mercancías de procedencia extranjera deben estar am-paradas por documentación fiscal y aduane-ra que acredite su legal estancia o tenencia.

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“méxico tiene un enorme potencial para crecer, pero muchos empresarios mexicanos todavía están esperando los resultados de las reformas para iniciar su proceso de inversión. sin embargo, cuando uno habla con empresarios extranjeros o con instituciones extranjeras es al revés, todos ven a méxico como el país con la mayor oportunidad de crecimiento en este momento. todos coinciden en que es cuestión de tiempo y en que a partir del 2015 la economía se va a destapar y vamos a empezar a crecer”.

fotos archivo

La imPortaNcia dE La BaNcaen el comercio exterior de méxico

Enrique Vilatela, Presidente del Consejo de Administración de InvestaBank, conversó con Negocios sobre la relevancia de la banca para el impulso de las exportaciones de México. InvestaBank está orientada a las empresas medianas mexicanas, sobre todo aquellas que pueden participar activamente en las cadenas productivas –con miras a la exportación, pero también al mercado interno. Se trata de crear un círculo virtuoso en el que las exportaciones crezcan más y tengan mayor contenido nacional para que consecuentemente crezca el mercado interno y el empleo.

por NEgOCIOS pROMéxICO

—¿Qué panorama se vislumbra en lo que respecta al comercio internacional?México está posicionado como un país importante en comercio mundial, gra-cias al TLCAN y a los tratados de libre comercio firmados con diversos países de Europa. Algo que mencionamos poco pero tiene gran relevancia para el país son los tratados de libre comercio con países latinoamericanos, pues también abren oportunidades a las empresas mexicanas –especialmente a las pymes– que deben in-corporarse con mayor fuerza al comercio exterior. El enorme potencial de crecimien-to que tiene México deriva de las oportu-nidades de exportación. Al mismo tiempo, hoy realizamos muchas importaciones que podrían ser sustituidas por productos nacionales. Muchas empresas mexicanas tienen la capacidad para sustituir esas im-portaciones y convertirse en proveedoras de la cadena productiva. Si aprovechamos el trampolín de la exportación creceremos más fácilmente, incrementaremos el conte-nido mexicano de los productos exporta-dos y lograremos que el mercado interno y el empleo crezcan más rápido.

Es oportuno ayudar a las empresas medianas para que se incorporen a las cadenas productivas, contribuyan al cre-cimiento económico y a la generación de empleo, y generen más oportunidades de negocio para el resto de los empresarios. Nosotros participaremos en el lado finan-ciero de este escenario.

—¿Qué mercados identifica como los más atractivos a mediano y largo plazos?Las reformas económicas que ha empren-dido este gobierno representan un gran paso, seguramente serán el parteaguas del crecimiento económico de México. El cen-tro de las reformas radica en el tema ener-gético. México siempre ha tenido un enor-me potencial de recursos naturales para crecer que no hemos logrado aprovechar al máximo por diversas razones.

Las reformas permitirán aprovecharlo. En el tema energético, le daría más impor-tancia al gas y a los derivados del petróleo: la integración eficiente y dinámica a las ca-denas productivas de productos secundarios (industrias textil y de plásticos, por ejemplo). En cuanto a energías renovables, México puede ser potencia en energía eólica, solar y mareomotriz, fuentes que son sustentables y de relativo bajo costo. Esta plataforma ener-gética permitirá que las empresas se vuelvan más sustentables, eficientes y productivas,

mos esta integración a las cadenas con los apoyos necesarios y abrimos los canales de comercialización internos y externos, pienso que podremos conseguir mucho.

—¿Qué tipo de servicios ofrece InvestaBank a las empresas mexicanas que buscan entrar al mercado global?Somos un banco nuevo y pequeño que apenas inicia, pero tenemos muchas ganas de apoyar y crecer. Estamos pla-

fenómeno que repercutirá en el resto de la economía. Esto nos va a despertar.

La industria automotriz representa una gran plataforma. Los exportadores direc-tos son las grandes empresas multinacio-nales que tienen los canales de comercia-lización. Sin embargo, las empresas mexi-canas pueden participar activamente en la proveeduría a esas grandes empresas.

Hace poco hablaba con el presidente de la Asociación Mexicana de la Indus-tria Automotriz (AMIA), quien me decía que el potencial de crecimiento de dicha industria podría duplicarse en poco tiem-po, y luego crecer incluso cinco veces. Si partimos de esta consideración, entonces estamos hablando de una gran oportuni-dad para que las empresas mexicanas que hoy no participan en ese sector –o lo ha-cen muy limitadamente– puedan empezar a aprovechar dicho crecimiento.

Si incrementamos el contenido mexi-cano de esas exportaciones o de la pro-ducción de la industria, el mercado in-terno crecerá. Lo mismo ocurre con la

industria aeroespacial. Hace no mucho era impensable que México participara activamente en la industria aeroespacial, ahora nos estamos convirtiendo en un país muy productivo en ella. Si bien la industria aeroespacial aún tiene una par-ticipación pequeña en el PIB, es cierto que puede crecer y multiplicarse, impulsando a su vez la participación de las empresas mexicanas. Podríamos aseverar lo mismo del resto de las industrias. Si combina-

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“Para ser efectivos se requieren dos elementos: primero, infraestructura interna, que la estamos basando en un equipo de ejecutivos con mucha experiencia, quienes entienden a las empresas pues han trabajado con ellas y, por lo tanto, conocen sus necesidades. Nos interesa adecuar nuestros productos a las necesidades reales de las empresas, hacer ‘trajes a la medida’ por sector e industria, con el fin de apoyarlas con lo que realmente necesitan”.

neando nuestro crecimiento basado en alianzas. Nuestro objetivo fundamental es brindar apoyos financieros, de crédito, además de seguros de crédito, factoraje e integración a la cadena, entre otros. Es decir, todo el apoyo financiero relaciona-do con las empresas.

Para ser efectivos se requieren dos ele-mentos: primero, infraestructura interna, que la estamos basando en un equipo de ejecutivos con mucha experiencia, quie-nes entienden a las empresas pues han trabajado con ellas y, por lo tanto, co-nocen sus necesidades. Nos interesa ade-cuar nuestros productos a las necesidades reales de las empresas, hacer “trajes a la medida” por sector e industria, con el fin de apoyarlas con lo que realmente nece-sitan. En segundo lugar, una plataforma electrónica poderosa que nos permita operar a bajo costo y dar un servicio glo-

bal ágil y eficiente. Lo que prometemos es acercarnos, entender y adecuar nuestros productos a las empresas.

En paralelo están las alianzas. Es-tamos estableciendo alianzas con insti-tuciones como ProMéxico, con quienes queremos asociarnos y aprovechar sus programas, entenderlos y ofrecerlos a nuestros clientes, hacer que ellos se con-viertan en usuarios de los servicios y apoyos que ProMéxico brinda, y a la vez convertirnos en un brazo financiero para esta institución.

El binomio promoción-financiamien-to es exitoso, es lo que se tiene que hacer. En ese sentido también estamos buscando aliarnos con Bancomext y con otras ins-tituciones. En el sector privado estamos aliándonos con la AMIA para diseñar un producto y un programa especial de-dicados a la proveeduría de la industria

automotriz. Nos hemos acercado con las industrias aeroespacial y textil para ha-cer lo mismo. Queremos acercarnos con el resto de las organizaciones sectoriales. A los afiliados a la Coparmex, por ejem-plo, les estamos brindando servicio per-sonalizado. Buscaremos hacer igual con la Canacintra, la Concamin y con otras agrupaciones empresariales para entender sus necesidades y poder participar con los grupos y empresas asociados a esas cáma-ras y organizaciones. También estamos estableciendo alianzas con otras institu-ciones financieras y bancos que no nece-sariamente tienen la capacidad analítica o el conocimiento empresarial que tenemos, pero que están interesados en participar y tienen los recursos para hacerlo.

—¿A quiénes están dirigidos los servicios que ofrece InvestaBank?El rango que tenemos definido son em-presas que requieren desde 10 –quizás en algunos casos desde cinco– hasta 50 mi-llones de pesos. Ese es el nicho para el que tenemos la infraestructura necesaria para dar un buen apoyo. Aún no tenemos in-fraestructura para apoyar a las empresas que requieren montos menores, es algo que podremos hacer en el futuro. A las empre-sas medianas más grandes podemos apo-yarlas a través de las alianzas en conjunto con otras instituciones financieras.

—¿Qué oportunidades identifica para ProMéxico?A mí me da mucho gusto que ProMéxico esté retomando su orientación promo-tora. Desde mi punto de vista, en algún momento se dedicó exclusivamente a la atracción de inversión extranjera, que si bien es una labor importante, no lo es tanto como integrar a las pymes en la cadena productiva y facilitarles que se incorporen a ella, buscando que se conviertan en exportadores directos o indirectos. InvestaBank podría ser muy útil para ProMéxico como una ventani-lla financiera para ciertos programas. A nosotros nos queda como anillo al dedo porque nos facilita la identificación de empresas y de proyectos.

—¿Qué momento vive la banca mexicana y qué momento viven las empresas mexicanas?La banca mexicana está viviendo una época de cambio. Partimos de una base sólida, de bancos mexicanos fuertes, con un organismo de supervisión muy sóli-do como la Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV). Sin embargo, te-nemos una banca muy exitosa en temas de crédito al consumo y en el crédito al gobierno. Existe una gran oportunidad de negocio, un nicho que no está bien atendido. Las empresas grandes tienen resuelto el problema a través de la banca o mediante los mercados internacionales. Sin embargo, las pymes necesitan apoyo. En este mismo tenor, la reforma financie-ra busca orientar a la banca –y en par-ticular a la banca de desarrollo– hacia el apoyo al sector productivo, enfocado hacia las pymes.

En InvestaBank podemos cooperar, participar y poner nuestro granito de are-na llamando la atención de la oportunidad de negocios existente, y participando acti-vamente en este mercado con el propósito de impulsar el crecimiento económico y la creación de empleos en México.

—¿Cómo percibe a InvestaBank, como banca tradicional, conservadora o arriesgada?Creo que somos una combinación. Pre-tendemos ser muy agresivos en la gene-ración de productos y en el acercamiento con nuestros clientes. El límite de lo que podemos hacer está en nuestra imagina-ción. Tenemos que ser dinámicos, agre-sivos e imaginativos. Debemos evitar lo tradicional y entender cuáles son real-

mente las necesidades para encontrar una solución correcta. Al mismo tiempo debemos ser conservadores en la toma de riesgos. Necesitamos conocer muy bien lo que estamos haciendo para que, inclu-so siendo agresivos, el riesgo sea limita-do y nos represente un negocio seguro.

—¿Cómo perciben el crecimiento del país los inversionistas de InvestaBank?México tiene un enorme potencial para crecer, pero muchos empresarios mexica-nos todavía están esperando los resulta-dos de las reformas para iniciar su pro-ceso de inversión. Sin embargo, cuando uno habla con empresarios extranjeros o con instituciones extranjeras es al revés, todos ven a México como el país con la mayor oportunidad de crecimiento en este momento. Todos coinciden en que es cuestión de tiempo y en que a partir del 2015 la economía se va a destapar y vamos a empezar a crecer.

México siempre ha sido un país con un potencial de crecimiento que no hemos sa-bido aprovechar, un país que debiera crecer entre 6 y 7%, pero aun no logramos esa tasa de crecimiento. Creo que a partir de

ahora vamos a empezar a crecer. Con base en las reformas ya aprobadas, con el dina-mismo de las empresas mexicanas y con la inversión extranjera, México debería crecer a una tasa razonable de entre 4 y 5%.

—¿Qué opinión cree que tengan los extranjeros de México? ¿Cómo nos ven los inversionistas?Todos reconocen que México es un lugar que les da confianza en general y que re-presenta la mayor oportunidad de nego-cios en el mundo. Es enorme la cantidad de empresas que están deseosas de venir a México para aprovechar el crecimien-to. Creo que los extranjeros ven con mu-cho agrado el gran potencial de México y lo que quieren es venir y participar en nuestra economía.

—¿InvestaBank está moviendo a México?Nosotros somos chiquitos. Nosotros que-remos aportar nuestro granito de arena para que México se mueva. Creemos que podemos contribuir, pero quienes van a mover a México son los empresarios. N

www.investabank.com

“Las reformas económicas que ha emprendido este gobierno representan un gran paso, seguramente serán

el parteaguas del crecimiento económico de méxico. El centro de las reformas radica en el tema energético.

méxico siempre ha tenido un enorme potencial de recursos naturales para crecer que no hemos logrado aprovechar al

máximo por diversas razones”.

fotos archivo

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Para Exportadores Para Exportadores Para Exportadores fotos archivo

La misióN: pymes mexicanas con presencia global

Canacintra y ProMéxico han estrechado lazos de colaboración para contribuir en conjunto a la internacionalización de las pequeñas y medianas empresas mexicanas, de cara a los compromisos comerciales que el país está por asumir.

por OMAR MAgAñA

Es momento de que más pymes mexica-nas reciban los beneficios de la apertura económica del país frente al mundo, tan-to por medio de los acuerdos comercia-les vigentes como de aquellos que ahora mismo se encuentran en la mesa de ne-gociación.

Julio Rodríguez Trigueros, Vicepre-sidente Nacional de Comercio Exterior y Asuntos Internacionales de la Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transforma-ción (Canacintra), asegura que uno de los primeros objetivos de la institución que preside Rodrigo Alpízar Vallejo, es integrar a sus más de 40,000 afiliados a la globalización ofreciéndoles capaci-tación, apoyo y guía en sus procesos de investigación, innovación y certificación.

“Durante todo 2014 hemos estado en intenso cabildeo. Esto ha dado por resul-tado la firma de un convenio que, espera-mos, sea la base para cosas muy grandes que hagan Canacintra y ProMéxico en cuanto a la integración de la industria mexicana”, apunta Rodríguez Trigueros.

El 4 de noviembre de 2014 Canacin-tra y ProMéxico suscribieron el acuerdo mediante el que se comprometen a tra-bajar bajo un esquema y una agenda en común, con la finalidad de impulsar las exportaciones de las empresas mexicanas y fortalecer la presencia internacional de las mismas.

Entre los ejes del convenio están: vincular a las empresas afiliadas a la Ca-nacintra con las cadenas de suministro nacional; atraer un mayor número de inversiones extranjeras al país y reforzar las cadenas globales de valor; fortalecer a la industria mexicana y su capacidad de innovación; impulsar la participación de las pymes nacionales en ferias y mi-siones comerciales, y promover un pro-grama que prepare a las empresas para su salida al mercado global y garantice el desempeño óptimo de las mismas en ese escenario.

canos que formarán parte del nuevo gran bloque económico. “Vimos países que nos pueden competir ‘tú a tú’ en precios, como puede ser Vietnam,” agrega.

La idea es que en este escenario que ya se bosqueja, “la cancha sea pareja”, como dice Rodríguez Trigueros para-fraseando al presidente de Canacintra. Esto es, que los sectores agrupados en la institución –alimentos, automotriz, bie-nes de capital, construcción, industrias diversas, industrias técnicas, metálico, médico, mueblero, del papel, químico, de tecnologías de la información y de ener-gías verdes, entre otros– tengan represen-tatividad y oportunidades para competir, crecer, generar empleos y agregar valor a las exportaciones mexicanas.

El 4 de noviembre de 2014 canacintra y Proméxico suscribieron el acuerdo mediante el que se comprometen a trabajar bajo un esquema y una agenda en común, con la finalidad de impulsar las exportaciones de las empresas mexicanas y fortalecer la presencia internacional de las mismas.

“Es el momento de fortalecer la pre-sencia de pymes que si bien tienen una larga trayectoria en México, si no reci-ben el apoyo adecuado para su inserción en la globalización pueden salir muy afectadas”, señala Rodríguez Trigueros.

Es una coyuntura crucial por la in-minente puesta en marcha del Acuerdo de Asociación Transpacífico (TPP, por sus siglas en inglés), en el que México y otras economías del continente –Cana-dá, Chile, Estados Unidos y Perú– bus-can asumir una posición preponderante frente a sus contrapartes asiáticas –entre ellas, China, Singapur, Malasia y Japón.

dEfiniEndo a Los nuEvos compañErosLas primeras acciones de Canacintra en esta tarea de integración de sus agre-miados al proceso globalizador han sido capacitar a las pymes mexicanas agrupa-das en las 80 delegaciones que tiene esta cámara en el país, identificar cuántas empresas cuentan con fortalezas para su-birse al proceso de internacionalización, convocar a las empresas a misiones co-merciales en el extranjero, incentivar a las afiliadas para que se sumen a las vi-sitas a ferias comerciales en otros países y efectuar giras de acercamiento y cono-cimiento de los mercados asiáticos que forman parte del TPP.

En 2014, recuerda Rodríguez Trigue-ros, la Cámara realizó dos giras nacio-nales centradas en la globalización. La primera tuvo lugar entre enero y febrero, donde se abordó el tema de la actuali-zación en materia de comercio exterior; la segunda, de septiembre a octubre, se centró en las reglas del intercambio in-ternacional de bienes y servicios. En cada una de estas giras, afirma Rodríguez Tri-gueros, se llegó a 26 ciudades del país y se convocó a más de 1,000 empresarios.

En lo que respecta al TPP, “lidera-mos el proceso de conocer a nuestras

contrapartes en la negociación”, señala. Canacintra encabezó una gira por cuatro destinos asiáticos –Malasia, Singapur, Taiwán y Vietnam– entre el 3 y el 20 de octubre de 2014, en la que participaron 15 empresarios mexicanos, además de la directiva de la Canacintra.

“Esta misión nos abrió los ojos para ver lo que no estamos haciendo y lo que estamos haciendo bien”, revela Rodrí-guez Trigueros.

En este acercamiento, abunda, los mexicanos certificaron la fortaleza de eco-nomías como Singapur que, a base de pro-mover la investigación, la innovación y la vinculación entre academia e industria, se ha colocado a la vanguardia con respecto a sus vecinos asiáticos y a los países ameri-



Para Exportadores

“Si bien, los primeros en la fila para ser beneficiados son nuestros afiliados, estamos recorriendo constantemente el país invitando a empresas que quisieran sumarse a este esfuerzo”, resalta Rodrí-guez Trigueros.

Con relación a los países sudameri-canos que forman parte del TPP –Chile y Perú–, Rodríguez Trigueros considera que lo mejor será trabajar en bloque, a partir del conocimiento mutuo y el tra-bajo recíproco que se tiene. En estos paí-ses, además de Colombia y Panamá, Ca-nacintra ve terreno fértil para las com-pañías mexicanas. “Podemos trabajar de manera simultánea en dos tratados, el TPP y la Alianza del Pacífico –con Co-lombia, Chile y Perú–”, señala Rodríguez Trigueros.

un gRAn CAMIno poR RECoRRERMéxico tiene a su favor la diversidad de sectores que son cubiertos por las activi-dades de las pymes, empresas que son más versátiles que las grandes compañías al momento de adecuar su oferta con respec-to a los cambios repentinos del mercado.

Lo anterior, no obstante, resulta in-suficiente para salir y enfrentarse a un esquema de comercio mucho más com-petitivo. “Nos tenemos que poner a tra-

bajar a marchas aceleradas”, reconoce Rodríguez Trigueros. En este proceso será necesario que las pymes se capaciten y tomen en cuenta la importancia de in-vertir en investigación.

“Tenemos que darles (a las pymes) mu-cha claridad en el camino y es ahí donde ProMéxico y Canacintra debemos apoyar a estas empresas, que no están obligadas a ser expertas en globalización, pero que nos conviene que se internacionalicen to-mando en cuenta la cantidad de empleo y derrama económica que generan”, afirma Rodríguez Trigueros.

foto archivo

Las primeras acciones de canacintra en esta tarea de integración de sus agremiados al proceso globalizador han sido capacitar a las pymes mexicanas agrupadas en las 80 delegaciones que tiene esta cámara en el país, identificar cuántas empresas cuentan con fortalezas para subirse al proceso de internacionalización, convocar a las empresas a misiones comerciales en el extranjero, incentivar a las afiliadas para que se sumen a las visitas a ferias comerciales en otros países y efectuar giras de acercamiento y conocimiento de los mercados asiáticos que forman parte del TPP.

A los esfuerzos de Canacintra se su-man las estrategias de ProMéxico para fortalecer la participación de las industrias nacionales en las cadenas de proveeduría de aquellos productos que son exportados desde México. Canacintra, de acuerdo con lo señalado por Rodríguez Trigueros, está muy interesada en revisar junto con Pro-México la estrategia de promoción del co-mercio exterior y las vías para incrementar la tasa de encadenamiento nacional –arri-ba del 28% actual. N

canacintra.org.mx

diciembre 2014 - enero 2015

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