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Guillermo Marcelo Vilchis Gurza, senior director of Fitch Ratings, projected that Mexico can capture 80 billion dollars in investments from companies that are taking their operations out of China to bring them to the Mexican economy, a phenomenon known as nearshoring.

“As of today, we have already captured 40 billion dollars (in foreign direct investment through nearshoring), so in the future we expect -if the required infrastructure conditions are in place- to continue with this growth, this figure could double,” said the rating agency’s representative.

The arrival of companies attracted by nearshoring is a process that will take time to consolidate, that is, it will take 1, 2 or 3 years, said the economist during the Fitch on Mexico forum.

“At the moment that progress is made in the infrastructure issue, opportunities for the creation of new companies in the country that take advantage of nearshoring will open up, because obviously the amounts of investment will increase,” he said.

He added that Mexico will capture half of the nearshoring investment in Latin America and that investors have put among their requirements a better business climate, a greater generation of electric energy, more security, and a better-qualified labor force.

He said that in some states there is already a labor shortage problem due to companies locating in the north and monopolizing the labor force.

“As soon as we as Mexicans are able to provide and grant all those facilities to investors, the number (of foreign direct investment) will grow,” said the senior director of Fitch Ratings.

“It is a matter of getting to work and that in all the states (there is investment, not only) in the north, in all the states we can create those infrastructures and those opportunities”, he highlighted.

Companies from China are looking to set up in Mexico to take advantage of its proximity to the United States, the largest market in the world in commercial terms.

“They are very important amounts of foreign direct investment that we have to take advantage of because of all the conditions that have occurred in inter- national markets,” he said. He stated that the trade war between China and the United States has led to “these opportunities in Mexico, and the more we take advantage of (nearshoring), the greater the number of companies that come and invest”.

The investment of automotive companies, such as Tesla, is an excellent example of the broad generation of jobs, and “it is a very strong investment and so there can be many sectors”.

He maintained that Mexico is the most attractive country in Latin America for investment due to its location: “The only thing that would prevent us from not doing so would be not offering all the conditions required for the establishment of these companies”.