Mexican and U.S. Businessmen Secure Their Place in the Interoceanic Corridor

by Sare Frabes

The so-called “Oaxaca Initiative” was signed last Wednesday (20) between the governor of Oaxaca, Salomón Jara, and the Business Coordinating Council, the highest representative body of the private sector in Mexico, represented by 14 leading organizations, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar.

“They are here because they see great opportunities in Oaxaca,” said Jara, alluding to the federal government’s so-called “strategic projects,” among them the Inter-Oceanic Corridor, established in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz.

In the presentation of this initiative, it was pointed out that one of the main objectives is to strengthen the North American supply chains, allowing the Mexico-United States-Canada Agreement (T-MEC) to be used to greater advantage. They highlighted that the Interoceanic Corridor will be a logistics hub that, to date, connects with 50 markets through 15 international trade agreements with the US, Asia and Europe.

The Oaxacan governor emphasized that his government is an ally of investors and that they will be supported by the governance, security and peace offered by his tenure in Oaxaca. “The project that we sign today is another sign that we are on the right path to the development, justice and well-being that the state of Oaxaca expects and deserves,” said Jara, who introduced the ambassador as an honorary witness to this agreement.

Salazar announced that the south-southeast of Mexico is a priority for them, therefore “from the U.S. Embassy we have promoted this agenda with partners from the private sector, mainly from the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), as well as with Mexican authorities,” he said, recalling that last year (2022), at the White House, Presidents Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel López Obrador stressed that investments in ports, airports and the Interoceanic will boost the economies of both countries.

Continuity

In September 2022, the US ambassador, along with companies such as Visa, Amazon, Facebook, AT&T, META, Google, Mercado Libre, FEMSA and the former governor of Oaxaca, Alejandro Murat, held the sixth meeting of governors of the south-southeast of Mexico, pointing out that the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is one of the most important. Jara, who was just about to succeed Murat, said he was going to provide continuity, “we are going to work for our state to be the engine of national development and of the south of the country”.

Also, AmCham, the world’s largest business federation, which has participated in various meetings addressing strategic projects since 2021, announced that they will invest more than 600 million pesos in the region, stated the ambassador last April.

Original text and photos published by Avispa Midia on November 25th 2023. https://avispa.org/empresarios-mexicanos-y-de-eeuu-aseguran-su-lugar-en-el-corredor-interoceanico/.
English translation by Schools for Chiapas.