Smooth Operator: Streamlining North American Supply Chains

Summary

本次讨论会以'Smooth Operator: Streamlining North American Supply Chains'为主题，旨在探讨如何加强北美供应链的韧性并促进投资。来自不同领域的专家，包括制造业、物流、政府和研究机构的代表，就如何利用《美墨加协定》(USMCA)和近岸外包现象来深化三国间的合作进行了深入讨论。讨论涉及了墨西哥吸引外国直接投资的成功经验、供应链的区域整合、劳动力培训、基础设施建设、能源获取、边境管理和交通物流等多个方面。专家们强调了政府与私营部门合作的重要性，并提出了一系列旨在提升墨西哥竞争力和吸引外资的策略和建议。

Takeaways

• 🌐 **供应链安全**：北美经济的供应链安全是至关重要的，美国、加拿大和墨西哥都在积极推动议程，以促进投资并增强关键领域的供应链弹性。
• 🤝 **合作机遇**：探讨如何加强北美三国之间的合作，利用近海外包现象，深化合作，以利用国际贸易提供的机遇。
• 🇲🇽 **墨西哥的优势**：墨西哥拥有与50个国家的自由贸易协定，以及与美国的区域供应链整合，使其在供应链中占有独特地位。
• 📈 **外国直接投资**：墨西哥的外国直接投资稳定性强，自2018年以来新投资显著增长，显示出对墨西哥的长期信任和合作。
• 🛠️ **制造业的重要性**：墨西哥在制造业方面具有比较优势，其地理位置、市场接近性和劳动力质量对外国投资者具有吸引力。
• 🚧 **基础设施建设**：墨西哥需要继续投资基础设施，包括交通、能源、水资源和住房，以支持经济增长和吸引更多的外国直接投资。
• 💼 **劳动力发展**：提高劳动力培训和参与度，尤其是女性劳动力的参与，是墨西哥提高竞争力和吸引投资的关键领域。
• 🛃 **边境效率**：改善边境基础设施和通关流程，减少货物运输的延误，对提高供应链效率至关重要。
• 🚚 **物流挑战**：物流行业面临的挑战包括司机短缺和运输能力限制，需要公私部门合作解决。
• 🌿 **环境可持续性**：随着对环境、社会和治理（ESG）的重视日益增加，墨西哥需要发展可再生能源，以支持新投资并满足国际公司的环保目标。

Q & A

如何加强北美供应链的安全性和弹性？

北美供应链的安全性和弹性可以通过促进美国、加拿大和墨西哥之间的投资和合作来加强。关键部门的供应链复原力对北美经济至关重要，三国都在积极追求议程以增强这一点。

墨西哥在吸引外国直接投资方面有哪些优势？

墨西哥拥有与50个国家的自由贸易协定，包括北美以及其他多边和双边协议，这使得墨西哥与贸易伙伴的供应链高度整合。此外，墨西哥的外国直接投资稳定性和新股权投资的增长也是其吸引外资的优势。

新莱昂州如何继续吸引外国直接投资并加强区域供应链？

新莱昂州通过制定新宪法提供明确的规则和法治，与私营部门合作制定2040年总体规划，以及建设高速公路和提升人力资本等措施来吸引外国直接投资并加强区域供应链。

墨西哥的哪些政策可能会削弱其吸引外国投资的能力？

墨西哥在能源和矿业等领域的某些国内政策可能会与创造积极商业环境的目标背道而驰，从而削弱其吸引外国投资的能力。

如何提高墨西哥的竞争力并吸引更多的外国直接投资？

墨西哥可以通过投资于人民的教育、提高劳动力参与度，特别是女性劳动力，以及改善基础设施和减少繁文缛节来提高其竞争力并吸引更多的外国直接投资。

新莱昂州如何平衡大量外国直接投资带来的结构性压力？

新莱昂州通过投资基础设施，如高速公路、住房、学校和医院，以及与联邦政府合作解决水资源和能源问题，来平衡大量外国直接投资带来的结构性压力。

美国近期的政策，如通胀减少法案和芯片法案，将如何促进北美的生产？

这些激励措施将鼓励美国公司在墨西哥进行更多的投资，利用近岸外包的趋势，从而加强北美的生产能力和供应链。

墨西哥在提高运输和物流行业的效率方面面临哪些挑战？

墨西哥在提高运输和物流行业的效率方面面临的挑战包括改善边境基础设施和通关流程，以及解决司机短缺和吸引和留住人才的问题。

如何通过政策改进来促进墨西哥的商业环境？

通过减少不必要的监管和繁文缛节，提高司法系统的效率，以及挑战和改进那些阻碍商业发展的法规，可以促进墨西哥的商业环境。

墨西哥如何成为发展中国家中外国直接投资的首选目的地？

墨西哥需要在全球范围内推广自己，利用地缘政治优势，团结一致，抓住近岸外包的机遇，并通过教育和培训提高劳动力的技能，同时改善基础设施和商业环境。

Outlines

00:00

😀 供应链优化讨论

本段落介绍了一个名为'Smooth Operator'的专题讨论会，旨在探讨如何优化北美供应链。讨论会由来自不同领域的专家组成，包括政府代表、研究智库、制造业和物流行业的专业人士。他们将共同讨论如何利用USMCA和近海外包的优势，加强供应链的安全性和韧性，促进北美经济的投资和增长。

05:00

🌟 新莱昂州的投资吸引力

新莱昂州州长Samuel Garcia讨论了该州如何成功吸引外国直接投资(FDI)，并分享了其他墨西哥地区可以复制的成功经验。他强调了确立明确的法规、与私营部门合作制定长期规划、发展经济集群、重视教育和技术发展等方面的重要性。此外，州长还提到了新莱昂州在基础设施建设、人才培养和推广墨西哥方面所做的努力。

10:00

🚀 墨西哥的供应链竞争力

来自Milin Institute的Maggie Shreek讨论了墨西哥在供应链和竞争力方面的研究。她指出墨西哥拥有比美国更多的自由贸易协定，这使得墨西哥能够与贸易伙伴紧密整合供应链。此外，墨西哥的外国直接投资稳定性和增长，尤其是在新投资和股本投资方面，显示出墨西哥对美国关键贸易伙伴的吸引力。

15:03

🛠️ 近海外包趋势与挑战

Luis L.，美国工业集团的联合总裁，分享了墨西哥作为近海外包目的地的优势，以及目前墨西哥正在经历的投资热潮。他提到，由于中美关系和疫情的影响，墨西哥正在迎来新的投资浪潮。他还强调了墨西哥在地理位置、市场规模和劳动力素质方面的优势。

20:06

💼 企业视角下的墨西哥投资环境

Emerson Automation Solutions的副总裁Anoir Baraki从企业角度讨论了墨西哥作为生产和供应基地的优势。他提到，墨西哥的战略重要性不仅因为其庞大的自动化市场，还因为其在疫情期间和地缘政治危机中表现出的韧性。他还强调了墨西哥在本地供应链发展、成本竞争力和环境、社会和治理(ESG)方面的机遇。

25:11

🚚 物流行业的挑战与机遇

Schneider National的副总裁Bernardo Rodarte讨论了物流行业在墨西哥面临的挑战，尤其是在贸易增长和新制造业务增加的背景下。他提到了北行和南行流量之间的差距，以及如何通过多式联运和提高运输效率来解决这些挑战。此外，他还强调了改善边境基础设施和促进公私合作的重要性。

30:13

🏭 投资增长与基础设施需求

讨论转向了墨西哥如何继续吸引和处理外国直接投资的增长，特别是新莱昂州如何准备迎接这一挑战。州长强调了基础设施的重要性，包括安全、高速公路、住房、仓库和生活质量。他还提到了联邦政府在水和能源方面的支持，以及对可再生能源的需求。

35:18

📈 美国政策对北美竞争力的影响

Maggie Shreek分析了美国最近通过的法律，如通胀减少法案和芯片法案，将如何促进北美的生产和供应链。她强调了劳动力培训和女性劳动力参与的重要性，并指出这些政策将为美国公司在墨西哥的投资创造激励。

40:18

🛑 墨西哥国内政策对投资的影响

Luis L.讨论了墨西哥的国内政策，特别是能源和矿业领域的政策，可能对吸引投资和提高国家竞争力产生的负面影响。他强调了墨西哥在人员投资、地理位置和制造能力方面的优势，并呼吁共同努力改善商业环境和减少国家风险。

45:19

🔍 运输物流行业的未来挑战

Bernardo Rodarte讨论了运输和物流行业面临的挑战，以及他们需要从政府那里获得的支持。他提出了简化海关程序、改善边境基础设施和提高司机职业尊严的建议。他还强调了使用铁路运输作为一种更环保和可持续的运输方式的重要性。

50:20

🌐 墨西哥成为顶级投资目的地的策略

最后，小组成员总结了墨西哥需要采取的行动，以成为发展中国家中外国直接投资的首选地。建议包括减少监管、提高司法效率、投资教育和培训、改善基础设施、促进可再生能源的使用，以及改善边境和物流效率。

Keywords

💡供应链

供应链是指商品从原材料采购、生产、运输到最终消费者手中的整个流程。在视频中，供应链的优化和安全是北美经济的关键因素，特别是在USMCA框架下，加拿大、美国和墨西哥三国都在积极推动议程，以促进投资并增强关键领域的供应链韧性。

💡近岸外包

近岸外包（Near Shoring）是指企业将生产或服务转移到地理位置较近、文化和经济制度相似的国家，以减少成本并提高效率。视频中提到，利用USMCA带来的机遇，企业通过近岸外包进入墨西哥，利用其地理优势和贸易协定，提高供应链的效率和韧性。

💡外国直接投资

外国直接投资（FDI）指的是一国的企业在另一国设立或购买企业并拥有持续利益的长期投资。视频中提到新莱昂州州长谈到如何继续吸引外国直接投资以加强区域供应链，并分享了新莱昂州的成功经验。

💡区域经济

区域经济是指特定地理区域内的经济活动和经济关系。视频中，新莱昂州的州长提到了与私营部门和大学合作实施的区域经济集群计划，以促进经济增长和供应链的近岸外包。

💡物流

物流涉及商品从生产地到消费地的运输、存储和配送等活动。视频中讨论了物流部门在帮助企业进入墨西哥并利用USMCA带来的机遇方面的作用，以及物流在加强供应链中的重要性。

💡竞争力

竞争力是指一个国家、地区或企业在国际市场上吸引投资、创造就业和促进经济增长的能力。视频中提到墨西哥的竞争力，包括其经济开放度、自由贸易协定的数量以及外国直接投资的稳定性和增长。

💡可再生能源

可再生能源是指来自自然过程中不断更新的能源，如太阳能、风能等。视频中提到，随着企业对环境、社会和治理（ESG）的重视，墨西哥需要投资太阳能、风能等可再生能源，以满足企业对可再生能源的需求。

💡劳动力

劳动力指的是可用于工作的人口。视频中提到墨西哥拥有大量高质量的劳动力，尤其是每年毕业的工程师数量，这对于吸引外国直接投资和加强供应链至关重要。

💡基础设施

基础设施包括交通、能源、通信等基本物理和组织结构，它们是经济活动和社会运行的基础。视频中多次提到基础设施的重要性，包括高速公路、住房、学校和医院，这些都是吸引投资和支持供应链的关键因素。

💡跨境贸易

跨境贸易是指不同国家之间的商品和服务交换。视频中讨论了跨境贸易的挑战，如边境基础设施的改进和通关效率的提升，这对于加强北美供应链至关重要。

Highlights

讨论北美洲供应链的强化，特别是近岸外包现象在墨西哥的发展。

新莱昂州州长Samuel Garcia强调了该州吸引外国直接投资的成功经验。

Milin Institute的Maggie Sivitk提到墨西哥与美国贸易伙伴的独特性，包括经济开放度和外国直接投资的稳定性。

American Industries集团的Luis L讨论了墨西哥在吸引外国投资方面的现状和未来趋势。

Emerson Automation Solutions的Anoir Baraki分享了墨西哥作为生产和供应地的优势。

Schneider National的Bernardo Rodarte强调了物流和运输行业在促进贸易中的关键作用。

讨论了墨西哥如何通过改善基础设施、安全性、能源获取和劳动力质量来吸引更多的外国直接投资。

提出了墨西哥需要解决的主要挑战，包括水资源、能源、安全和劳动力发展。

强调了政府和私营部门之间的合作对于提高供应链的韧性和吸引投资的重要性。

讨论了美国最近的政策，如通胀减少法案和芯片法案，对北美洲生产能力的影响。

提出了减少墨西哥国家风险和提高投资者信心的方法。

讨论了墨西哥在能源和采矿等关键领域的政策，以及这些政策对商业环境的影响。

提出了改善交通基础设施和边境通关流程的建议，以适应不断增长的贸易需求。

讨论了劳动力短缺问题，以及如何通过教育和培训提高劳动力的质量和可用性。

提出了通过使用更多铁路运输来提高物流行业的可持续性。

总结了墨西哥为了成为发展中国家中外国直接投资的首选地，需要采取的措施。

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

and it's a real honor for me to moderate

this panel entitled Smooth Operator as

you heard the song of course

streamlining North American Supply

chains the idea for us here is to have

an exciting panel for you we have

representatives from goland from

research and think tanks from people who

are on the ground of in manufacturing

our country and that live the day-today

reality of what it is like to produce to

source and to export and we have

representation from the uh logistic

sector and as well transportation and

the companies that help bringing firms

into Mexico to take advantage of the

opportunities by the usmca and uh near

Shoring so the idea basically is to have

a discussion on how we can strengthen

Supply chains in North America Supply

chains security is a critical factor for

the North American economy the us.

Canada and Mexico all three countries in

the usmca are actively pursuing agendas

to promote investment and enhance supply

chain resilience in key sectors and the

main objective or the messages that we

should come out of in in this panel is

how to explore opportunities for

collaboration to deepen cooperation

between the three countries to take

advantage of the phenomenon of near

Shoring or Ally Shoring and to really uh

take advantage of the opportunities that

International Trade offers of course for

Mexico but for all three countries so I

will quickly introduce our panelist as I

said we have a a First Rate group of

Representatives that are really moving

uh the Mexican economy and analyzing it

of course first and foremost we have

Governor Samuel Garcia from the state of

noo Leon thank you welome Governor good

afternoon

thanks we have Luis l the co-president

of American Industries group that excels

in facilitating foreign investments into

Mexico welcome

L we also have with us Maggie shriek of

The milin Institute she is the director

of regional economics in the milen

institute's research Department welcome

joining us as well is anoir baraki vice

president for Mexico and Northern Latin

Latin American Northern Latin American

for Emerson automation

Solutions

welcome and last but not least my good

friend Bernardo Rodarte who is the VP

and general manager in Mexico for

Schneider

National so the dynamic for today's

panel will be the following we will have

two rounds of questions one each

question directed at each one of the

panelists who will have between three

and five minutes to answer we will do

two rounds of questions and then a

conclusion where we can try to bring

together the ideas as to how to

strengthen supply chain resilience and

promote uh further uh investment into

our region so I would like to start with

Governor Garcia uh it is clear that noon

has been extreme ex successful in

attracting foreign direct investment for

many years and even more so today so

Governor what does your state need to do

to continue attracting FDI and

strengthening Regional Supply chains and

what are the lessons for other regions

of Mexico can this successful noo Leon

formula be replicated in other regions

of our country thank

you for sure it can be replied in all

Mexico I think there are many topics

many key topics that foreign investors

want to have

certainty what we did first was a new

constitution so we have a

very specific rules and rule of law for

investors to have certainty their money

is going to be

safe then with the private Society we

call it

conon we have a master plan to until

2040 that has a guide of what the

government is going to do with the

universities and with the private sector

for implementing a cluster for

economy very very well dep in near

Shoring climate

change and

technology and obviously what

governments are mean to to do safety

connectivity lots of Highways we're

making six more highways to connect

Monteray with

Texas and human labor I think that's the

Clue the most important asset of nevon

is that we are

graduating 50,000 Engineers with good

English and they're willing to work in

these kind of companies like Tesla

foxcon quanta so now everything arranged

together it's a perfect scenario for

these big companies to to settle but at

last and not least is to promote our

state and our country it's amazing

how many times Mexicans talk bad or make

so much noise about our country even

than

foreigners once foreigners come and

visit our cities our country and take

for sure the opportunities we have

there's a

100% U certainty that are going to to

invest in Mexico we we have everything

we are the closest country to the

biggest Market the US market we have

NAFTA that's for the next 30

Years in in law in in bger and so I

think that the opportunities are now

worldwide and it's necessary for

governments to go for them they're not

going to come alone to our country to

our state so I think many states

they can reply the noons model and with

some luck they can get these big

companies these big Investments Now noon

is closing in office these two years $

37

billion and around 76% of new sharing

and I'm certain that Mexico can do even

more in the next 10 15 years with the

insuring process thank you very much

Governor I will now turn to Maggi fitek

uh The milkin Institute has done a lot

of great research on Supply chains and

competitiveness and it would be great if

you could share some thoughts on that

and in particular what makes Mexico

unique among specifically the United

States trading partners and what are the

remaining areas of Mexico's untapped

growth potential as far as

competitiveness which leads of course to

attraction of investment so yes

absolutely so in terms of what makes

Mexico unique I would say there are two

things first economic openness so Mexico

has free trade agreements with more

countries than the United States it has

free trade agreements with 50 countries

and these are countries that include

obviously North America but multiple

bilateral agreements with countries in

the South and Center of America Asia um

and and the European Union of course and

what this allows for is very strong

integration of the supply chains with

its trade Partners so what its economic

uh openness allows Mexico to have is

regionally integrated Supply chains to

the extent that the in according to

statistics from around 2020 around

40% of the components in product in US

imports from Mexico are us made that

percentage is 4% in China in US imports

from CH coming from China now some issue

with those numbers I'm I didn't

calculate those numbers what I can tell

you is that ratio 40% to 4% in itself is

astounding even if the numbers

themselves may be slightly different as

long as they're both biased in the same

direction the ratio in itself is

astounding but in addition to the free

trade agreements and the integration of

the supply chains Mexico also has free

uh exchange rates which is different

than in China it also has a number of

different

um economic openness aspects that make

uh it stand out when it comes to key

trade partners of the United States now

the second thing that makes Mexico

unique is its foreign direct investment

so two things about its foreign direct

investment make it unique first the

stability of it if we compare Mexico to

Brazil and many people are this year

because in 2022 foreign direct

investment going into Brazil was higher

than foreign direct investment going

into Mexico and a lot of people have

brought that up as um questioning the

effectiveness of near sharing but in

reality what we see is yes it was over

in 2022 but look at what happened in

2020 during the pandemic Mex foreign

direct investment into Mexico remained

remarkably stable whereas it dropped by

almost half in Brazil that just shows

you that there's a trend there a

long-term relationship between um its

economic Partners economic uh Global

Partners that Mexico has that Brazil may

have but it comes and goes now the

second thing that makes it unique

regarding its foreign direct investment

is we know that foreign direct

investment includes Equity or new

investment it also includes reinvestment

and interc Company loans now focusing on

what really matters which is new

investment or Equity investment in that

aspect

Mexico has done remarkably well since

2018 so not just since 2020 but since

2018 if we compare again Mexico to

Brazil and we look at Trends since 2018

new investment going into Brazil has

dropped slightly new investment going

into Mexico has increased dramatically

by around 60% and in fact in the future

we we could expect those Trends to

continue and the reason why is because

the new project announc announcements in

Mexico are also high in fact they're

higher than in any other Latin American

country so it's not just the money that

has already come in that is coming that

has come in recently it's also money

that we can expect to come at least

based on the project announcements that

have been coming out in the past couple

of years thank you very much Maggie let

me turn to Lis now because your company

specializes in helping companies arrive

in Mexico essentially set up operations

here so you're right right at the

trenches of the the near Shoring

phenomenon so I'm curious as to your uh

view on the Outlook and the near Shoring

Trends in Mexico what what what are you

seeing at the ground level and what can

we expect going forward at least for the

next few months or a couple of years yes

and thank you very much um as a matter

of fact for 47 years American Industries

has uh promoted Mexico the foreign

direct investment in Mexico and I had

the the honor of talking to anir and we

had the privilege of helping one of

Emerson's um divisions uh get

established in in the city of Chihuahua

in the late 90s so it was a a great uh

experience for us very

successful thank you thank you very much

um so um yes I think uh developers

Logistics Partners uh Brokers we are

very busy right now uh busier than ever

uh I think

uh because of the China us relations and

uh the pandemic uh we are uh now

experiencing the best uh Time in Mexico

we were talking about waves of

investment uh after the NAFTA was

negotiated I think that was the first or

second big wave that we experienc in

foreign investment and I think right now

is the next big wave of of investment

and we are geared to take advantage of

of that situation so we're I think uh

living in very interesting times very

exciting um and we are very excited to

be in this business right now wonderful

thank you very much let me now turn to

anoir anoir has had ample experience not

only in Mexico but you were the uh

General country manager for the company

in in Peru so I'm interested to seeing

your view in terms of what advantages

has Mexico offered Emerson Electric as a

as a sourcing destination as a country

to uh to produce and to uh be able to

supply many other Industries uh that are

growing in our region and how do you see

this compared to the to the rest of

Latin America okay thank you uh first of

all Let me give some background into

Emerson Electric Emerson Electric it's

an automation uh technology company with

software we're 14 billion uh globally uh

we um we have

130 manufacturing locations of which 12

are in Mexico so it's basically 10% one

is in your state by the way

right uh we have 6

66,000 employees and exactly 10% it's in

Mexico we have 6,300 people head in

terms of head count um Mexico has always

been and will continue to be

strategically important for Emerson not

only because of the automation Market

which has which is very large and it's

very important but also because of the

fact that we've been able to navigate

through the pandemic and through the

geopolitical crisis you know that it it

it's happened uh because we tend to have

a regional strategy in terms of where we

serve our customers from and where we

get our suppliers Lo so 40% of what we

produce in

Mexico 40% of what we produce in Mexico

is bought in Mexico we've been working

for the past 20 years in developing

suppliers and there is still

opportunities but we'll continue to do

so and and you know with this near

sharing wave you know there will be

more a stronger Supply base which will

allow us to increase from 40 to

50% uh when we talk about o

opportunities you know we we get we're

more competitive here in certain areas

so we get cost reductions you know ESG

it's a major Trend going forward it's

already taking place but it will will

get stronger as we go forward so we you

know we reduce our scope stre instead of

importing you know you know things from

Asia or from India we it's it's very

close you know so we reduce our scope

three and we are committed to getting to

to to zero in scope one and two by 2030

so it's around the corner we have a

longer term Target of you know 2040 5 to

Net Zero but that's that's a long way

that's a long time from now we we have a

Target to that we need to to get to net

Ser cope one and two in 2030 and we are

moving uh you know Mexico offers a

diverse Supply

base uh and also when you have high

content in labor Mexico is much much

competitive than India and China and

that's a

mouthful absolutely thank you very much

anoir now Bernardo it is a reality that

in Mexico we're seeing record numbers

for trade particularly with the us we

have record numbers within the usmca

it's likely that we will get close to uh

$900 billion dollars in trade this year

with our number one trading partner so

the trade p is growing in the region

we're likely to go beyond $40 billion in

foreign direct investment this year

coming into Mexico which means uh more

production which means more trade and

I've always looked at the logistics and

transportation sector as the pillar uh

of trade you guys are what makes trade

happen right we may negotiate trade

agreements there may be great things on

paper but you have to get the goods to

the places where they need to be so

given this increase that we are seeing

and expecting towards the future in

terms of investment in Mexico production

and obviously exports is the

transportation sector in our region and

particularly in our country in Mexico is

the transportation sector prepared for

this wave of new manufacturing footprint

coming on board and what are some of the

main challenges that Transportation

providers and shippers are

facing that's a great question I would

start by saying that as many of these

companies established in Mexico and Anar

made a very interesting comment

40% of their content is actually of

local

origin um which would lead me to believe

that other 60% is imported uh meaning

that there is a larger amount of when

you measure it as a the finished product

since there is a considerable amount of

local content that's already been

Incorporated here I think the 40 versus

4% is another very intriguing number in

terms of China versus Mexico and the

United States uh that creates a gap in

trade meaning that there is a lot more

product going out of Mexico or

Northbound flows exports versus product

that's coming into Mexico there's a

specific statistic that we like to

monitor in in Schneider which we call

the Northbound southbound Gap and what

we measure is truck flows and trade

flows uh through the Laro Bridge system

so that basically encompasses the World

Trade bridge and Colombia combined and

when you look at those flows uh the the

Gap that's been created between the

Northbound part and the southbound part

as of this you know this first half of

the year was

45% now 4 5% might not mean much if if

you don't try to interpret what does

that mean for

transportation well the way we see it

for every 10 trucks that are trying to

leave Mexico there are only you know

five to six trucks that are entering the

country and that creates uh certain

capacity constraints and and challenges

for for the shipping Community these

these investors that are are uh

establishing themselves in Mexico so I

see that that that is a big challenge

now

what uh can shippers do to try to you

know uh be better off in in in uh facing

this challenge between the Northbound

and southbound flows uh my advice is

always to follow what we call a

multimodal approach to capacity meaning

that you do not you know you use the the

the trucking side to move product from

from your plants up to to the US and

Canada uh but if you're going to rely

only on trucks uh and you don't create

res resiliency across your supply chain

you know there's a little bit more of an

opportunity that you're you're going to

struggle to find that truck that can

move the capacity Northbound whereas if

you use a mix of over the road trucks

and over the rail trucks in other words

containers uh that can pick up in

there's another very important port in

no Leon I know that Colombia is very

close to the governor's heart uh but

Salena Victoria the Intermodal Port is

also very important

uh which allows us to put in additional

empty containers which is much more

efficient to do it over the rail versus

over the road uh into the market and

then load on Intermodal on the train so

that you can move that that product

Northbound so I would say that's that's

strategic in addition to that I think

that there's been um quite a few

projects that have been announced

recently by both the the state level the

federal level and the private sector

they're going to have a very positive

impact on trade and transportation in

specific over the next few years if I

had to mention

three uh the cpkc or the Canadian

Pacific Kansas City Railroad uh is

currently working on expanding their

bridge in in uh Laredo Texas um to give

you perspective current day there's

approximately 28 to 32 uh trains that

cross that bridge currently in hopefully

a little bit more than a year we're

going to be moving 60 trains across that

same well now the two Bridges right so

that's a very exciting project the

expansion of the Columbia Bridge I think

is also going to benefit the community

uh in quite a a positive manner there

are currently 18 Lanes uh available at

the Columbia brid Bridge for for

commercial trade uh that's going to be

expanded to 32 uh and it's a project

that's currently being worked both on

the Mexican and the and and the US side

obviously it's going to allow for a lot

more trucks to clear the Border I think

uh the project that's being worked by

the state of no Leon in uh creating the

bypass for Laredo uh La Gloria

connecting to Colombia will give

shippers an alternative and and another

way that you can reach the United States

either through the World Trade Bridge

which is the traditional manner let's

say or now now by using this bypass uh

to be able to certain degree avoid the

traffic in in uh no Ledo and go directly

to Colombia and that that Sav time

thank you very much Bernardo I would now

like to turn to a second set of

questions and just keeping in mind that

the first round was sort of designed to

uh uh talk about uh the uh impact that

we're seeing in Mexico and New that is

the opportunity both what is happening

we're seeing on the ground right now and

the potential towards the future and in

this second set of questions I would

like to delve more into some of the

challenges that we have how can we keep

this trend going how can we

increase uh both the uh the quantity and

the quality of the investment coming

into Mexico and set up conditions to

really at the end of the day accomplish

what the North American leaders are

setting out to do which is creating the

most competitive region in the world so

I will start with you Governor precisely

because as we see noo Leon there's many

reports in the press and otherwise that

noon is receiving perhaps between 60 and

70% of the new foreign direct investment

that is been committed to right now and

in the last year and a half or so and uh

at the same time how can the state deal

with all of this investment coming in

which we know that will create uh you

know structural pressures you know W

within the state and how can the near

sharing momentum

continue and are there changes that need

to be done at the state and also at the

federal level in order to really be able

to maximize uh this investment coming

into the country sure well I think the

answer is infrastructure

because most of these companies they

want safe well-connected

free

highways that's why we also have the

project of the Colombia bridge that is

going to double but it's also be

is we're planning to convert it in a

cargo Hub we have no housing so

everything is going to be warehousing

and the Strategic Lanes of the advocacy

we're trying to get that is

electromobility

and also a lot

of the security issues in this

country obviously it's a challenge but

it's not impossible to armor your state

and to control every road every Highway

entrance and exits to have a specific

police stations arcs drones

and guarantee your companies and the

foreign investments that their

merchandise Services they can be emble

and cross to the US without any

insecurity

troubling and obviously quality life I

really think that Mobility having

Subways having a good transport public

transport having hospitals schools and

the best universities are going to help

the ecosystem system to work now there

are two matters that they are

federal specific

faculties but the state can do a lot of

things to improve them water and

energy our Federal

Constitution states that there are

federal

exclusive

tasks but these do not avoids the states

to work with the federal government in

our case we had some water

struggles and working with the federal

government we just made an aqueduct a

new dump a lot of wells and a lot of

sewage renewal and with this we're going

to guarantee at least 10 years of

water uh

surveillance and in the energy

sector thank God Montery has been for

many years the Center of distribution of

energy of five states so we have now

Surplus around 40%

Surplus in high tension

energy the challenge is not to wait for

CF to converted into middle or low and

that's why with the private sector we

are making 240 industrial parks all

ready with the substations so anyone

that wants to come to Monteray they have

everything ready we have an exit an exit

a a case a successful case with Quant

computers they make the the brains of

the

Teslas they got installed and in five

months they were producing the computers

and sending them to Austin and this is

an example of how noo Leon ecosystem

private and government are anticipating

the new shuring process get it

everything done everything ready the

last challenge that we are

anticipating is that renewable energy

most of these companies require at least

for a

compl 10 or 20% of renewable energy and

by 2030 they will need 30% and by 20

4050 and we have a a great challenge in

this country with we got stuck four

years we need to invest in solar

wind nuclear hydrogen or whatever it

games so we can provide these new

companies like Tesla or that has

World um treaties of climate change for

them to settle and

be accomplishing their their objectives

towards climate change I think those two

terms we need a lot of support from the

federal government well three security

energy and water and the country will be

ready to receive much more nuring that

the one we have got great thank you

Governor uh Maggie now during the North

American leader Summit earlier this year

and just recently at the high level

economic dialogue high level officials

of Mexico Canada and the US in this case

in the uh bilateral meetings between us

and Mexico specifically once again the

countries are talking about how to build

this competitive region how to work

together to create a seamless production

environment with strong Supply chains in

in North America now there are things

happening in the United States that can

help the process not just within the US

in terms of strengthening its

competitiveness for re sectors of the

future but that can also help uh Canada

and Mexico so in your opinion how will

US policies recently approved laws such

as the inflation reduction Act and the

chips act contribute towards achieving

these ambitious objectives of

strengthening North American

production yes so what the what now the

incentives are going to do is they're

going to do precisely that they're going

to generate incentives for companies for

North American companies for American

companies from the US to invest more in

Mexico and as um companies have those in

incentives as they're looking for places

to invest and how to really capitalize

on this near sharing um impetus that we

have going on now I would suggest that

there are probably two areas that are

very important for companies to keep in

mind and they're both related to

Workforce Talent so first Mexico does

relatively poor s compared to other us

key trade Partners so not necessarily

Latin America but us key trade Partners

such as Vietnam such as other countries

uh that such as Canada um in terms of

sta staff training and when it comes to

staff training the specific measure that

I'm referring to with respect to staff

training is based on an executive

opinion survey so it's a it's a survey

that asks business Executives about to

what extent do companies in their

country invest in staff training and

according to this measure it turns out

that in Mexico business EX tives

themselves say that companies do not

invest much in staff training in Mexico

now that's a huge area of an potential

that companies us companies Canadian

companies companies from Mexican

companies as well uh have see that if

they invest in their staff then they can

help with retention and they can

also um

simply have better

workers that in the long term produce

more and are more productive now the

second area that I would mention that

companies should keep in mind is with

respect to labor force participation

Mexico has relatively low labor force

participation as compared to other us

key trade Partners however it's quite

interesting if one breaks that out by

gender when it comes if when we look at

Labor first participation of men versus

women separately actually when it comes

to male labor force participation in

Mexico it's it's higher than in the US

than in Canada than in average oecd

countries but it's the female labor

force participation that really drives

the average down now why is that is it

because of culture is it because of um

not insufficient child care support is

it because of informal employment and

the only data I have that's unal

employment honestly I don't know but it

doesn't matter because even if it is

let's say it is because of informal

employment that still leaves the same it

leaves to the same conclusion there's a

huge unted female potential among formal

employers formal employers that can

attract train and skillfully employ

women have a huge area of potential

increase in their productivity in the

long term and let me just comment that

actually this the remaining labor force

uh potential is something that is uh

spread throughout Mexico even even in

states that have been outperforming

other parts of Mexico such as Noone the

female Labor Force employment is still

way below the male Labor Force

employment so there's still potential

for growth there so those would be the

the things that I would mention for

companies to keep in mind as these

incentives are capitalized on thank you

very much Maggie well now I'd like to

turn to a couple of questions to our

panelists from the private sector these

are questions that are more

controversial let's call them disruptive

because yes we have this wonderful

potential this environment that we're

seeing in terms of attracting investment

into the region and Mexico because of

different factors as you know the

pandemic uh the that led to the this

relocation effect is being the center of

this let's say perfect storm where a lot

of investment is coming back to North

America at the same time we know that

processes of trade liberalization have

to go hand inhand with public policies

in each country that actually create the

appropriate conditions for businesses to

thrive and to attract investment now I I

want to pose this specific question to

Luis uh you know despite all the efforts

and the statements that we have and

we've seen in Mexico on on the need to

strengthen competitiveness to link up

and integrate with the US and and

Canadian economies and to be presented

to the world as a country that's open

for business do you believe that you

know Mexico is it shooting itself in the

foot by pursuing certain domestic

policies specifically that would seem to

go in the opposite direction of creating

this positive environment I'm referring

specifically on policies in sectors such

as energy mining Etc what can be done to

reduce country risk in Mexico in your

opinion and improve investor

confidence I think Mexico is uh

investing in in its people

and I think uh uh the people is one of

our greatest strengths of course we have

areas of opportunity in infrastructure

the government the governor already

mentioned some areas of opportunity that

we have but we continue to be one of the

uh uh best countries uh in the world uh

for

manufacturing uh I think uh the location

the geographical location of Mexico is

uh always going to be there I mean the

the market 500 million people the the

North American Market uh we're right

there uh I think Mexico um still uh is

very very attractive uh I think the

comparative advantage of uh of the lower

cost that we have in Mexico is is still

uh a strength but also the quality of

our people uh and the quality of our

labor is going to continue to be uh very

attractive uh part uh that companies are

going to look for and we are also uh

like Maggie was saying we are investing

a lot of uh uh money uh we are building

right now the developers of the

industrial developers in Mexico we are

building 60 million square feet of

industrial facilities right now uh I

think that's a a tremendous amount of

investment that we are making and we are

uh getting ready to to receive receive

uh those uh International companies that

are coming to to Mexico uh in this in

this manner so great thank you now anoir

in terms of Emerson specifically what

are some of the biggest uh challenges or

obstacles that you face when operating

in Mexico and if you had the opportunity

to ask the Mexican Government to improve

the business environment so that your

company can continue to thrive uh what

would you ask

for um in in terms I don't see that as

disadvantage

I see that as

opportunities um you know there are

certain Commodities that

are more competitive in China and India

I mean those are the major ones you know

and I was listening to the to the

conversation the first day whether it's

being subsidized or by the other

government I mean companies will always

be very competitive because they they

need to you know if we are not pushing

the envelope all the time you know we we

won't be successful and we won't be able

to invest in new technologies and things

like that so we will always go for for

where is more competitive so commod

certain Commodities I'm not going to go

into detail detail in what Commodities

um the border throughput is it's a major

roadblock I think there is plenty of

opportunities I think with what you

mentioned you've been doing it but you

know the question is can we do it across

the country you touched on on the point

government infrastructure I mean if

Mexico wants to attract more investment

it needs to review I mean to me I see

everything as an equation labor

electricity uh suppliers we you know we

we could be doing a lot more we employ

indirect in we have 18,000 people

indirect that's our estimate you know

direct employment employment is one

thing indirect employment as a result of

our 40% local cont you know not local

content should say that um but

um what can can we do I mean it needs to

be a joint effort between private and

government I I I was part of the US

Mexico energy Council and you know one

of the the numbers that that one of the

members throughout there from Burns and

McDonald's um investment that it's on

the because of the different regulations

and policy there is about 40 or 50 in

energy 40 and 50 billion dollar just

sitting on the

sidelines so I think the in summary I

think you know we need to work together

government and the private sector the

question is what instruments do we

create so that we get into action

wonderful thank you very much and a

similar question to you uh Bernardo and

in looking at not just Mexico but also

US and Canada and companies in

transportation that operate in in in all

three North American countries this is a

question related to uh what does the

transportation and logistic Industries

need to do and need to ask uh

governments in order to meet these

challenges of the future in terms of

public policy but also modification and

uh let's say modernization of the sector

itself so that it really uh can can deal

with this growing demand of trade in our

region well I would start by saying we

need to think less about a border for

Freight and Freight from a freight

perspective we need to see it more like

a bridge in other words how can we have

product that's moving across our three

countries blow in a much more seamless

Manner and I'll be I'll put some very

specific examples so today if you want

to move product from say a plon in

saltio montere

guara uh up to the United States you

have to present documents to the Mexican

Government to create one document Pento

o and you have to present the exact same

documents to the US government to create

an

entry you would be surprised how often

when you get to the border the the truck

will have to sit because one of these

two documents is missing so what if we

start by just eliminating one of the two

right if you're going north from Mexico

going to the US well let's just use the

US entry you don't need the pedimento

and collaborate with the two governments

to share information because in the end

it's this exact same information that's

available in both documents right so how

can we standardize that so that we can

say value able time when we exit Mexico

enter the United States uh same thing

applies for for inter modal when you're

move things over the rail you know could

we have a system very similar to what's

happening in the United States where you

load a product and once you clear us and

you cross the bridge let's say and you

that's it it's done right the the

Intermodal container Ares to a terminal

and it gets it gets delivered to the

customer in Mexico why do we have to

stop at the terminal and wait for

paperwork could we establish a system

where again you have a single document

that controls the the shipment and it's

on the rail and what if once it's on the

rail you you trigger the automatic red

light green light for an inspection like

like it's done in in other parts of the

world and if hits a green light that's

it don't even you know why why do you

need to inspect it let it go right just

let it move um I think those two things

would would would be very helpful the

third

one uh and this this uh has to do with

the government and it has to do with lot

of lot of the people that are sitting

here that are

shippers um so the the first one that

has to do a little bit more with the

government is we as a transportation

industry this are having a hard time uh

recruiting and retaining drivers it's

it's a it's a struggle every day um for

most Transportation companies the driver

that was hired January 1st there's a

high probability he's not going to be in

the company by the end of the year um

being a trucker is not an easy job it's

it's difficult so from a government

perspective how what how how can we

change it so that obtaining a driver's

license which is not that difficult that

one's relatively easy but more

importantly from looking at a

transportation perspective you're going

International you need your driver's

license and you need something else and

it's called a gafete

Uno driver's license pretty easy to get

gafete Uno

it's like hurting cats it's really

really difficult and the time it takes

to obtain one can can can you know you

can measure it in weeks sometimes even

months um so we so not only do we face

you know challenge to retain a driver if

that driver does leave getting a new

driver and having him you know come in

with a gaffet Uno is is a challenge so I

think just speeding up the process to to

have both driver's license and more

importantly gafetes sunos exp you know

expedited so that they you can obtain

one a few days versus a few weeks would

would be helpful now what the shipping

Community can do uh which we all need

your help on is what do we need to do to

dignify the profession of a

driver uh they they promote a tremendous

service for all of us right that they're

what keeps our countries moving uh

literally and why when I talk about

dignifying uh a driver's profession it's

it's it's really not nuclear science

it's little things like when a driver

arrives to your

facility is there a restroom available

for him right he's been on the road

maybe 10 hours you know and and probably

needs to use uh the restroom is there a

restroom available for him that's that's

dignifying his his profession um what

can we do to so that he enters your

property and exits your property very

very quickly you know how can that be

measured in minutes versus hours because

in the end drivers have choice

and you know they can just you know when

you have two loads and you only have you

know one driver because the market is

very very tight the driver actually has

the right to make a decision and he can

decide well I can go to this Factory

right I know I'm going to spend probably

four to five hours before I'm out and

their facilities are not necessarily

very driver friendly yeah they have one

restroom but if I want a Coke I can't I

can't you know I want a soda I want a a

sandwich I can't find one uh or I can go

to this facility where they're very nice

they're very courteous to the driver and

I'm in and out in 30 minutes heck I

don't even need the coke right because

it's they're so quick that I'm not GNA

even have time to go buy one um if we

have more of these companies that's

where the drivers are going to prefer to

go and that's how you're going to gain

more capacity so again so if I had to

summarize uh there's a lot of things

that we could do from a customs

regulation and and um

secret type activities where we could be

a lot more efficient in issuing

permits um and and pedimentos and from

another perspective make sure that we're

always looking at how we can digify the

profession of a driver and that will

attract capacity to your

plant thank you very much but now these

are all excellent suggestions and as we

were as we are nearing the the end of

our panel uh what I did throughout our

discussion discuss is sort of write down

some of the takeaways the main elements

that that everybody here with a great

presentations and interventions have

have put on the table I'd like to

quickly summarize what I see as some of

the the key takeaways or elements that

can strengthen Supply chains in North

America of course we're focusing a lot

on Mexico because that's where the near

sharing phenomenon is is taking place as

as we speak in in our region and I see

among these and I'm just going to list

them before going to to our conclusion

where I'll ask one final question of

each participant very quickly uh

transportation and energy infrastructure

as a key need for more security both for

the people of course of Mexico and for

doing business uh access to energy

particularly Renewables uh Mobility was

very important the governor pointed out

issues of quality of life which also

Bernardo is taking up here in other

words the working conditions the

environment that you create for for your

Workforce is essential uh water

infrastructure is an essential element

uh also uh improving border

infrastructure and Crossing I mean I

think that from the private sector

perspective these are the issues are not

on the uh front pages of the ma of the

newspapers but that are essential for

the bottom line and for the efficiency

of of of international trade one key

element is cooperation between the

private and and sector and the

governments both at the federal and at

the state level and I like the idea of a

regulatory cooperation or regulatory

Improvement throughout uh the processes

that have to do with uh with

International Trade whether it's

Transportation manufacturing and you

touch upon an issue which could be the

subject of an entire other panel which

is uh labor shortages both of drivers

and the trucking and also the

availability of uh skilled workers I

mean and that's something that in States

like noon where you're having so much

investment coming in and all this demand

you're going to have to continuously be

cranking out more Engineers I heard you

yesterday in Camin talk about the number

of Engineers that are noon is producing

and that's great we need to replicate

that in other states as well and to

really be able to have that skilled

Workforce uh you know meet the demands

of of what we'll see in in the following

years and and just as as a closing I

would like to ask each one of you if in

uh one or two sentences you could

summarize as if this was a headline what

does Mexico need to do in the future to

become the number one recipient of

foreign direct investment among

developing countries and I'll go in

order here I'll start with anoir one or

two

sentences I I I think it's uh it's uh

tough to to summarize what you just said

in one or two sentences because in

reality you summarize it very well um

you know the key question for me is you

know there is a lot of ideas in any

company in any government the question

is how do what do you put in place to

make it happen uh um and you know one of

one of the challenges for us is to

increase the you know the our local

Supply our local uh suppliers so there

was a an association called Pro xico and

it was was dismantled I don't know it's

taken

away I I think when when I talk about

action you know those are the things

that will be a catalyst to drive change

so we need one for electricity by the

way there is a carbon tax in Europe that

is coming up and it will catch up to the

US and if we want to capture the near

Shing wave you know need Renewables

because electricity is the best way to

you know renewable energy is the quicker

way to reduce CO2 food printing in your

products and it's coming and the

question is how soon are we going to

start anyways sorry

no problem no

problem

Governor well you just answer what I was

going to said

so I will state that we have to promote

Mexico

worldwide there are a lot of

geopolitical

issues that are favor in Mexico but we

have to go for the

opportunities very

very one

minute and we have to be United as a

country and start thinking in the future

and stop fighting today in the morning a

politician of my

state invented the fake news that Tesla

was

canceled he has lost eight campaigns in

the way so he's very sad very

pessimistic but he seemed to be C

celebrating that Tesla was not opening

in so this is happening all in the

country

why instead of getting together the

ideas and pulling up together as

Mexicans that we have the great

opportunity to grow we are fighting and

we are having two campaigns coming up us

and Mexico so I think we have to to be

very

intelligent to really debate

these topics instead of fake news and

take advantage of what the world is

giving us the new sharing process and

this big growth thank you Governor

Maggie so I agree with Bernardo and it's

about reducing regulation reducing the

red tape and increasing the efficiency

of the judicial system and settling

disputes and in actually challenging

regulation that is unnecessary so I'll

be quick that was it thank you very much

Lis well I believe it's uh education I

think it's investing in our people

investing in in in the education of our

people and also empowering women I I

there's a lot of women in the madora

industry working it's a intricate part

of the madora industry they are uh

hardworking they are amazing so I I

think uh we should Empower them more in

this country and and continue investing

in in education which is the future of

Mexico thank you

Bernardo so a lot of factory setting up

in in our country and that's great how

can we do that in a sustainable way I

think is a big key element and

transportation plays a role in that

right um and my suggestion there would

be let's see how we can use more uh

intermodel in other words use more of

the train one gallon of diesel can

transport one ton of your products for

up to 500 miles a little bit less than

500 Miles which is uh about three to

four times more efficient from a fuel

perspective than than a truck right um

so there's there's some really

interesting ideas of what we can do to

be to become Greener a very simple one's

already out there right and that's use

the train more because by using the

train you can reduce costs arrive at

destination and a Transit time that's

very similar to truck and do it in a

very sustainable manner so I think it's

a it's a it's one of those low hanging

fruits that we should take care and or

or take advantage of in order to become

a more sustainable from a transportation

perspective well that's great we have

come to the end of this panel I want to

thank the participants for a wonderful

discussion uh these are issues that are

complex and that we will uh continue no

doubt to discuss uh in the future so I

want to thank all the participants may

we have a round of applause for our

participants and thank you very much for

our

[Applause]

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