Mazatlan authorities present business and investment opportunities in the Mexican State

Narciso Casado, in turn, stressed the importance of the role of business organisations in their teaching, supporting and encouraging companies as they internationalise and by promoting investments in third markets, especially in Africa, Europe and Latin America. He also highlighted the work of the Ibero-American Business Council-CEIB to ensure that companies in the region achieve the place they deserve, thanks to the intense activity it carries out through its 24 member organisations.

Thus, Casado highlighted “the meetings we hold at CEOE International and CEIB with local authorities in the various States is the key to reactivating real investment”. He also touched upon the importance of having up-to-date information about the business opportunities and key sectors to foster potential for bilateral cooperation. The Permanent Secretary CEIB also highlighted the significance of regional integration tools, with the Ibero-American Summits and the Business Meetings preceding them being the most important of them all. Thus, he encouraged Mexican businesspeople to participate in the next meeting, which is due to be held in the Dominican Republic in 2023, to assess the priorities, challenges and opportunities for the region in the future. Casado also reported that, at CEIB, we are committed to free enterprise, promoting intra-regional trade, cultural and creative industries, and fair, inclusive and sustainable tourism, among many other areas.

Business opportunities in Mazatlan
The Secretary of Economic Development, Tourism and Fishing of Mazatlan (Sinaloa), Ricardo Jesús Velarde, accompanied by the Commercial Attaché of the Mexican Embassy in Spain, Luis Véliz; the Director of Tourism Promotion at Mazatlan City Council, Jesús Trinidad Osuna, and the Director of Business Affairs at Casa de México, Eduardo Pérez, set out the business and investment opportunities in key sectors in the city.

Velarde stated that Mazatlan will be the leading national destination by hotel occupancy in 2020 and 2021, and is a hub for sectors including tourism, real estate development, fishing, agriculture and logistics. He also reported that Spain is the first premier destination for Mazatlan, unlike other States. He also mentioned that Sinaloa is undoubtedly Mexico’s most important “breadbasket.”

Projects of interest in Mazatlan
On the other hand, he highlighted the launch of the Mazatlan Logistic Center, the city’s first world-class logistics/industrial park, bearing in mind that it is a natural distribution hub. Mazatlan is also the gateway to the Northern Economic Corridor, and the T-MEC Corridor project is also planned, to boost the new port that is there.

Another project Velarde mentioned is the Mazatlan World Trade Center, construction of which will begin in 2024 and which will connect this State with more than 300 World Trade Centers in 100 countries around the world, 51 of them in Latin America. 200 million dollars will be invested in it and will generate 150 direct jobs and 600 indirect jobs. According to the Secretary of Economic Development, Mazatlan is a national leader in fishing, it has the largest fishing fleet in the country, and it has the first tuna and shrimp industry in the country.

Velarde reported that the T-MEC project pursues logistical development to connect the Mexican Pacific with central and eastern United States, and with Canada, through the city of Winnipeg. The construction of a new terminal at Sinaloa worth 1 billion dollars, various logistics centres and a shipyard is planned. Velarde said that private investment in Mazatlan from November 2021 to September 2022 was worth 799 million dollars, mainly concentrated in the housing, tourism real estate, industrial and commercial sectors.

Thus the Secretary of Economic Development highlighted the fact that in Mazatlan there are 186 hotels, 12,706 rooms, and 13 hotels and 2,055 rooms under construction. Velarde also emphasised the MZT Aerospace Park project, which will be the only space park in Mexico with its own runway and all necessary facilities, and where all the companies that operate there will have access to it. There is no doubt that it is very easy to do business in Mazatlan, which is due to the Fiscal Promotion Certificates of the State of Sinaloa, which help promote investment in the region. “We are making a much greater effort that at any time in the last 30 years to promote the growth and development of Mazatlan,” Velarde concluded.