Mexico has become the business center for 13 Singaporean companies that have landed in the last year with investments in the manufacturing industry, the digital economy and infrastructure construction.
“We have landed a very good number of projects in the last year, I would say about 5 or 6 manufacturing companies, 4 or 5 very interesting digital economy projects, as well as a couple of large-scale infrastructure projects,” Gersón Garduño Chavero, CEO of the Singapore-Mexico Chamber of Commerce (SgMxCham), tells Forbes Mexico.
The Mexican economy is much bigger than its challenges such as violence and insecurity, he says.
The number of infrastructure and logistics projects with Singaporean capital in Mexico has been less because the investment amounts are more complex and robust, he explains.
“Today our main objective is for the members of the chamber to have better and more businesses,” he says.
Between 2006 and 2024, Singapore companies have invested more than 937 million dollars in different productive sectors in Mexico, according to the Ministry of Economy (SE).
In November 2019, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Mexico and met with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who reported that Singapore would participate in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec project.
In 2022, cooperation activities between Mexico and Singapore increased. For example, in October of that year, a delegation of 9 companies led by the Singapore Precision Engineering and Technology Association and Enterprise Singapore arrived in Mexico. This group of companies specializes in advanced manufacturing and explores the possibility of investing in Mexico and providing high-tech and precision services in the field.
The Hannover-Messem company also met with the government and the private association “El Gran Bajío”, made up of business leaders from Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí.
“In recent years, diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries have increased, which is of vital importance to strengthen both economies,” says Agustina Rodríguez Alegría, researcher at the Department of Pacific Studies at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG).
“The same thing is happening this year, where we see the participation of Singaporean companies in projects being developed in Mexico,” she adds.
“Mexico is a country with many challenges, like most emerging countries worldwide,” says Garduño Chavero.
She says that business decision makers see Mexico as a powerful country with great growth potential because it is immersed in the United States market, and it has a diversity of sectors and industries, she says.
“The distance between Singapore and Mexico means that there is a bit of ignorance within the business community in general, but the gap is closing every time,” he says.
He adds that through a membership scheme for individual, medium-sized and corporate companies, services and support are provided to Mexican companies seeking to do business in Singapore, such as Singaporean companies that are going or are pursuing business relationships in Mexico.
The SgMxCham was created in September 2022 and today there are 160 affiliated companies dedicated to the food and hospitality industry, the digital economy, electronic commerce, manufacturing, infrastructure and logistics.
“We support trade missions, market intelligence is provided and seminars, workshops and other services are held” for companies interested in investing either in Mexico or Singapore, he says.
“We not only represent the interests of Mexican companies in Singapore, but we serve any company that is doing or seeking to do business from there to here and from here to there,” he says.
The food and hospitality industry is important for the diversification and export of Mexican products: “In Singapore there are more than 60 restaurants and it is a small island the size of Cozumel.”
He maintains that the digital economy shows “clear growth” in the Mexican economy and worldwide, which is why members of the chamber have businesses linked to fintech and the digital economy.
He points out that nearshoring is a trendy topic that has grown in recent months, since the chamber receives weekly requests for information and applications from companies that want to set up in Mexico.
He explains that Singaporean companies are interested in investing in a factory or production line in Mexico due to the problems with global value chains caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic crisis of 2020.
“A couple of weeks ago they came to Mexico with the help of Enterprise Singapore, —the Singapore government’s trade promotion agency—, and the Singapore Business Federation, —the most important business association in Singapore—, we brought a delegation of 20 businessmen (from 12 companies),” he says.
The purpose was for them to explore areas of opportunity in the manufacturing industry in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana, he adds.
Source: forbes
