The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, and businessmen from Mexico and the United States have taken the first step to reestablish relations that until the previous six-year term were distant. After a meeting of just over an hour with 240 executives from both sides of the border, the businessmen have promised a fund of 20 billion dollars in 2025. “It was a very good meeting and we proposed working tables on the reform of the Judicial Branch and the electrical reform, it was clarified that neither represents a problem for investment in Mexico, on the contrary, what we call the Rule of Law will be strengthened, and at the same time we proposed our investment strategy. The president does not want to have control of the Judicial Branch, it is false, what we want is a Judicial Branch free of corruption,” said Sheinbaum herself.
The president of Mexico has prioritized, at the start of her mandate, the relationship with national and United States businessmen. That was the signal sent from the 14th edition of the CEO Dialogue, the private summit that concluded on Tuesday with important investment announcements from companies such as Amazon, Mexico Pacific, Royal Caribean and Woodside Energy. Sheinbaum promised to implement dialogue tables to explain the judicial reform and the modifications to the electrical system. Questioned about the problems of violence in different parts of the country, the president indicated that it was not a topic that was discussed during the meeting.
The Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, stated that the main message from the Cabinet to the 240 executives from Mexico and the United States was the certainty and certainty about the investments based in the country, as well as the creation of a digital single window that guarantees greater agility for binational businesses. Ebrard assured that, in a conservative estimate, a fund of 20 billion dollars will be invested next year. However, the expectation is that it will exceed 30 billion dollars.
Ebrard assured that this first meeting represents the starting signal for the review of the USMCA in 2026. Along the same lines, President Sheinbaum has announced that her government will seek to maintain the treaty with few modifications: “We are going to wait for the United States elections, but our narrative is that we complement each other, we do not compete with each other, we are 30% of the world’s GDP and this complementarity strengthens us compared to other regions of the world and at the same time allows us to continue expanding into a continental fortress,” Sheinbaum concluded.
Against a backdrop of an economic slowdown, investor confidence in Mexico has recently been shaken by controversial reforms to the energy sector and the judiciary, promoted by the previous López Obrador government. Now, the current Administration seeks to boost employment and economic activity, in alliance with the private sector, which is why this first face-to-face meeting between Sheinbaum and the top executives of the companies plays a crucial role.
Sarah Bairstow, CEO of Mexico Pacific, welcomed the participation of the head of the Executive in these tables. Her company has promised a disbursement of 15 billion dollars in a liquefied natural gas terminal in the north of the country. The plant will import American natural gas, liquefy it and send it to clients mainly in Asia. It is planned to be built in Puerto Libertad, between the coastal cities of Guaymas and Puerto Peñasco (Sonora). In addition to the 15 billion dollars from Mexico Pacific, Ebrard explained that Royal Caribbean will invest 1.5 billion dollars for a tourist development in Mahahual, by sea, in Quintana Roo. Amazon will seek to strengthen its digital capacity in Mexico with 6 billion dollars between 2025 and 2026 and, finally, Woodside Energy will invest together with Pemex more than 10.4 billion dollars to build a fuel depot.
The president of the Business Coordinating Council, Francisco Cervantes, celebrated this meeting and mentioned that it was the first step to establish a more productive relationship throughout the six-year term. “There were many issues, the Digital Agency is very important for us, because it helps us fight corruption,” he declared. The representative of Mexican businessmen also predicted that this first pool of 20 billion dollars in investment will be exceeded.
The second day of the CEO Dialogue summit was marked by a handful of protests against the reform of the Judicial Branch in the vicinity of the National Palace. From the early hours of the morning, with banners in English and Spanish, drums and shouts, dozens of people arrived at the doors of the different entrances of this building to protest the changes in the way of electing more than 7,000 judges and magistrates. To the cry of “Judge Voted, devalued peso!” and “Not one step back, not one step back!”, the protesters prevented access to the National Palace for hours. Behind closed doors, Sheinbaum and her cabinet presented their investment plan to Mexico’s big capital, a roadmap that will be released in the coming days.
The CEO High Level Dialogue was created in 2013 by the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Business Coordinating Council (CCE). Priority topics include investment, trade facilitation and trade policy, services and energy, as well as climate change. In the run-up to the elections in the United States—Mexico’s main trading partner—this summit aims to be the first bridge for investment and the development of new projects between the two countries. In addition, it will seek to solve other pressing issues on the agenda, for example, a more agile flow of goods at the border and the implementation of digitalization projects.
Source: elpais
