Mexico announce investment plans

Mexican authorities unveiled a government scheme on Monday aimed at luring businesses to a southern coastal corridor in a bid to boost investment in the underdeveloped region. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is prioritizing the project, which seeks to link the Pacific and Gulf coasts through an extended freight rail line alongside multiple industrial parks intended to attract manufacturing investment to impoverished areas of the country.

Officials have revealed plans to construct ten industrial parks on the Pacific port of Salina Cruz, in Oaxaca state, and the Gulf coast hub of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state, six and four parks respectively. During a launch event, they presented details of the so-called Interoceanic Corridor development plan.

The government plans to announce tax incentives for the parks this week, according to Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro. The project is designed to capitalize on the “nearshoring” trend of relocating production to North America from Asia, said Alejandro Encinas, Buenrostro’s deputy minister.

The plan’s main project is a transoceanic freight rail line, which aims to compete with the Panama Canal for transporting trade goods across Mexico’s narrowest point, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.