Spain is the second main foreign investor in Mexico and, although it is difficult to measure the impact of controversies such as the one generated this week between that Government and that of Mexico, they are “pebbles” that can affect the attractiveness for the flow of capital, said Ana Gutiérrez, foreign trade coordinator of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
In an interview, the analyst referred to data from the Ministry of Economy that shows a cumulative total of 56,921.4 million dollars since 2006 and until the second half of 2024, an amount of Spanish investment only surpassed by that of the United States.
Therefore, diplomatic differences are “signals” that Mexico sends about the importance it gives to the stability of its relations with other countries and to being a destination that facilitates or not the arrival of foreign capital and businessmen, said Ana Gutiérrez, coordinator of foreign trade of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
“Yes, they are little stones that come together; Little by little, Mexico is sending signals to Spain, to the United States, to Canada, which perhaps are not the best to guarantee them (investments),” said Gutiérrez.
“And although by itself the issue of the invitation to the king of Spain or by itself the issue of demanding an apology for the Conquest is not going to have a direct impact on foreign direct investment (FDI), if you add it to other about the importance that Mexico gives to its diplomatic and commercial relations, they are becoming signals that can together affect Mexico’s competitiveness and the attractiveness we have as a destination for investment,” he added.
Data from the Ministry of Economy also indicates that Spanish capital – with 5,162 companies in Mexico – represents 9.7 percent of total FDI in the last 18 years.
“The key difference to make is between the diplomatic issues and the commercial side; Of course they are linked and the stability of Mexico’s international relations is crucial to attract investment and guarantee that there is fluid and efficient commercial exchange and, in some cases, with access to beneficial rates, but they do not always go one hundred percent. the hand Although, if the conflicts continue or worsen, if the longer-term relationship deteriorates, it could undoubtedly have an effect on investment and trade,” Gutiérrez said.
“For now, it is important to have a good diplomatic and commercial relationship with Spain and other countries, but with Spain in particular because we see that it is our second largest investor. Sometimes it doesn’t sound so obvious, we think of the United States or Canada, because of the treaty, but Spain is larger than other European or Asian countries; It is and has been for years the second largest investor in the country and generally contributes around 10 percent of all the FDI we receive each year,” he added.
Banks, telephone companies…
In Chihuahua, data from the Ministry of Innovation and Economic Development (SIDE) indicates that firms from that European country have a presence through, above all, banks and telephone companies that, until the second quarter of 2024, contributed 1.2 million dollars, or .1 percent of the total FDI in the entity.
These are companies such as Pegaso PCS (or Movistar), Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer, Activos para Telecommunications, Celular de Telefonía, Fisatel (or Telefónica), Abengoa México, Telefonía Celular del Norte or Abeinsa Juárez N-III, the latter independent producer of energy for the Federal Electricity Commission installed in the south of the municipality of Juárez.
“The main investing companies in 2024 were Banco Sabadell and Pegaso PCS,” indicated Oswaldo Lara, director of Strategic Management and Institutional Effectiveness of SIDE.
In an interview, the official added that the Economic and Social Information Center shows that, since 1999, the entity has registered the arrival of 238 Spanish firms that, in total, have applied 1,391 million dollars. Of these, he noted, 56 are still in force in the state.
“They are generally in the financial services sector and mass media information sectors, which have to do with information services or supplies, it can be Internet portals or information technologies,” said Lara.
Likewise, he explained that, in the three years that the current state administration has been in office, the investment figure from the aforementioned European country has been 160 million dollars and 431 so far in the federal six-year term.
On September 24, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain issued a statement to announce that that government “considers unacceptable the exclusion of HM the King from the invitation to the inauguration of the elected president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the next October 1” and that “he will not send any representative.”
In response, the future president said the next day that she invited only the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, because, since 2019, Felipe VI left unanswered a letter in which Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed to plan a ceremony so that the European country recognized the “wrongs caused” to Mexico.
“For the government that I will lead starting October 1, 2024, the recognition of indigenous peoples is a fundamental issue in advancing the transformation of our public life,” Sheinbaum added in his statement.
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