Pdffile 40 NE12130114 WEB

Business Tips
Logistics in
the Globalization Era
The Lifestyle
Feature
A Window to Mexicos
Contemporary Art Scene
Negocios
para
exportadores
Logistics
in Mexico:
Intelligence
in Motion
XIi - 2013 /
I - 2014
he government of Mexico has set out to

transform our country based on five major national goals: to have a peaceful, inclusive, well-educated, prosperous and globallyresponsible Mexico.
In order to build the prosperous Mexico we
long for, we must generate sustained high economic growth that results in more and better jobs that
will improve the quality of life of our population.
Mexico has a solid foundation on which
to attain these goals: healthy public finances; a
manageable debt level; a budget with no fiscal
deficit; a responsible and autonomous monetary
policy, as well as adequate international reserves.
Our macroeconomic stability and institutional strength are enriched by a wide sociopolitical consensus that favors important
transformations required to boost the development of our country. Through the Pact for
Mexico, two constitutional reforms have been
approved: one in education that will enhance
the quality of teaching, and another in telecommunications, radio broadcasting and economic
competition that will open up the sector and

ensure competition throughout our economy.
Furthermore, the Congress is analyzing a financial overhaul to increase the level of credit and
make it more affordable.
Mexico offers certainty and confidence to
investments, a business climate favoring productivity and competitiveness, and an ambitious plan to further develop infrastructure.
Moreover, the countrys strategic geographic
location and optimal legal framework for international trade, through a network of trade
agreements with 45 countries, give us access to
a potential market of over one billion people.
Mexicos exceptional economic and geographic conditions, as well as the talent and quality of its human capital, make it the ideal destination for new productive capital to flourish.
This is the time to invest in Mexico. Investors will find the government of Mexico and
ProMxico to be allies committed to the success of projects that create quality jobs and
prosperity for the country.
Enrique Pea Nieto

President of Mexico
Table of Contents December 2013 - January 2014

22
24
46
Special Report
Mathematics Leave
Notebooks behind
and Escape to the Lab
Business Tips
Guest Opinion
Figures
Logistics in
the Globalization Era
Uncorking Logistics
Bottlenecks
in the Automotive Industry
photo
archive
20
photo courtesy of flatbread evolution
this issue:
Logistics
in Mexico
intelligence
in motion
Mexicos Partner
26 Servicios Navales e Industriales
28 Ferrovalle
30 Navemar
32 Kansas City Southern de Mxico
34 Geodis Global Solutions
36 Jalisco Logistics Center
8
From
ProMxico
18
38 Interpuerto Monterrey
40 Logistik Industrial Park
42 United Logistics Services
44 Grupo Transportes Monterrey
Special Report
The Tortilla Revolution
10
Briefs
The Lifestyle
photo
archive
The
Lifestyle
Briefs
52
Boutique Hotels,
the Fine Art
of Service and
Attention to Detail
photo
50
courtesy of hotel b cozumel
The Complete Guide

to the Mexican Way of Life
56
A Window to Mexicos
Contemporary Art Scene
62
courtesy of sergio garval
archive
photo
photo
photo
archive
Mexican
Ingredients
Influencing
International
Palates
66
Meals
on Wings
Para exportadores
ProMxico
Francisco N. Gonzlez Daz
CEO
78
Karla Mawcinitt Bueno

Image and Communications
General Coordinator
La certificacin
halal
Sebastin Escalante
Director of Publications and Content
sebastian.escalante@promexico.gob.mx
y el acceso de los productos

mexicanos a mercados con
gran potencial
Advertising
negocios@promexico.gob.mx
Natalia Herrero
Copy Editing
Download the PDF version and read

the interactive edition of Negocios
ProMxico at: negocios.promexico.gob.mx
foto
archivo
This publication is not for sale.

Its sale and commercial distribution are
forbidden.
Exportaciones
MXICO
EN EL
MUNDO
Millones de dlares
Rubro
El comercio internacional
de Mxico en cifras
les
ales
co
ilustracin
99
oldemar
CANAD
$7,718 | 2.7%
lares
ctubre
remento
pecto al
en 2012)
De
ProMxico
70
Enero-octubre 13
261,872
-6.4%
41,552
Variacin 12
4.3%
-7.1%
breves
71
ESPAA
$5,675 | 2.0%
ALEMANIA
$3,120 | 1.1%
INDIA
$2,904 | 1.0%
#7
220,010
74
el comercio
internacional
3
de Mxico en cifras
78.2%
#9
#4
#8
VENEZUELA
$1,641 | 0.6%
#10
e
nes
ales
BRASIL
$4,161 | 1.5%
#6
#5
de 2013
archivo
4,345
5.0%
Mxico en el mundo:
ESTADOS UNIDOS
COLOMBIA
$3,591 | 1.3%
fotos
Petroleras
Variacin 12
#2
mbre de 2013
ico
Manufactureras
29,549
Octubre 13
Negocios ProMxico es
una publicacin mensual
editada en ingls por ProMxico, Camino a Santa
Teresa nmero 1679, colonia Jardines del Pedregal,
Agropecuarias
Extractivas Delegacin lvaro Obre837
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no: (52) 55
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Correo elec1.0%www.promexico.gob.mx.
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trnico: negocios@promexico.gob.mx
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Bauelos. Reserva de dereCHINA
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| 0.6%exclusivo No. 04-2009al uso
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ambos otorgados por la Comisin Calificadora de Publicaciones y Revistas
Ilustradas de la Secretara de Gobernacin. ISSN: 2007-1795.
CHILE
$1,617 | 0.6%
#11
Oportunidades
de exportacin
de crnicos a Rusia:
76
Por sector
impacto
en el sector
Variacin
Enero- agosto 2013
ganadero mexicano
Millones de dlares
Mismo periodo en 2012
Negocios ProMxico ao 6, nmero XII2013 / I-2014, diciembre 2013 - enero

2014, se termin de imprimir el 19 de diciembre de 2013, con un tiraje de 13,000
ejemplares. Impresa por Ca. Impresora
El Universal, S.A. de C.V. Las opiniones
expresadas por los autores no reflejan
necesariamente la postura del editor de
la publicacin. Queda estrictamente prohibida la reproduccin total o parcial de
los contenidos e imgenes de la publicacin, sin previa autorizacin de ProMxico. Publicacin Gratuita. Est prohibida su venta y distribucin comercial.
ProMxico is not responsible for inaccurateFarmacutico
information or omissions that
might exist in the information provided
by the participant companies nor of their
1,643
economic
solvency. The institution might
or might not agree with an authors state-0.3%
ments; therefore
the responsibility of each
text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when it states otherwise.
Although this magazine verifies all the
information printed on its pages, it will
not accept responsibility derived from
any omissions, inaccuracies or mistakes.
December 2013 / January 2014.
Automotriz
Electrnico
Elctrico
Qumico
Equipo mdico
58,229
36,057
18,268
8,298
4,333
-1.5%
6.1%
0.5%
7.6%
8.7%
Inversin japonesa
en la industria de autopartes:
en crecimiento
80
From
promxico.
Mexicos commitment to
global trade is downright
evident in its logistics infrastructure. With the intention
of boosting the countrys
competitiveness,
Mexico
is developing an ambitious plan to foster
modern infrastructure capabilities, in order
to reduce its logistics costs and enable it to
be more competitive on the global arena.
On July 15, 2013, President Enrique
Pea Nieto launched the Transport and
Communications Infrastructure Investment Program 2013 - 2018. Its main aim is
to transform Mexico into a hub for valueadded logistics and transportation. In order
to reach this goal, the Mexican government
announced that 300 billion usd will be invested in infrastructure projects between
2013 and 2018.
This program has a multimodal approach that seeks to improve roads, rail-
ways, ports, airports and telecommunications. As President Enrique Pea Nieto

stated, the size of these figures reflects the
commitment of the Mexican government to
turn transport and communications into a
strategic engine for national development.
Today, Mexico has a leading role that
has turned the country into a driving force
for supply chains in growing industries
like the automotive and aerospace sectors.
Mexico is already a launch pad for national
and transnational companies.
Like a fine-tuned machine, the countrys
logistics industry boasts a smooth operation that attracts both local and foreign investment. It is also an incomparable business opportunity, especially in sectors that
require efficient logistics services to maintain a solid supply chain. With one of the
greatest growth potentials in the country,
the logistics industry is the platform for
Mexicos success.
Welcome to Negocios!
Francisco N. Gonzlez Daz

CEO
ProMxico
BRIEFS
RENEWABLE ENERGY
photo
archive
Enel will build a new wind farm

Enel Green Power has begun
construction works on the
new Dominica I wind farm in
Mexico.
The plant, located in the
municipality of Charcas and
owned by Dominica Energa
Limpia, a subsidiary of Enel
Green Power (formerly known
as Impulsora Nacional de
Electricidad) is the first wind
farm located in the state of
San Luis Potos and will be
composed of 50 turbines 2
megawatts (MW) each for a
total capacity of 100 MW.
Once up and running,
the Dominica I plant which
will be completed and begin
operating in the second half
of 2014 will be able to
generate up to 260 gigawattshour (GWh) per year.
The construction of the

wind farm, in line with the
growth targets set out in Enel
Green Powers 2013-2017
business plan, requires a total
investment of approximately
196 million usd, financed
through the Enel Green Power
Groups own sources.
The project is supported
by two long-term agreements
to supply energy, or PPAs, for
a total value of around 485
million usd.
Enel Green Power
currently has an installed
capacity of about 197 MW in
Mexico, 144 MW of which
come from wind power and
53 MW from hydroelectric
sources.
and a forecasted increase in

domestic demand. Bridgestone
chose Celaya, located in the
state of Guanajuato, for its
new plant in order to meet this
growing demand.
To meet the growth in
automotive demand over the
medium to long term, the
Bridgestone Group will continue to enhance its global

product supply system so the
company can ensure that it
can continue to supply its
customers with high-quality
products in a timely manner.
www.enelgreenpower.com
AUTOMOTIVE
photo
Bridgestone will build a new

plant in Celaya, Guanajuato,
to produce polyurethane
foam for automobile seats.
The new plant will be Bridgestones tenth production facility for this product. It will
also be the companys first
plant of this type in Mexico,
which will become the fifth
country and region of the
world where Bridgestone
manufactures polyurethane
foam for automotive seats.
The new plant will begin
production in the first half of
2015, and maximum production capacity is expected to
reach 360,000 vehicle seats
annually.
The total investment of
the new facility will be approximately 13.5 million
archive
Bridgestone
to Build
a New Plant
usd, and the plant will be

operated by Bridgestone
Automotive Products de
Mxico, a business unit of
Bridgestone Corporation.
Mexico is expected to see
continued growth in automobile production due to its
strategic geographical location
www.bridgestone.com
11
photo
archive
BRIEFS
LOGISTICS
VERACRUZ, READY TO GROW

Mexicos Ministry of
Environment and Natural
Resources (Semarnat) has
approved the environmental
impact assessment (EIA)
for expansion of the port of
Veracruz, clearing the way for
the project to be tendered.
The 1.92 billion-usd
project will initially involve the
construction of a 2,800-meter
dock with up to eight
350-meter berths to the north

of the existing port. First phase
construction will increase
capacity by 250 million TwentyFoot Equivalent Units (TEUs).
Second phase development will
consist of the construction of a
new breakwater and up to 35
additional berths.
Expansion of the Veracruz
port will be one of the largest
infrastructure projects to be
carried out during Enrique Pea

Nietos administration.
Semarnats approval of the
project is subject to a series
of conditions including the
creation of an environmental
monitoring program and an
inter-governmental committee
to oversee its compliance. An
integrated sanitation program
for the Vergara bay must also
be developed.
The Ministry of
Communications and
Transportation (SCT)
also confirmed that it will
ensure the construction of
a wastewater treatment
plant to prevent vessels
from contaminating the
water, implement biological
monitoring and use cuttingedge dredging equipment
to minimize sediment
dispersion.
www.semarnat.gob.mx
www.sct.gob.mx
AGRICULTURE
photo
courtesy of expo agro sinaloa
Next Stop: Sinaloa

Expo Agro Sinaloa 2014, one of the
most important agri-food fairs in
Mexico, will be held in Culiacn,
Sinaloa, from February 19 to 21, 2014.
Expo Agro Sinaloa aims to
strengthen the Mexican field, being
the top agribusiness generating forum,
and bring together technology and
strategic management of knowledge
and information that the agro requires
for its consolidation.
Several products and services related
to agriculture and forestry industries
will be showcased during the event.
Agri-food businesspeople representing
domestic and international companies,

growers, supermarket chair buyers,
specialists and researchers will gather
for three days seeking to close new
business deals.
Conferences and seminars on
organic and sustainable agriculture,
recent market trends, green house
production developments and other
topics will be included in the program.
An important exhibition of the latest
technology and agriculture related
equipment will also be on display.
www.expoagro.org.mx
13
BRIEFS
AUTOMOTIVE
photo
www.viamotors.com
courtesy of via motors
assembly stations where technicians raise or lower the vehicle at each station to install
electric and other components.
The new facility is adjacent
to the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
highway and Kansas City
Southern rail line for easy transport to the US and Canada.
photo
VIA Motors, makers of the

VTRUX brand of extended-range plug-in trucks,
launched its first high-volume
electric vehicle assembly plant
in a new facility in San Luis
Potos, Mexico.
The new facility is strategically located in a free-trade zone
near several major automakers
and suppliers. New vehicles will
be transported from the General Motors production facility
in Silao, Guanajuato, to VIAs
new assembly plant, where they
will be transformed into electric
vehicles by integrating VIAs
proprietary extended range electric power train.
The facility employs a
unique conveyor-scissor lift
system that moves conventional vehicles through eight
courtesy of via motors
VIA Motors
Opens its New Plant
AUTOMOTIVE
www.brp.com
photo
BRP inaugurated its new manufacturing

facility in Quertaro. Located in Quertaros industrial park, BRPs plant assembles
the Sea-Doo Spark watercraft and Rotax
engines for its Can-Am off-road vehicles,
and manufactures composite hulls and
decks for Sea-Doo watercraft.
By 2015, the entire Sea-Doo watercraft line-up will be produced in the
Quertaro facility. Once completed, the
project will represent an investment of
approximately 97 million usd and should
employ some 1,100 people by 2015.
The facility is designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) certification standards.
During construction, BRP implemented
a project to recycle construction residues.
BRP has been present in Mexico since
2001 with a facility in Ciudad Jurez,
Chihuahua, where it assembles Can-Am allterrain and side-by-side vehicles. Today, that
facility employs more than 1,250 people.
courtesy of brp
BRP inaugurates New Manufacturing Facility
15
BRIEFS
BRIEFS
AUTOMOTIVE
SCIENCE
VW kicks off
Mexico Engine Plant Expansion
Fat-busting Agave Product

A substance obtained from the
agave plant the same one used
to produce tequila could help
combat cancer, obesity, osteoporosis and diabetes, according to Mercedes Guadalupe
Lpez-Prez, a professor at the
Research and Higher Studies
Center (Cinvestav) in Irapuato.
The substance is called fructan and is a non-digestible sugar
molecule that goes straight to
the large intestine, where it is
disposed of without causing
weight gain or affecting blood
sugar levels.
Experimental studies are
currently being conducted on
rats. After eight weeks on a 10%
fructan diet, the rats lost weight,
says Lpez-Prez.
photo
courtesy of volkswagen
Volkswagen (VW) will invest 118 million usd to kick off the
expansion of its engine plant in Silao, Guanajuato, to make
components for a new configuration of its EA 888 engines.
Civil engineering work will begin immediately and production
of the new motors is slated for the first quarter of 2016.
VWs 550 million-usd Silao plant opened in January 2013,
and has an annual output capacity of 330,000 engines.
From 2000 to 2013, vehicle production in Mexico has risen
almost 3% annually, compared with declines in the US and
Canada of 1.3% and 2.4%, respectively, according to Boston
Consulting Group (BCG).
www.vw.com
archive
AEROSPACE
photo
Poscos
Third on the Row
Posco MPPC ended the construction of
its third plant processing steel sheets, a
54,300 square-meter plant located in the
city of Celaya , Guanajuato, with an annual production capacity of 110,000 tonnes.
The facility is close to the Mexican
manufacturing centers of some of the
major automotive producers in the
world, such as Mazda, Honda and General Motors.
Henkel is expanding its facilities in Toluca,

Estado de Mxico, where the company
manufactures powder and liquid detergent.
With the objective to increase production
and create a Research and Development
(R&D) center, Henkel plans to invest 35
million usd into the production site.
With the expansion, the complex

will have a growth of 109% of built
space reaching 29,700 square meters
and increasing the production capacity
by 70%.
www.henkel.com
www.tepapa.govt.nz
museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum
australianmuseum.net.au
archive
photo
Henkel expands its detergent plant in Toluca
On September 2013, the Aztec traveled to New

Zealand and will be continuing their tour of
Oceania until February 1, 2015.
Aztecs Conquest and Glory explores the
origin, mythology, society, daily life, religion,
government and beliefs of the Aztec, a civilization that reached its apogee in the sixteenth
century at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The
exhibition takes visitors on a trip back in time
and sheds light on how this warrior nation came
to dominate Mesoamerica to the extent that its
influence still prevails in modern-day Mexico.
A joint effort by Mexicos National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH) and the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in
Wellington, Aztecs Conquest and Glory will remain at the latter until February 9, 2014 before
moving on to the Melbourne Museum (April 4
- August 10, 2014) and the Australian Museum
in Sydney (September 13, 2014 - February 1,
2015).
photo
courtesy of henkel
The Aztec
Tour Oceania
CHEMICAL
courtesy of posco
www.ira.cinvestav.mx
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
www.poscomppc.com.mx
photo
Rats and humans share

the GLP-1 gastrointestinal or
incretin hormone, which regulates as much as 70% of the
bodys insulin.
Consuming fructans accelerates the production of
GLP-1, which is also associated with satiety.
The studies conducted by
Cinvestav also indicate that
fructans can help boost the
immune system, reduce the
bacteria that cause intestinal
infections, relieve constipation and reduce the risk of
colon cancer. Also, rats fed
with fructans absorbed more
calcium from their diet.
Negocios ProMxico | Special Report
photo
courtesy of flatbread evolution
Special Report | Negocios ProMxico
by antonio vzquez
Imagine you live overseas and have invited

your close friends for a delicious Mexican
home-cooked dinner. You buy all you need
to make handmade tortillas. Piece of cake,
you think. But when you start making
them, you realize that it is far from simple,
that making a tortilla is more complicated
than it seems. As it turns out, the evening
with your guests was not the same without
original tortillas.
Such is the experience of many Mexicans abroad and many foreigners who,
captivated by the flavor of this Mexican
dish, have tried their hand at making tortillas. And that is exactly what happened
to Carlos Ruiz a couple of years ago: a
bad experience which led this young entrepreneur to create a machine that in
40 seconds alone can make a tortilla as
delicious and nutritious as its Mexican
handmade cousin.
When I came to Switzerland I missed
tortillas very much. I wanted to invite my
friends over to try them and thought it
would be easy to make them but it was
anything but and I wasnt able to pull it
off. The recipe says how much warm water
you have to use but it does not specify the
exact temperature. Plus, I had to knead the
dough for a long time, he remembers.
At the time, Carlos Ruiz had a Nespresso coffee machine. He thought that
he could apply the same principle to make
tortillas or any other type of flat bread.
He began working on his invention and in
2010, together with a friend from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), he started
building his first technological prototype,
which in turn led to the creation of a new
company, Flatev (Flatbread Evolution).
When I saw the Nespresso machine, I
thought about making fresh tortillas using
a contraption in which you could insert
a capsule and even choose if you wanted
yellow or blue corn tortillas, with pepper
or cheese. After several months I spoke to
a few people and one of them, who was
from Los Angeles and was working at
a tortilla factory, gave me a few tips to
achieve the quality we wanted, says the
founder of Flatev.
Carlos Ruiz explains how the Flatev
machine works: All you do is take a capsule containing tortilla dough, put it in the
upper part, press a button and in less than
40 seconds, a soft and warm tortilla comes
out through the lower part.
The Tortilla
Revolution
Flatbread Evolution, a Mexican company born
in Switzerland, has created a unique machine
that can make corn tortillas with the same flavor,
quality and nutritional attributes as those made
by hand in Mexico.
18
December 2013 / January 2014
Carlos Ruiz explains how the Flatev machine works: All you do is
take a capsule containing tortilla dough, put it in the upper part,
press a button and in less than 40 seconds, a soft and warm tortilla
comes out through the lower part.
Would all these months of work stop

with just one prototype? Carlos Ruiz went
beyond. In 2012, he traveled from Switzerland to the US, where tortillas are the most
consumed bread, more popular even than
bagels and sliced bread.
San Francisco, on the West Coast, was
Flatevs first stop in an attempt to conquer
the US market. There, Carlos Ruiz received
the first criticism that led to improvements
to the new invention. Today, Boston, on
the East Coast, is the home of the first office for Flatevs future sales in the US.
We have improved the machine.
Compared to the prototype, the new device can make up to seven tortillas in one
round, which means that seven people can
eat tortillas at the same time. We are in the
process of making the second production
prototype and are 70% ahead in development to streamline the machine and reduce
manufacturing costs, expounds Ruiz.
While Flatevs second prototype is still
preparing for launch, the invention has
already seduced the Swiss, captivated the
British (some business owners have asked
for exclusivity to sell tortilla dough capsules), piqued the interest of the Germans
and prompted the Australians and Israelis
to contact Ruiz to find out about the new
technology at first hand.
Flatevs machine doesnt only produce
tortillas that taste just like those made in
Mexico in the blink of an eye. These tortillas maintain their nutritional value: they
have no preservatives, are made with or-
ganic ingredients and are gluten-free.

Carlos Ruiz points out that for the
time being, Flatev is looking for new investors to launch the second generation of
Flatev onto the market (each machine will
cost between 200 and 300 USD).
We are analyzing the possibility of a
trade partner who is interested in having
exclusivity or establishing a similar trade
agreement, to develop molds and industrial machines and mass produce the invention. So far we have received offers of
between 5 and 10 million USD for production, he reveals.
The new generation of Flatev will not
only produce corn tortillas, according to
Carlos Ruiz, but also the new machine
will be able to produce any type of flat
bread from other parts of the world, such
as arepas from South America or chapatis
from India.
I want the company to penetrate the
global market in the future, I want people
to have their machine at home and not
encounter the same problem I did. We see
ourselves with global partners, with food
firms to be able to leverage our potential.
The invention is patented to make other
types of flat breads and the good thing is
that in the future it will recognize any type
of capsule, any type of dough, and enable
people to make food at home without losing a tradition, much less quality, concludes Flatevs founder. N
flatev.com
19
Negocios ProMxico | Special Report
Mathematics Leave
Notebooks behind
and Escape to the Lab
In Sonora, Mexican engineer Nahm Correa has
created a new system to teach exact sciences in
measurement labs. And he has been successful: a
significant number of schools in the US are now
interested in applying his method.
20
photo
courtesy of metromatemticas
Special Report | Negocios ProMxico
by sandra roblgui
Until 2009, mathematics used to be boring for thousands of teenagers around

the world. Since then, thanks to civil
engineer Nahm Correas teaching approach, they have become a practical
subject, at least in five public middle
schools in the state of Sonora, on Mexicos northern border.
The method, MetroMatemticas, has
attracted the attention of both locals
and foreigners, since it takes the science
out of the books of the enlightened and
away from notebooks that were rarely
opened, and puts it into labs where
young people use tools from the hightech industry and precision devices to
break down complex problems, experi-
ment and reach conclusions not unlike teachers had already completed the 120- high-tech industry. At present, the doors
are open for his system in the Offshore
what the aerospace industry is develop- hour training in Correas model.
ing in several Mexican cities.
Only one thing was missing for the Group-MTK, a shelter service leading
It is funny how the companys story model to be used with the close to 10,000 provider for foreign manufacturers in
began with a question, much like many teenagers estimated to be influenced by the Mexico.
Since February 2012 several middle
scientific problems do.
teachers trained by Correa in the near fuschool students (with math and science
Nahm Correa, an advisor to the high- ture. They needed practice labs.
tech industry in northern Mexico, asked
Correa explains that he and the teach- natural talent) have received STEM Educahimself, one afternoon in 2005, why en- ers he had trained looked for support, first tion (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
gineers dont see production plants as a from the local government. By 2010, the Math) from the MetroMatemticas labs,
research field and solve issues using the Congress of the State of Sonora authorized increasing their opportunities to get a work
scientific method. He found his answer in the public spending of 1.2 million pesos position within the high-tech industry.
the training of professionals, where math- (some 92,300 USD) to establish labs in five
Migrant Mathematics
ematics is a concept far removed from ev- public schools in the state.
eryday life.
In 2011, the project had 7 million pe- As expected, rumors on the advantages
The truth is that this science is a sos (more than 538,000 USD) thanks to a of the MetroMatemticas system crossed
method that contributes to the mind per- mixed fund between the federal govern- the border. The Arizona Daily Star pubfection, even in philosophical dilemmas, ments National Council of Science and lished on December 30, 2012: Math
method gets Tucson attenbecause those who use it know
tion.
what is false and what is true,
In June 2012, the superthrough reasoning. MathematThe method has attracted the attention of both locals
intendent and the officer of
ics transforms matter and creand foreigners, since it takes the science out of the
the Sunnyside unified school
ates quality of life, he states.
district in Tucson, Arizona,
The question was: How
books of the enlightened and away from notebooks
Manuel L. Isquierdo and Steve
can we change the popular idea
that were rarely opened, and puts it into labs where
Holmes, visited the school
that this subject is everyones
worst nightmare? The father young people use tools from the high-tech industry and labs and met with close to
100 members of the program
of modern mathematics, Rene
precision devices to break down complex problems,
in the Offshore Group-MTK
Descartes, and Nahm Correas
experiment and reach conclusions.
Training Center.
training and experience as a
The project is larger
manufacturing firm consultant
and more impressive than
gave him the answer. Hence,
we thought, said Manuel L.
MetroMatemticas was born.
It is said that Descartes may have died Technology (Conacyt) and the govern- Isquierdo, it has huge potential, but
from poisoning in the mid 17th century. ment of Sonora, through the state Min- mainly we liked the impact it is already
Nahm Correa was just called crazy, in the istry of Economy (SE), and was backed having on students [...] what we have
early 21st century.
by The Offshore Group-MTK (from the seen exceeded our expectations by far.
The Santa Cruz County in Nogales,
But he never gave up on his vision. To aerospace industry). Together they tried
test his ideas, he organized a math group to validate the MetroMatemticas teach- Arizona, requested federal budget to apwith twenty 9th grade students from pub- ing model, through a pilot program in five ply MetroMatemticas, and some schools
lic and private schools, who he previously middle schools in the cities of Guaymas in Texas and Ohio have also expressed
trained with the measurement instruments and Empalme, where school labs began their interest, according to Correa.
His plan is to establish school labs
he suggested. With a marketing specialists operating in February 2012.
vision, the engineer was able to hold comSince then, the great finding has been throughout Mexico in a short time,
petitions not in closed, dusty and lonely that 40% of the 1,400 teenagers who wherever it is possible to identify stuauditoriums, but in technology companies studied with the system in 9th grade have dents with math and science natural talfrom Sonoras industrial parks.
a natural talent for mathematics, in the ent; the future czars of science, technolAnd as it turns out, the Offshore Group- 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 periods. The ogy, engineering and mathematics; the
MTK got interested in MetroMatemticas remaining 60% is no longer afraid when developers of the high-tech industry in
and since then, it has sponsored this initia- they face math, and that is also a step in Mexico.
In the meantime, the methods inventive in the Guaymas and Empalme regions. the right direction.
In June and July 2009, he made an
Currently, there is a list of 35 schools tor has taken a firm step: he has created
open invitation in Guaymas, Sonora, to in the north of Mexico that are waiting for a link between academia, the Offshore
middle school teachers to come train in his a lab, as 160 teachers have completed their Group-MTK and government in the
north of Mexico. N
system. Many thought him mad, because training in MetroMatemticas.
those are the summer vacation months
One small thing: Nahm Correa
in most Mexican schools. By October, 40 was already in the spotlight in Sonoras www.metromatematicas.com
21
Negocios ProMxico | Business Tips
Business Tips | Negocios ProMxico
photo archive
It is worth noting that logistics has changed since the 1990s

due to rationalization efforts in traditional areas such as marketing, production, quality, etc. Furthermore, globalization is very
important due to the changes that have been made in the interest
of competitiveness.
Logistics acquires importance in globalization because in the
21st century economy, consumers and strategies are the way to
reach customers. Globalization has made logistics a fundamental
activity based on new ways of production, distribution and international trade to compete on the international market.
Globalization considers the need to cut restocking time and
effectively put products and services in the hands of consumers.
Industrial logistics is related to activities and aspects such as
transportation, warehousing, flow of materials, production and
distribution with flows of information to match company supply or market demand under optimal conditions of quality. In
corporations, logistics is the relationship between moving and
warehousing products and goods, planning, organization and
the control of all activities relating to obtaining the transfer and
warehousing of materials and products, from acquisition and
consumption to their final destination, through organization and
as an integrated system.
A study by the Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ECLAC) entitled Supply of Transportation
Infrastructure in Latin America: Recent Experience and Issues
Observed, which analyzed the situation of transportation infrastructure in the Americas, shows that there is a wide network of
transportation infrastructure between the US-Mexico border to
Logistics in
The Globalization Era
The challenges of Mexicos participation in the global
economy have opened several investment opportunities in
the countrys logistics sector, which include roads, railroads,
ports, airports, electricity supply and telecommunications.
by mara cristina rosas*
Globalization is characterized by increasing market integration, the

consolidation of communications, equity and trade growth. In this
framework, logistics acquire growing importance. But what is logistics? The concept itself refers to the set of media and methods
required to carry out the organization of a company or a service,
especially distribution. There are multiple definitions of the term
logistics in the business world and it has evolved from military
logistics to the contemporary concept of the art and technique of
organizing the flow of goods, energy and information.
In World War II, for instance, logistics was based on military
operations to ensure the flow of supplies required by troops. The US
Army defined the logistics for its operations in the area of strategies,
which directly involved the design, handling, storage and distribution of materials, the movement, evacuation and hospitalization of
personnel, materials and services acquisition and supply on every
front of the operation, etc.
22
The origins of logistics (the term was created in the military) are
directly related to the acquisition and supply of materials required
to fulfill a mission applied to business activity, and date back to the
1950s. After World War II, demand in industrialized countries increased but the distribution capacity was below sales and production capacity. That led to the proliferation of products in marketing
departments, which opted to sell anything anywhere, and distribution channels started to become obsolete. Senior management then
agreed that physical distribution had to be efficient and represent
profitability instead of spending and started to try out substantial
modifications to the distribution systems, thus building an identity
within the organizations structure.
Although logistics has always been essential to any economic
activity, recent decades have seen an increased interest in its development, to the point where a growing number of firms are adopting it
as a management tool in light of the positive results of its application.
In the globalized environment of the modern world, logistics is
fundamental for trade. Logistics activities are the bridge between
production and the markets that are separated by time and distance.
Business logistics cover management and planning (administration)
of the activities of the purchasing, production, transportation, storage, maintenance and distribution departments.
Logistics has been a knowledge discipline that provides opportunities to every organization, where there are chances to
innovate and improve processes based on the evolution of international trade.
In that sense, logistics is a competitiveness tool that performs
value activities that lead to an increase in a companys profitability.
Thus, logistics has evolved from a restricted concept to a strategic
area for generating added value for consumers and shareholders.
be unfortunate since there are more acute physical limitations

than wider gauges, according to the study. With regard to river
transportation, although rivers cannot connect directly between
themselves, they could be linked intermodally to create wide
networks of transportation infrastructure, leveraging the generous river availability of the region. However, while some parts
of South America make partial use of the potential of the main
basins (Orinoco, Amazon and Tiet-Paraguay-Paran-Del Plata)
to transport grains, and sometimes general cargo, the volumes
transported are smaller within the group.
In Mexico, centers with the largest populations and Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) per capita ratios are criteria used to
identify the main consumer centers and are fundamental in
logistics. Mexico City makes the highest contribution to the
domestic GDP, slightly above 17% of the total, followed by
Estado de Mxico with close to 10% and the state of Nuevo
Len in third place with 7.5%.
Another study published by the World Bank (WB), entitled Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean: Recent Trends
and Main Challenges, shows that less than 2% of the GDP in
Latin America is spent on infrastructure. That number is strikingly lower than what was invested in 1980 and 1985 (3.7% of
the GDP) and would suggest that an investment of 4% to 6% of
the GDP is required to achieve visible progress and enable growth
in infrastructure (as South Korea and China did).
The study by the WB emphasizes that an increase in the quality of the regions infrastructure can help the per capita grow from
1.4% to 1.8% of the GDP.
In Mexico, centers with the largest populations and Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) per capita ratios are criteria used to identify the main consumer centers and
are fundamental in logistics. Mexico City makes the highest contribution to the
domestic GDP, slightly above 17% of the total, followed by Estado de Mxico with
close to 10% and the state of Nuevo Len in third place with 7.5%.
the south of Panama; another from Venezuela, passing through

Colombia and along the western side of the Andes, and a third
that connects the central part of Chile with Argentina and Brazil.
In other parts of the world, there are smaller networks or a series
of links, rather than an actual network. Most of the aforementioned components are unpaved roads with poor trafficability.
According to the authors, only 3% of roads are of recent construction and, in general, the roads in the Latin American region
were built several years ago. Most of the network is made up
of roads given that trains mainly connect mining or agricultural
areas with ocean or, in some cases, river ports. General cargo railways are limited mainly to central and northern Mexico, central
and northern South America (iron and coal) and some sectors of
the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).
Furthermore, railway gauges are often incompatible across
countries. In central South America the metric gauge is most common. A series of projects in various stages of analysis would turn
this gauge into a kind of standard for the sub region, which would
That uncovers several investment opportunities in Mexicos logistics sector, which include roads, railroads, ports, airports, electricity supply and telecommunications. If investments are made in these
areas of opportunity, Mexico could become one of the top 25 economies in the world by 2020 in terms of the quality of its infrastructure.
In that respect, Mexican authorities know that developing the
countrys infrastructure does not depend on the actions of just one
player but that synergies are required in the three levels of government (federal, state and municipal), national and international business organizations and academia. Considering the countrys energy
and natural resources, size of the domestic market and geographic
location, the Mexican government is aware of the importance of
improving infrastructure and modernizing the sectors described in
order to increase its presence in international markets and drive the
country towards a balanced development. N
*Professor and researcher in the Political and Social Sciences Faculty,
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
23
Negocios ProMxico | Guest Opinion
photo
Uncorking Logistics
Bottlenecks
in the Automotive Industry
Given the expected growth of the automotive industry

in Mexico, the logistics sector must respond to the
challenges it faces to become a factor that facilitates
exports of vehicles made in Mexico and foster the
development of this important industry.
by jeroen posma* and christopher dalby**
Few can be better qualified to

comment on the state of the automotive industry than Eduardo
Sols, Executive President of
the Mexican Association of the
Automotive Industry (AMIA).
For Sols, the future of the industry is flawless, as evidenced
by manufacturing and export
figures. However, Sols does
provide a warning about one
aspect that could slow down
this acceleration: the dreaded
logistics bottlenecks. There
are no bottlenecks today. But I
certainly see bottlenecks coming
our way if we dont do what
is needed in the next five years
in Veracruz, Lzaro Crdenas
and Laredo. We must do our
homework since the indicators
show a large growth of exports
in the next five years by about a
million vehicles. Mexico better
have the right ports, railroads
and infrastructure in order to
keep up with the growth.
Having recovered from the
financial crisis in record time,
Mexican automotive manufacturers rolled out just under 2.9
million light vehicles in 2012,
a figure that looks set to be
matched in 2013. The industry
has not slouched in spotting the
countrys potential. Nineteen
major global car companies already have plants on the ground
in Mexico with many planning
to expand operations. Nissan
has recently opened its second
Mexican plant in Aguascalien-
24
tes, at an investment of 2 billion

USD, with President Enrique
Pea Nieto on hand at the inauguration. CEO Carlos Ghosn
said that with this additional
presence, Nissan would produce
1 million cars in Mexico in
2016. Audi is approaching the
same level of investment with a
1.3 billion-USD assembly plant
in Puebla to make its Q5 crossover. Despite the stability seen
in the last two years, projections
have forecast that production
will grow to reach 3.7 million
units by 2015 and 4 million the
following year.
Mexico has enjoyed the
benefits of its natural geographical position which have
contributed to getting Original
Equipment Manufacturers
(OEMs) to invest in the country.
After all, a major determining
factor in deciding where to set
up shop is a countrys capacity
to deliver on the logistical side.
By looking at the raw numbers,
one would assume that Mexico,
with around 300 Tier 1 global
suppliers for the automotive industry, has little to worry about
in regard to the supply chain.
Certainly, Ford was among
the early believers in Mexico,
first investing in the country
88 years ago. Gabriel Lpez,
President and CEO of Ford
Mexico, explains that the quality of the Mexican workforce,
as well as Mexicos numerous
free trade agreements offered
many benefits. Mexico opened

itself up to the free flow of merchandise around the world at a
time where other countries were
building walls to protect themselves. This attitude brought
in a great number of suppliers
that provided more options for
OEMs in terms of the logistical
supply chain. Ford went from
buying 500,000 USD of production materials in Mexico five
years ago to 14 billion USD this
year. This allows high-quality,
low-cost materials from Mexico
to supply all of Fords operations not only in the country,
but around the world as well.
Leo Torres, Fords Purchasing Director, adds that Ford
does not produce a single
product without a Mexican
component. This establishes
a link between Mexico and
all of Ford Motors 32 global
plants, a link that also exists
within Mexico. Fords plant in
Hermosillo produces cockpits
while its sister plant in Cuautitln manufactures individual
parts. This means that ensuring
logistics within Mexico are topnotch has a direct impact on
OEMs both domestically and
internationally.
As automotive OEMs announce plans to increase their
production capacity, Mexicos
logistics providers are doing
everything in their power to
upgrade the countrys transport
links to handle the industrys
extra capacity.
Such is the case of Ferromex, Mexicos key railroad
operator, which manages over
8,500 kilometers of track
nationwide. Through its automotive division, the company
expects OEMs to set up shop in
regions with easy access to the
railroad given that Mexicos
automotive industry is often
concentrated in urban clusters.
Ferromex has earmarked 450
million USD for capital expenditures this year, much of it going
directly to providing better
logistics for the automotive in-
archive
dustry. Alberto Snchez Varela,

Ferromex Automotrizs Assistant Vice President, says that
57 million USD of this budget
went to the automotive division.
This investment is specifically targeted at the impact the
automotive plants will have on
our network. These funds will
be allocated to covering that
growth segment, aside from the
natural expansion our business
is undergoing.
For Ferromex, the announcement of the new OEM
plants was hardly news since
much of the firms collaboration with automakers begins
ahead of time. As Snchez
Varela explains, developing
those relationships a couple
of years early allows the
company not just to be competitive, but also to anticipate
how much time is needed to
prepare for the extra volume
of cargo and fit this seamlessly into their natural growth.
However, Fords Torres
believes that logistics is the area
in which Mexico can improve
the most, after engineering. It is
not just about putting the infrastructure in place; you have to
build a logistics culture. Mexico
needs a national automotive
development plan that engages
the government, private and
education sectors.
For this reason, Ferromex
has sought to work as much as
possible to find optimal logistical solutions for each plant.
The first step in developing
them is to analyze each site,
its transportation needs for
inbound goods and how best
to answer those needs. Once
complete, the distribution market will shift for each vehicle,
and an estimate of volume is
needed to understand how best
to deliver tailor-made logistic
solutions for each OEM, each
plant and each type of vehicle.
This is where intermodal
transportation solutions are
helping to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the
Guest Opinion | Negocios ProMxico
automotive supply chain. Given

the export-dominant nature of
Mexican automotive production, the key for transport providers is how swiftly they can
get the cars to ports or across
the border to US and Canadian
markets. Fortunately enough,
Ferromexs services in Mexico
are provided under the same
rules that the US and Canada
expect. This has allowed the
process of taking a vehicle from
a Mexican plant to an American
or Canadian sales point much
more transparent, says Snchez
Varela. We have managed to
implement the same standards
across North America, on the
biggest railway network in the
world, which gives us many
advantages from a logistics
standpoint.
Logistics costs are one of the
three most important areas that
automakers analyze when considering where to build a plant,
along with labor costs and
government incentives. As such,
Ferromex has always sought to
understand its place in the supply market, allowing it to grow

from transporting 500,000
vehicles a year to 1.5 million.
its access to sea lanes via the

ports of Manzanillo and Lzaro
Crdenas. Furthermore, the
company is talking to customers
Mexico has enjoyed the benefits of its natural

geographical position which have contributed
to getting Original Equipment Manufacturers
(OEMs) to invest in the country. After all, a
major determining factor in deciding where to
set up shop is a countrys capacity to deliver
on the logistical side. By looking at the raw
numbers, one would assume that Mexico, with
around 300 Tier 1 global suppliers for the
automotive industry, has little to worry about
in regard to the supply chain.
The firms business model

looks at every export means for
vehicles, not only cross-border
trade. Ferromex controls a vital
point for exporting vehicles, in
the port of Veracruz. However,
it is also looking to diversify
about their business needs for

the Pacific and is actively considering how best to integrate
that avenue into their logistics
efforts. On the other hand, Kansas City Southern de Mxico
(KCSM), Ferromexs closest
rival, has been reporting double

digit growth in car loads transported for the last few years. It
enjoys the same alliances with
US railroad companies such
as Union Pacific. In addition,
the company has been present
in the Lzaro Crdenas port
through its rail corridor for
around 15 years.
For Sols, all the logistics
providers in the country can
only see their automotive
business expand in the years
ahead, as long as they are well
prepared. The automotive
industry is more than settled
in Mexico; I dont have to
convince anyone of that fact,
affirms Sols. Audi coming here
sent a message to the world
about the quality of services in
the country. Audi is proud of
saying their vehicles are made in
Mexico, he concludes. N
*Director of New Energy Strategy
Consulting.
**Senior Editor of New Energy
Strategy Consulting.
25
Negocios ProMxico | Mexicos Partner
photo
courtesy of seni
Mexicos Partner | Negocios ProMxico
Mario Uribe explains that

during the companys first
28 years, it focused mainly
on repairing a wide range of
ships, from shrimp boats to
large luxury yachts.
Towards 2008, SENI established strategic alliances
with several foreign firms,
which led to the construction
of two steel ships for Mexicos
Ministry of Communications
and Transportation (SCT),
whose special characteristics
had not been manufactured in
Mexico for 30 years.
In mid-2013, the Mexican
companys luck shifted. We
built four 15-meter ships for
Venezuela; this type of ship
had not been exported from
Mexico for close to 45 years,
and they caused quite a stir.
The operators and end cus-
26
Mexican Presidency, Petrleos

Mexicanos (Pemex), the SCT
and the Ministries of the
Navy (SEMAR) and Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food
(SAGARPA) want to relaunch
the shipbuilding industry,
claims the businessman.
In the meantime, SENI is
looking to participate with
Pemex in 2013 in the renovation of its tugs that will serve
Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico.
The experience with Venezuelan buyers has encouraged
the company to seek other

customers in the region. Mario
Uribe mentions that they are
in touch with potential customers in Colombia and Ecuador. To do so, SENI has leveraged ProMxicos support.
ProMxico has always
been by our side. Our alliance
with them has been extremely
productive; they know us well
and are eager to reactivate
this economic activity, he
concludes. N
www.seni.com.mx
by antonio vzquez
Several decades ago, vessel

exports from Mexico were at
a standstill. Servicios Navales
e Industriales (SENI), a Mexican company based in the
port of Mazatln, Sinaloa, decided to breathe new life into
the industry, building four
aluminum diving vessels that
would end up in Venezuela.
These aluminum vessels
are used to support diving operations in Lake Maracaibo.
They are used in shallow water operations. The vessels can
transport equipment for diving, and oil well exploration
and maintenance, says Mario
Uribe Fenollosa, CEO of the
corporation.
SENI has quite a history
that makes it a great company. It was founded in February 1980 with 100% Mexican
equity. The firm was created

when several professionals
believed they could contribute
their knowledge and technology to Mexicos ship building
and ship repair industry.
Thirty-three years ago,
my father, Mario Uribe Preciado, decided to start the
business. He had been in the
Mexican Navy, worked in
several Navy shipyards and at
some point decided to go solo,
so he founded the company
in 1980, recalls Mario Uribe
Fenollosa.
Throughout its history, SENI has consolidated
a 23,900-square meter shipyard in the Uras marsh, in
Mazatln, where the firm
offers services such as ship
and afloat repairs, as well as
construction.
archive
Servicios Navales e Industriales uses its more than

three decades of experience in the ship repair and ship
building industry to put the domestic sector at the
forefront of exports of new vessels to Venezuela.
tomers were satisfied, states

Mario Uribe.
SENI is currently in development with the construction
of a new slipway that will enable it to offer other services
like dry dock repairs, readiness and renovations. The
firm has the capacity to berth
ships up to 1,200 tons and 65
meters long.
This type of activity
stalled in Mexico approximately 30 years ago. But the
current administration has
turned its attention to it. The
photo
SENI:
Modernizing Mexicos
Naval Exports
Throughout its history, SENI has consolidated a 23,900-square

meter shipyard in the Uras marsh, in Mazatln, where the firm offers
services such as ship and afloat repairs, as well as construction.
27
photos
Ferrovalle:
Intelligent Exchanges
In central Mexico, there is a living example of the
feasibility of intermodal logistics services and their
positive results in countries that are willing to become
important players in the global economy. Ferrovalle is
where strength and intelligence go hand in hand.
by omar magaa
Logistics is about muscle and

brain; tonnage, infrastructure
and much IT-based strategy.
Ferrocarril y Terminal del
Valle de Mxico (Ferrovalle)
is known for its efforts and
investment to strengthen each
of these axes to increase competitiveness and efficiency in
imports, exports and supply
of finished goods.
Through hard work, the

countrys most important
railroad terminal, which occupies 1,000 hectares within
the perimeter of the Valley of
Mexico, has rightfully earned
a place among Mexicos most
innovative companies, thanks to
its desire to develop and implement information technologies
that streamline typical trade
formalities and provide certainty to its customers with regard
to the handling and movement

of containerized inputs, which
are classified and regrouped for
transfer to another train or to
trucks.
We have tried to differentiate ourselves from our competitors in terms of technology and
equipment capacity. We have
a logistics system that is based
on communication technology
such as tablets and other portable devices, says Erich Wetzel
Strosberg, who became CEO of
Ferrovalle in January 2013.
Netmedia Research, a firm
that monitors the degree to
which information technologies are adopted by companies,
has put Ferrovalle in the top
spots of its ranking for three
years in a row, for creating the
Intermodal Consultation System
for iPad, which enables customers to track their cargo or give
courtesy of ferrovalle
remote instructions, and Cloud

Enable Rail Information, a web
information system to review
and invoice financial data before trains arrive at the terminal.
Almost all of these developments have been done
in-house; we bring students
from various universities and
help them grow in the field of
technology. We are a breeding
ground for technology experts,
he boasts.
According to Wetzel, every
year Ferrovalle invests close to
160 million pesos (12.3 million
USD) in the implementation of
these technology systems and
track infrastructure by licensee
businesses that are involved in
the terminal as a joint venture:
Kansas City Southern de Mxico (KSCM), Ferromex, Ferrosur
and the Ministry of Communications and Transportation
(SCT), in the intermodal system
and security.
on other routes throughout the

country or assembled to the last
mile train unique in Mexico
that goes to industries located
within a 50 kilometer radius.
Ferrovalle also has the ability of train control and dispatch,
to grant right of way and offer intermodal services where
containers go from railroad to
land transportation. The latter
is a practical and very modern
system that is growing rapidly,
explains Wetzel.
In the intermodal zone,
Ferrovalle takes care of loading and unloading trains,
storing containers in its goods
inspection warehouse, their
safekeeping and the loading and
unloading of trucks. For moves
from one type of transportation
to the other, the company has
frame cranes, reach stackers,
side loaders, top loaders, chassis, yard tractors and engines

from the yard to the terminal.
The intermodal theme
brings about a very good geometric growth between 6% and
7% annually, says Wetzel. That
is why the firm allocates a large
part of its annual investments to
purchase cargo machinery and
expand the land used in these
operations.
The intermodal terminal
has been so important for the
company that, since 2003, when
the Mexican government licensed it to private shareholders
that were already in charge of
railroads since 1998, Ferrovalle
launched an intensive investment program that continues to
date, according to which 15%
of total annual sales which
currently average 970 million
pesos (approximately 75 million usd) are allocated to build

infrastructure and purchase
machinery.
According to Wetzels numbers, Ferrovalle obtains 52% of
its income from the operations
of shareholder firms such as
cargo, classification and right
of way, and the remaining 48%
is from local freight (last mile
train) and the intermodal terminal in equal parts.
Regardless of the percentage
that the intermodal terminal
represents in Ferrovalles current
sales, the company has sensed
that the system of switching
between modes of transportation will be much more commonplace in the future logistics
market, which is why it is preparing for that before it exceeds
its cargo management capacity.
While shareholder firms

have invested in track reconstruction since obtaining the
consignment for them in 1998,
for close to a decade the intermodal part has required adaptations to its facilities, especially
in terms of space to receive
increasingly longer trains up to
three kilometers long and store
empty containers.
Given the potential of intermodal systems in the Mexican
logistics market and the competitive advantages they mean
for Mexico over countries with
the same production importance in the world economy,
such as Brazil, Ferrovalle will
continue to support this format
and promote its benefits by
example. N
www.ferrovalle.com.mx
The Heart of
the Railroad System
Ferrovalle considers itself
the heart of the railroad
system in Mexico given its
influence and relevance in the
distribution of inputs for industries located in central Mexico
and in the supply of finished
products for the zone with the
highest consumption: the Valley
of Mexico.
We have positioned as the
main dry port or inland terminal in the country. We move
400,000 containers a year, while
our closest competitor moves
50% less, states Wetzel.
Freight trains from all over
Mexico arrive at Ferrovalle.
Once they are in the companys
territory, the cars go through a
first classification yard in Lechera, Estado de Mxico, to pass
on to a second classification
yard with hump systems (shunted over a hump by an engine).
The firm has 48 reassembly
tracks where cars are integrated
into trains that will continue
28
29
photos
courtesy of navemar
and Global Crankshaft Services

Ltd.; Denmarks Nordana Line;
South Africas Galborg; Norways Hoegh Autoliners AS; the
US SCM Lines, and Ukraines
Varamar. These lines have services to and from Mexico to
the whole world and to specific
destinations such as the Caribbean, the Gulf of the US and
the Mediterranean; Venezuela, Colombia, South Africa,
northern Europe; Africa, the
Far East, Australia and New
Zealand.
Grupo Navemar comprises
a series of logistics services
firms Sea Rail (land, doorto-door and sea), SYEL (air),
Comercio Dinmico (mineral
and agricultural products),
Asloc and Think-TIM to
meet the demand of the lines
Navemar:
Smooth Sailing
For more than half a century, Grupo Navemar has been
an important player in cargo transport by sea. The
experience they have acquired during this time has
become the main sales pitch of a company that knows
full well what international trade demands of Mexico.
by omar magaa
The sea has been an ally of

trade throughout human
history. Even now, close to
80% of commerce between
countries that are connected
to the global economy is done
by sea. Due to its complexity
and relevance, sea transportation requires knowledge and
30
experience. In Mexico, Grupo

Navemar has both.
Grupo Navemar has been
active for 50 years. Established
in 1962, it served for decades
as a general shipping and port
agency, but in the last 15 years
it has morphed into a business
that provides integrated logis-
tics services and coordinates

maritime brokerage for international shipping lines with
multi-purpose services, that is,
general, liquid, rolling, project,
bulk and containerized cargo.
Sebastin Hecker, CEO of
the company, highlights Grupo
Navemars major value as the
number of years that any of
its 76 collaborators in their
headquarters in Mexico City
and the ports of Tampico, Altamira, Veracruz, Manzanillo
and Lzaro Crdenas, have
been working on something
as specialized and demanding
as the international freight
of inputs and finished goods.
Furthermore, Navemar is long
known in the sector, There is
no subagent in Mexican ports
with which we dont have a
relationship that goes back at

least 15 years, says Hecker.
Another attribute has
been Navemars capacity to
stay afloat in a market where
the rules of the game have
changed over the decades, even
more so since the standardized
adoption of container cargo
and its management by heavyweight multinationals.
Navemar focused on the
smallest shipping firms. Today,
we represent family owned
companies with a structure
that is different to a public
corporation; these are companies that operate in Mexico
and specialize in bulk, break
bulk, oversized or rolling
cargo, he explains.
The group represents
Netherlands NMT Shipping
it represents, the various

importers, exporters, traders
and customs agents.
Navemar offers logistics
services such as shipment
management from and to
Mexico, cargo storage, chartering of vessels of all sizes
by voyage or time charter,
husbandry of vessels with
no fixed route (bulk carriers,
tankers, Ro/Ro, break bulk
vessels and cruise ships), and,
as part of the commercial
strategy that the group has
been strengthening in recent
years, business consolidation
for its represented companies
in important Mexican ports.
Doing things well has
been crucial to surviving for
50 years and, hopefully, another 50, affirms Hecker.
Grupo Navemar comprises a series of logistics

services firms Sea Rail (land, door-to-door and
sea), SYEL (air), Comercio Dinmico (mineral and
agricultural products), Asloc and Think-TIM to
meet the demand of the lines it represents, the various
importers, exporters, traders and customs agents.
Mexicos development is
evident on its coasts and travels through its waters: steel
and components for the petrochemical and mining industries
are a good part of the general
cargo in Navemars chartered
or attended vessels; in the
area of rolling cargo, automobiles, machinery for agriculture and dump trucks for
the mining industry; and wind
transformers and components
for industrial projects.
In 2013, our groups
generation of sea freight is at
3.5 million USD per month,
boasts Hecker.
Given the firms involvement in global trade, it has
joined international organizations such as the World Wide
Shipping Agents Association
(WWSA) and the Baltic and
International Maritime Council (BIMCO). In Mexico, it is a
member of the Mexican Association of Shipping Agents
(Amanac), the Mexican Association of Importers and
Exporters of Mexico (Anierm),
the Mexican - German Chamber of Industry and Commerce
(Camexa) and the Mexican
Chamber of Maritime Transport (Cameintram).
This year we were in
Shanghai where our colleagues
from ProMxico provided
huge support, he claims.
Human Capital before
Technology
With all due respect, we dont
want to be a fully automated
company. If anyone calls our
firm, they will speak to a human being who can travel
anywhere to meet in person

and discuss the complexities
of the projects we handle, he
clarifies.
Many of the agencys
investments, he says, have
been to strengthen the companys relationships with its
human capital. He adds that
staff turnover is minimal, so
much so that they can continue to rely on collaborators
whose experience is forged in
practice.
Since merchant shipping
matters and port flows are unlikely to form part of the academic portfolio of universities, a corporation like Navemar, which relies so much on
its human capital, has had
to rely on people who got
their experience in large and
long-standing companies such
as Transportacin Martima
Mexicana (TMM).
Consequently, Grupo
Navemar has also developed
learning plans, albeit with no
academic degree, for people
who wish to supplement their
knowledge with logistics and
maritime issues.
Hecker, an expert in sea
trade who, it must be said,
knows about the importance
of this activity in countries
with far less coastline than
Mexico, such as North European nations, considers that
there is still much to explore
and exploit in Mexican
ports and in general with the
Mexican merchant marine to
improve the countrys competitiveness. N
www.navemar.com.mx
31
photos
courtesy of kcsm
KCSM has the advantage of being the only railway

business that connects the port of Lzaro Crdenas,
Michoacn the fastest growing port in North
America in terms of containerized cargo movement
which enables it to manage a corridor from the
Pacific to the companys terminal in Kansas City.
This route is streamlining the movement of goods
between the US and Asia.
Modernization
on Track
Railways and intermodal transportation services in
Mexico are giving much to talk about in terms of their
good health in an economy that every day strives to
prove its competitiveness in the global arena. KCSM is
the perfect example of the new boost of this railway
movement.
when they require intensive

use for cargo movement,
says Zozaya.
At the far west of the corridor, the port of Lzaro Crdenas is vital for KCSM given the
growth it has recorded in the
last six years in terms of import
transit in 2012 it reported a
19% increase, and the elevated
movement of intermodal cargo
that it has shown throughout
2013 thanks to purposely developed infrastructure, such as
railway yards, terminals and
connections to highways and
railway lines.
The company sees the
revival of Lzaro Crdenas
as an increasingly specialized
port in containerized cargo
(partly due to the intensive
and increasing flow between
Mexico and the US as a result
of nearshoring activities in
buoyant industries such as
automotive) as a good sign of
the great opportunities to be
found in intermodal transportation services. In 2012 alone,
the firm recorded 55% growth
in cross-border transit.
Experts calculate Mexicos
potential to move cargo at up
to 80 million tons per year
using the system that combines
sea, rail and truck transportation. Companies that manage
railways and intermodal terminals, such as KCSM, continue
to work to exploit their potential to the full in a country
where the industry still moves
a large part of its cargo by
truck. The infrastructure developed to reach this goal and
the promise of a significant
by omar magaa
Railways have always been a

sign of a countrys progress.
Today the work of large railway companies such as Kansas
City Southern de Mxico
(KCSM) are boosting the
countrys competitiveness and
contributing to make better
use of their strategic position
in the global economy.
If at some point in the late
20th century we believed that
cargo railways in Mexico were
coming to an end, the reality is
that investments made in the
last 16 years by giving 17,499
kilometers of previously staterun railways to private firms
on concession schemes have
revived cargo transit and industry confidence in railways
and, more recently, intermodal
systems (the ship-train-truck
chain of movement of containerized cargo).
Since 1997, when the US
Kansas City Southern (KCS),
in partnership with the Mexican Transportacin Martima
Mexicana (TMM), was granted the concession to operate
the northeastern portion of
the railway 4,238 kilometers
from Mexico City to the border cities of Nuevo Laredo and
Matamoros, in Tamaulipas
KCSM has invested 3 billion
Usd in Mexico.
We have invested not
only in [management] change,
but in track and sleeper maintenance, in reinforcing rail
infrastructure, and in new
32
equipment and systems to

increase the efficiency and
competitiveness of the railway, explains Jos Guillermo
Zozaya Delano, President,
General Manager and Executive Representative of KCSM.
The current company,
KCSM, resulted from the acquisition of TMMs assets by
KCS in 2005, which meant a
shift in the way we operate
with the implementation in
Mexico of the schemes that
have worked for the parent
firm in the US for 125 years.
Since then, annual investments by KCSM to improve
and modernize its lines and
telecommunications systems
average 130 million Usd.
KCSM owns 25% of the shares
of Ferrocarril y Terminal del
Valle de Mxico (Ferrovalle),
the largest dry port and intermodal terminal in the country.
Like many other experts,
Zozaya documents the rebirth
of cargo railways in Mexico
using the following numbers:
16 years ago, only 11% of
national cargo was carried by
train; now, the number has
risen to 27%. KCSM has a
30% market share.
Connecting Ports
and Borders
The transit of components and
finished goods within Mexico
and between Mexico and the
US is crucial. These movements
account for 40% of the com-
panys combined total income.

KCSM has the advantage
of being the only railway business that connects the port of
Lzaro Crdenas, Michoacn
the fastest growing port in
North America in terms of containerized cargo movement
which enables it to manage a
corridor from the Pacific to the
companys terminal in Kansas
City. This route is streamlining
the movement of goods between the US and Asia.
The corridor passes
through key points for domestic trade: Lzaro Crdenas, the
Valley of Mexico, Monterrey
and Nuevo Laredo. KCSM
uses this corridor to move
inputs for industry and con-
sumption (25% of all cargo

transported), chemical products and other oil derivatives
(19%), containers from its
intermodal terminals (19%),
agricultural and mineral products (18%), components for
the automotive industry (16%)
and materials for energy infrastructure (3%).
At the close of 2012,
KCSM had moved 519,945
net tons, of which 264,510
were exports and 255,435
imports.
Working with ports and
sea terminals has been very
important, as well as with dry
ports and our own intermodal
terminals. We also establish
alliances with our customers
reduction in costs will lead,

according to forecasts, to more
confidence among industrialists to move towards these
logistics strategies.
Mexicos position as a production pole in the global value
chain also depends on promoting todays competitive advantages of rail and intermodal
transportation. Regarding this,
Zozaya affirms that the link
with institutions such as ProMxico has been very important for the attraction of investment because many businesses
are asking where the railways
are and what transportation
possibilities are available for
Mexico and abroad.
A Tangible Boom
KCSM reported profits of 622
million Usd during the third
quarter of 2013, according
to company information. The
firm increased its cargo volume by 3% compared to the
same period in 2012.
Sectors such as intermodal,
energy and chemicals reported
17%, 6% and 3% increases,
respectively, in the previous
years third quarter profits. On
the other hand, agricultural,
mineral and automotive products grew 7%.
The Mexican affiliate can
only be positive about the
future: there is growth and
there are opportunities. Meanwhile, KCSM has announced
investments in Mexico of 143
million Usd for 2014. N
www.kcsouthern.com
33
photos
However, the business also

serves other customers from the
automotive and textile sectors.
Globally, Geodis offers
supply chain optimization
services and is the fourth
largest operator of its kind in
Europe. IBM is so convinced
of the firms effectiveness that
in 2008 it made it its only
international distributor. In
Mexico, IBM has one manufacturing plant, the second
largest of its kind in the
country, located in the municipality of El Salto, Jalisco.
At Geodis, we specialize
in logistics services but we
also offer import and export
archive
services to IBM, as well as

warehousing and distribution
based on the customers demands. We do what is known
as goods pooling: we transport them to Mexico, where
they are manufactured, processed and then exported to
international markets, says
the head of business control.
Geodis Global Solutions
plant in Jalisco offers other
services besides import and
export, such as customs accounts expenses, liaison with
other suppliers and materials
purchasing.
We provide a service that
goes beyond distribution, which
Geodis Global
Solutions:
IBMs Favorite
Since 2008, this French company has been IBMs sole
supplier. From its facilities in Mexico, it distributes all
over the globe for the US multinational.
by antonio vzquez
The 22-million peso investment (close to 1.6 million

USD) made two years ago by
French firm Geodis Global
Solutions in a high quality
logistics port in El Salto,
Jalisco, has paid off.
Geodis port in this part
of western Mexico is IBMs
favorite for a good reason.
From this point, Geodis
distributes IBM products
throughout the world.
We started out as IBMs
sole international supplier.
The people who started Geodis already had experience
with IBM because they
worked as distributors. That
is what many companies
do, they are good in terms
of support, and that is what
happened with Geodis, a
French company that began
34
operating in America with

import and export processes
for IBM, which subsequently
expanded its customer portfolio, explains Federico
Chvez, head of business
control at Geodis.
Currently, Geodis Global
Solutions facilities in Jalisco
have 45 customers that it
serves in a 12,000 squaremeter warehouse. An additional 35 customers are
waiting for the firm to begin
operating a new warehouse
of over 3,000 square meters.
Federico Chvez explains
how most of Geodis Global
Solutions customers in Mexico come from the electronics
sector, given Jaliscos extensive electronics industry,
particularly in the El Salto
corridor.
differentiates us from other

companies, adds Chvez.
Without a doubt, Mexicos
location has been an added
value that Geodis customers
take into account.
In addition, the company
has achieved a logistics advantage thanks to its work with
local industry chambers and
state authorities to strengthen
the position of the Miguel
Hidalgo International Airport
Guadalajara in terms of international flights.
We are working to make
the Guadalajara airport
Mexicos cargo airport par
excellence. The Mexico City
and Toluca airports are always
saturated. Here we handle
direct flights to the East. That is
because the electronics industry
is supplied mainly from Asia.
Bringing 70% of goods via

Guadalajara gives us the opportunity to cut costs and get
goods faster for manufacturing
and then exporting to the US,
Canada and South America,
expounds Federico Chvez.
With 254 employees distributed throughout its facilities in El Salto and offices in
Mexico City and Guadalajara,
Geodis Global Solutions has
earned the trust of IBM and
its other customers by offering them a plus such as business control.
Its all a matter of auditing; we have a monthly process for delivering results in
which we establish which measurement points are needed
for delivery to our customers.
This enables our customers
to know which process their
product is in at all times, he

affirms.
Warehouses with infrared
sensors, video cameras and a
complete surveillance system
have been installed in the plant
to guarantee security and confidentiality to the client.
For example, we receive
products such as latest generation mobile phones and
we store them before they hit
the market. Customers know
they will be safeguarded here
without any problems. We also
offer safety and hazardous material handling processes. Our
systems also enable us to make
sure that our customers goods
are free of risks and protected
against smuggling activities,
concludes Chvez. N
Currently, Geodis Global

Solutions facilities
in Jalisco have 45
customers that it serves
in a 12,000 squaremeter warehouse. An
additional 35 customers
are waiting for the firm
to begin operating a new
warehouse of over 3,000
square meters.
www.geodis.com
35
Jalisco
Logistics Center:
A Trigger of Western
Mexicos Economic
Development
Located in the south of Jalisco, this project is one of
the three most important of its kind in Mexico and will
create over 35,000 jobs when it operates at full capacity.
photo
archive
by antonio vzquez
An expanse covering 1,200

hectares 800 industrial and
the rest for housing, the capacity to create more than
35,000 jobs and a 1.5 billionUSD investment, are a few of
the numbers of the Jalisco
Logistics Center, one of three
main projects to trigger Mexicos economic development
over the next eight years.
The Jalisco Logistics
Center is part of the solution
to increase Mexicos competitiveness, since cost overruns

in logistics are always paid
by the consumer. Improving
these costs will benefit end
consumers, explains Omar
De Loza Jimnez, commercial
director of the project.
The Jalisco Logistics Center was envisioned by private
initiative a couple of years
ago, developed during the
past administration and be-
gan operating during the current government.

The benefits of the project
have been the ace in the hole
that has transcended administrations. Since its construction, it has created 750 direct
and 1,500 indirect jobs.
The 1.5 billion-USD investment in the southern part of
Jalisco between the municipalities of Acatln de Jurez
and Zacoalco de Torres will
help trigger employment in
the near future. De Loza says
gistics Center in the southern

part of the state.
The location of this great
project is only 37 kilometers
from Guadalajara the second
most important city in Mexico,
which has an international airport with more than 40 flights
bound for the US every week.
But that is not all. The
Jalisco Logistics Center is
only 270 kilometers from
Manzanillo, in Colima, Mexicos main port for container
loading. Every year, up to two
opened in September 2013.

The first firm, Tres Montes
Luchetti, arrived in that same
month, with annual global
sales of up to 2 billion USD.
In this first stage of the
project, 198 out of a total 250
hectares have been sold; some
40 companies have signed contracts to build warehouses in
the area and two of them will
begin operating in August 2014.
So far we have 11 different sectors such as metal
working, auto parts, furni-
The location of this great project is only 37 kilometers from

Guadalajara the second most important city in Mexico, which
has an international airport with more than 40 flights bound for
the US every week.
that over 35,000 jobs will be

created and that the housing
area will feature some 14,000
homes for close to 45,000
people, which means that the
need for infrastructure and
services in the area will create
new business opportunities.
The Jalisco Logistics Center is innovative in its kind
because most of these projects
are built in the north of Mexico, close to the US border.
We did not go in blind,
declares Omar De Loza: Before deciding to establish in
Jalisco, we carried out a detailed study to explore the advantages and disadvantages.
The study showed that Jalisco
has always been a commercial
area; goods from other states
pass through it and its an important distribution center that
concentrates several sectors,
such as electronics, womens
footwear, jewelry, clothing,
confectionery, furniture and
dairy, among many others.
The geographic location
was also significant in the decision to build the Jalisco Lo-
36
million containers arrive in

Manzanillo.
The project is vast and
can receive almost any type of
business. We believe that Asia
will be the strongest market
for exports due to its closeness
to Manzanillo, but European
and Central and South American companies have shown
special interest in the high
quality of the workforce and
the strategic location within
Mexico, says De Loza.
Our great added value is
composed of several elements.
We have an internal customs
office, a container terminal, natural gas, fiber optics.
We have not reinvented the
wheel, but we have taken the
best, that is why we have already signed several contracts
with industrial parks in Europe, adds De Loza.
To date, the Jalisco Logistics
Center has international agreements with Centro Va, the largest park of its kind in Europe,
and Plaza Zaragoza, in Spain.
The first stage of the
Jalisco Logistics Center was
ture, soap, confectionery,

footwear, bread, soda, electricity and electronics and
pharmaceutical; we have
diversified our sectors, emphasizes the Jalisco Logistics
Centers commercial director.
Moreover, the project has
implemented an environmental
policy. It has the technology to
capture rainwater and is in the
process of obtaining Integral
Sustainable Urban Development (DUIS) certification.
Initially, it was projected
that the Jalisco Logistics Center would reach its full capacity in 10 years. Progress has cut
the period to only eight years.
In eight years, we would
like to have a mix of 80%
Mexican and 20% foreign
firms, but the ratio might
change to 60-40. Mexico is
going through an important
time because companies are
looking for new places to invest. We have to seize the moment and attract more businesses, concludes De Loza. N
www.centrologisticojalisco.mx
37
Interpuerto
Monterrey,
More Than
a Logistics Port
This 1,350-hectare project in northeast Mexico boasts
a free trade zone for product imports, known as a
Strategic In-bond Area.
38
photo
archive
by antonio vzquez
Interpuerto Monterrey is a
logistics project arising from
the joint efforts of authorities and private initiative in
Mexico, aimed at catapulting
the economic development
of the northeastern part of
the country and targeting
customers in North America,
with a hinterland of over 70

million inhabitants.
I think this project is
unique. Its scope and strategic geographic location, in
northeast Mexico, place it in
a more international context
than a national one. It is surrounded by more than 70
million inhabitants because

it covers the central-southern
part of the US and the north
of Mexico, says Silvano
Sols, CEO of Interpuerto
Monterrey.
He adds, We see a huge
potential for companies as a
result of the trade agreements
between both countries, the
elimination of tariffs and
border with the US where a
significant amount of goods
are moved.
Located 180 kilometers
from the US, Interpuerto
Monterrey, in the state of
Nuevo Len, was established
in 2008 in response to a state
governments initiative to
develop an international logistics platform.
The authorities knew they
needed private initiative on
board to embark on such a
venture. So the government
of Nuevo Len committed to
improving the infrastructure
surrounding Interpuerto Monterrey, while seven Mexican
entrepreneurs focused on finding the perfect site and completing the formalities required
for its construction.
The result is a 1,350-hectare (3,700 acres) logistics port
where the railways of the nations two major rail operators
converge; at the same time,
Interpuerto Monterrey has an
internal rail network that connects it to the main railways.
Furthermore, Interpuerto
Monterrey has added value.
On one hand, it has extensive
services infrastructure for
power generation, natural gas,
water, sewage and access to
water for industrial use. On
the other, it has a strategic in-
bond area that is, in essence,

a free trade zone; in other
words, a designated space in
Mexico for storing imported
products that are considered
to be out of the country when
in fact they are in it.
From Interpuerto Monterrey you can ship or receive
from Mexicos four main sea
ports: Manzanillo in Colima,
Lzaro Crdenas in Michoacn, Veracruz, and Altamira
in Tamaulipas, explains Silvano Sols.
With the strategic inbond area and the customs
office inside Interpuerto Monterrey, customers can bring
containers from any port without having to go through an
inspection, he adds.
Interpuerto Monterrey has
sold around 100 hectares of
the first phase of the project,
which amounts to 350 hectares of the 1,350. The firms
that have joined the project so
far manufacture pipes, food
and automotive parts.
We just closed a transaction with Mondelez, a cookie
manufacturer that imports raw
materials and exports close to
80% of its processed products
to the US, he claims.
According to the projects
CEO, in less than 13 years,
when the full expanse of the
logistics port is occupied, it
will have created between
35,000 and 40,000 direct jobs.
To that end, the management
of Interpuerto Monterrey
has set the goal of occupying
close to 90 hectares every year.
Mondelez alone will create
close to 2,000 direct jobs by
2014, when it begins operations in Interpuerto Monterrey.
As far as the near future,

we intend to close deals with
Japanese companies during the
first quarter of 2014. This has
resulted from a tour of Japan,
supported by ProMxico,
where we found a great deal of
interest in Interpuerto Monterreys location. We visited 10
firms and they were all interested, but five of them have a
short-term interest in being in
Nuevo Len, says Sols.
Another added value is
Interpuerto Monterreys commitment to sustainability. Its
mission is sustained by the
economics of the business,
the social aspect of the project and its impact in the environment. Interpuerto Monterrey strives for a balance in
all three features aligning its
actions to this triple bottomline principle. Part of this
strategy results in the recovery of local flora during the
clean-up work of the parcels,
working hard to recover
endemic species (replanting
them in specific green areas),
and creating a unique botanical garden as landscape.
Another project that we
want to have ready by the
end of the first quarter of
2014 is for all the services at
Interpuerto Monterrey, the
lighting, offices, pumps, to
run on solar power, through
solar cells. The goal is to
have a solar farm to generate
the power required for these
kinds of services. This will
enable users to use renewable
energy without having to
invest more in their project,
concludes Silvano Sols. N
Located 180 kilometers

from the US, Interpuerto
Monterrey, in the state
of Nuevo Len, was
established in 2008
in response to a state
governments initiative to
develop an international
logistics platform.
www.interpuertomty.com
39
Logistik
Industrial Park:
A Heart and Arteries
for the Industry
Companies wanting to produce in Mexico need a place to
install their manufacturing operations and the tools to
move their goods. Logistik Industrial Park has the plan to
do this in the best way possible and with competitive costs.
by omar magaa
Arriving at Logistik Industrial

Park is like an all-inclusive
vacation for logistics and
manufacturing companies.
The Villa de Reyes complex
in San Luis Potos is an integrated center for production
and cargo movement.
40
archive
countrys largest urban areas

Mexico City, Guadalajara and
Monterrey are located, on average, five hours away overland,
and only 722 kilometers separate the park from the border
with Laredo, Texas.
On those lines, in June 2013

GM, which engages in assembly,
stamping and transmissions,
announced a 131 million-usd
investment to expand its transmission plant.
Earlier, in December 2012,
Logistik made the headlines
of the specialized media with
the arrival of LOral, which
invested 100 million usd in
the site to develop its largest
hair color plant in the world.
LOral uses Logistik to supply
its LOral Paris, Garnier, SoftSheen-Carson and LOral Professional brands to the North
and Latin American markets.
The company reports that it
has created 400 direct and 800
indirect jobs in the park.
As a park, we believe that
diversity is key in the countrys
development. We are very interested in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries because
we think it is an activity that
requires skilled workforce; the
aerospace sector is very important, but Quertaro is already
very focused on detonating that
industry, explains Zapata.
Attracting investment
should also translate into jobs.
So far, the firms in Logistik
Industrial Park employ 6,000
workers, mostly technicians.
However, the arrival of companies with specialized activities,
such as medical products or
cosmetics, is generating a need
for chemical engineers.
As part of Logistiks integrated plan, which strives to
concentrate all industry solutions in one place, the second
phase of the complex (1,500
hectares) includes an area for
residential land use that will be
divided up to build homes for
the firms employees.
Logistik goes beyond: having a production site is not
enough; the tools to deliver
the goods in the right place
at the right time are an even
bigger priority. N
photos
The park, which has been

run since the beginning of
the last decade by a family of
entrepreneurs from Monterrey, is located in an unbeatable
geographic location in Mexico
and, without exaggeration, on
the map of international trade:
the state of San Luis Potos.

Situated midway between the
north and the borders with the
US, the dynamic Bajo and the
center with its industrial production and consumption, San
Lus Potos is literally in the
heart of Mexico.
Furthermore, Logistiks
location benefits from the flow
of two important trade arteries:
the highways from Mexico to
Laredo and from Guadalajara
to San Luis Potos, both only a
few kilometers away from the
logistics center.
The park is next to the
northeast railroad line, which
Kansas City Southern de Mxico (KCSM) uses to move goods
from the port of Lzaro Crdenas, Michoacn, and the Valley
of Mexico, to Kansas City, in
the US Midwest; moreover, the
Convincing Conditions
In recent years, Logistik Industrial Park has generated quite a
buzz since the arrival of two important multinationals: the auto
giant General Motors (GM)
operating since 2009 and
cosmetics leader, LOral active since 2012. Both companies
established important, strategic
manufacturing centers to meet
the needs of the US, Mexican
and South American markets.
Ximena Zapata, commercial
director of the park, believes
that GM presence is an advan-
tage because it gives other businesses security and confidence.

GM, LOral and other
residents of the park such as:
Magna Cosma International
(automotive metal body and
chassis), Advanced Assembly
Products (auto parts, stamping
and car axes), Eagle Industry
(mechanical seals and special
valves), Isgo Manufactura (plastic molding for the automotive
sector), Nitta Moore (plastic
pipes for fuel injection), Hyundai Dymos (automotive seats),
Logistic Insight Corporation
(assembly and logistics), Becton
Dickinson (medical equipment),
Caterpillar (distribution center);
Ryder, DHL and Penske (logistics) leverage the benefits of a
space that combines intelligent
services that give the industries
competitiveness in a decentralized production system.
In addition to land sale,
Logistik operates furniture and
real estate leasing schemes,
customs procedures and logistics and multimodal services. It
is remarkable not only for its
size it grew from 530 hectares
in 2003 to 2,040 hectares in
2013 but for the master plan
that drives its activities and
to which the strategic bonded
area, Logistik Free Trade Zone,
is fundamental a unique figure
approved in 2003 that enables

the exchange of goods from
abroad with tax and countervailing duty exemptions.
The multimodal terminal
where 75,000 containers are
moved every year is crucial
to the plan. The bonded area
operates on 16 hectares with
3.7 kilometers of railroads and
storage yards for loaded and
empty containers with control,
cross-docking, maneuvering,
towing and road transportation
services for containerized cargo. Its internal customs office
is also crucial, where roundthe-clock cargo inspections are
carried out using state-of-theart technology.
All this has been key for
companies that are tightly
linked to the transport of inputs for parts manufacturing or
assembly.
Our customers have very
close relationships with Asian
countries, especially Japan and
Korea; they bring raw materials from Asia and ship the final
product to the US, South America or Europe, says Zapata.
Investment Attraction:
Essential
Ximena Zapata reveals that
Logistik is in the middle of
negotiations with three large
Logistiks location benefits

from the flow of two
important trade arteries:
the highways from
Mexico to Laredo and
from Guadalajara to San
Luis Potos, both only a
few kilometers away from
the logistics center.
firms for their future establishment in the park. Furthermore,
in the summer of 2013, executives of the complex were part
of a delegation of business
owners from San Luis Potos
that visited Japan, coordinated
by ProMxico, to establish
business relations with the
Japanese private sector.
We contacted very important companies and some
of them have already closed
investment deals in the state,
boasts Zapata. Speaking about
ProMxico, she points out that
we have a very close relationship. We work a lot with the
San Luis Potos delegation. We
are in constant communication; they request information
about the firms that have been
here and the expectations for
attracting investment.
www.logistik.mx
41
photos
ULS:
A Reliable
Business PARTNER
United Logistics Services, a company with Mexican and
foreign investment, offers customized import and export
services from Mexico.
by antonio vzquez
Half Mexican, half Dutch,

that is how Armando
Gonzlez, commercial director of ULS (United Logistics
Services) describes it. This
company moves cargo and
containers from Mexico to
42
everywhere in the world and

vice versa.
ULS was founded in Mexico in 2006. Two years later,
Dutch business owners decided to help firms importing and
exporting goods, therefore our
staffs aim is to connect Mexico

to Asia and Europe, explains
Armando Gonzlez.
Imports from Asia to
Mexico stand for 80% of the
companys operations. The
remaining 20% comprises exports from Mexico to Europe
and America.
Every year, between imports
and exports, ULS moves 80,000
TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent
Units, the measure of each
container) around the globe, of
which 12,000 are moved within
Mexican territory.
In Mexico ULS focuses
mainly on three sectors: agriculture Gonzlez points out that
automotive is the corporations
courtesy of uls
strength, automotive more

focused on auto parts and tires
and textile. These are the three
main triggers for the countrys
economic development.
Mexico is ranked fourth
as global exporter in the automotive sector; therefore,
growth is very strong. Moreover, its territorial expansion
makes it a very productive land
and that is where we come in
with the agricultural sector,
we approach people and avoid
intermediaries, he claims.
Armando Gonzlez explains how this firm is different
from many others in the same
field: In ULS we offer a rich
range of integrated logistics
services to help companies

move their cargo everywhere in
the world, taking care of their
goods from their origin to their
final destination. Furthermore,
ULS can help find suppliers
and/or forwarders in the countries of origin, customs brokers
in Mexico, and delivery and
insurance services, among
other. We tailor our services to
our customers needs.
Nevertheless, ULS Mexico
enjoys its strategic location
of being a natural bridge
between the US and South
America. We also have offices in several countries all
over the world, such as China,
India, Vietnam, South Korea,
Taiwan, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy, that
allow us to be present in the
most important commercial
spots, he adds.
The US is one of our main
buyers, but we have also had
strong growth in Central and
South America. By not depend-
Every year, between

imports and exports,
ULS moves 80,000
TEUs (Twenty-foot
Equivalent Units,
the measure of each
container) around the
globe, of which 12,000
are moved within
Mexican territory.
ing solely on our northern
neighbor, we have been expanding our network to connect in Panama, Ecuador, Chile,
Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, clarifies Gonzlez.
Proximity is an added
value for ULS in Mexico. It has
presence in the main customs
offices of ports such as Manzanillo, in the state of Colima;
Lzaro Crdenas, in Michoacn; Altamira, in Tamaulipas
and Veracruz, in Veracruz.
ULS sees its future in Mexico, according to Gonzlez.

In the upcoming years, the
firm aims to grow in the agricultural sector, consolidating
old business relationships and
establishing new ones. The
area we are exploring right
now is the one among Sinaloa,
Nayarit, Jalisco and the Bajo
region, a fruitful and profitable territory.
Gonzlez also points out
that their business range is
more focused on small and medium-sized local producers and
manufacturers. ULS Group,
along with its firm GreenTrade,
can purchase, transport and
guarantee the product of any
business here in Mexico.
Moving products from
one place to another is very
simple. Connecting people and
creating business relationships,
that is where we come in, he
concludes. N
www.uls.com.mx
43
photo
courtesy of gtm
tween Mexico City and Monterrey. In the 1980s it began

expanding towards liquid and
refrigerated cargo, until in the
following decades it started to
move chemicals, food-grade
inputs and components for
the automotive industry.
The corporate vision was
key in a growth process based
on the absorption of multiple
trucking companies, each with
proven experience in a specific
market sector, which resulted
in GTM, integrated by Auto
Lneas Amrica (ALA), Transportes Monterrey (TM), Transportes Lpez e Hijos (TLH),
Transportes Jorge Ancer (TJA),
Transportes Minerva (TMi)
and Accin Transport (AT).
We established a corporate governance; shareholders have an advisory board
and they appointed a CEO,
explains Fernando J. Bernal,
director of sales and marketing at GTM.
understood how managers

have evolved.
Diversify and Conquer
More than 1,600 of GTMs
tractors make 800,000 trips a
year, covering some 190 million kilometers. A third of these
movements are international
and are related to trade resulting from NAFTA.
Currently, the most representative sectors in terms of
cargo volume are chemicals,
food and automotive, although
GTM also satisfies the needs of
retail, beverages, general and
other finished goods businesses.
Our strategy has been to
maintain a balance. Normally,
one sector will excel more
than another; at some point,
it was retail, and other times
it was beverages or air gases,
points out Bernal.
To satisfy the need of its
customers, the corporation has
infrastructure including tractors,
Mexico and Monterrey. TLH

takes care of refrigerated cargo,
both regular and hazardous,
has international regulating
platforms and freights between
the port of Veracruz and Monterrey. TJA moves national
and international hazardous
goods cargo through Colombia
(Nuevo Len), Matamoros and
Altamira (Tamaulipas), Veracruz and Manzanillo.
TMi works with regular
food-grade liquid and solid
bulk cargo in tanker and hopper trucks; and has koshercertified container washing
centers for this type of cargo.
Accin Transport specializes in regular cargo for the
national and international
automotive sector. GTM has
integrated well into intermodal systems with services for
railroad containers in stations
in Nuevo Len, San Luis Potos, Guanajuato, Jalisco and
Estado de Mxico.
More than 1,600 of GTMs tractors make 800,000 trips a year,

covering some 190 million kilometers. A third of these movements
are international and are related to trade resulting from NAFTA.
GTM: A Strong Family

There is an expert in goods transport by road, and its
Grupo Transportes Monterrey. It has all the attributes of
a competitive player: infrastructure, excellent relations
with its counterparts abroad, human capital and a
professional vision.
44
by omar magaa
z
Grupo Transportes Monterrey (GTM) is one of the key

elements to understanding
goods movement between
the member countries of the
North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA).
Since adopting a corporate
structure in the 1980s, this
giant of commercial transit
on wheels is able to participate in almost every area of
production and exchange
involving Mexico and its
northern neighbors, the US
and Canada.
In a country where
close to 80% of overland
cargo movements are by road,
thanks to its advantages over

rail (such as the feasibility of
door-to-door deliveries, the
viability of accessing diverse
zones of Mexico, the operational flexibility and lower
investment costs), GTM is
among the heavyweights,
especially in the ports and
borders in the northeast
(such as Nuevo Laredo) and
Mexicos main urban and
industrial centers: Monterrey,
Guadalajara, San Luis Potos
and Mexico City.
GTM was established in
the 1960s. Since then and until the 1980s, it participated in
dry cargo transportation be-
This structure, he adds,

encourages professional decision-making from a general
perspective, although each
line has its own management
team and goals related to
the type of operation it carries out. This has helped the
group grow in a controlled
way, he says.
According to Bernal, the
group defines itself as a mix
of a professional firm, due to
its infrastructure, and a medium-sized company that keeps
a close and understanding
relationship with its customers. Many of our executives
have been with the group for
over 20 years. People have
been essential in this process
because they have gradually
tanker trucks for liquid bulk

and ISO tank chassis for chemicals, air gases and food-grade
supplies; refrigerated trailers,
international cargo platforms,
curtain side trucks for beer and
soda and sea cargo chassis.
By company, ALA offers
regular national and international cargo services, US bridge
crossing through Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Colombia,
Nuevo Len, as well as doorto-door delivery in Mexico and
the US and Canada through its
partners in these countries.
TM transports regular
cargo within Mexico and sea
containers between the ports
of Manzanillo, Veracruz and
Altamira, and the intermodal terminals of the Valley of
The group has 30 terminals in Mexico some of them

are more important, such
as those in Nuevo Laredo,
Monterrey, Mexico City, San
Luis Potos, Chihuahua, Torren, Altamira, Veracruz and
San Juan del Ro; two large
workshops for tractor maintenance in Monterrey and
Mexico City and small service
centers in the terminals.
We have commercial
agreements with large American firms in the US, such as
Con-Way, Schneider, Werner or
Union Pacific. We operate under
an agreement to move their
containers in Mexico and return
them to the US, clarifies Bernal.
GTM is a C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership against
Terrorism) certified company, a

standard that brings confidence
to those involved in exchange
between countries. Hence, the
corporations trailers can take
their US partners containers at
the border, deliver the cargo in
Mexico and return the empty
or loaded containers within a
few days; they can also return
tanker trailers with food-grade
supplies to the US in the full
confidence of their clients that
they have their own washing
yards that comply with sector
specifications.
Confidence on Wheels
The customers first requirement
will always be that goods in
transit are safe under any circumstances. The firms solidity
and experience, its trained human capital and satellite tracking technologies are GTMs
guarantees to its customers.
The consortiums fleet is
made up of Kenworth trucks no
more than seven years old, and
which are checked constantly in
their own service shops.
GTM has strict selection
systems for those who will be
in charge of hazardous substances, and manages its own
training school in Monterrey,
where it offers courses on
auto mechanics, tractors or
GPS navigation for specialized drivers and training for
young drivers.
Every unit is equipped
with GPS systems to enable
them to be tracked on GTMs
own National Satellite Monitoring Center (Cenamos).
GTM, a corporation with
close to 2,600 employees,
is designing an executive
training program with the
Tecnolgico de Monterrey
(Itesm) and continues to train
the collaborators who have
helped strengthen the company in its desire to stay firm
and grow in an ever-changing
commercial environment. N
www.transportesmty.com.mx
45
infographic oldemar
How does Mexico reach

its commercial partners?
(Main customs for Mexican exports, million USD)
4,462
.65
5,35
1,71
2.98
76
2.18
6 6.0
21 08.4 3
6
0
41 .46
4.6
6
1
.01
4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
35
Tota
l2
,80
54
4.3
11:
l 20
a
t
To
2
69.2
1.32
48,63
Total 2010: 173,493.15
42,0
141
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
,896
.31
Ciudad Jurez, Chihuahua
Tijuana, Baja California
Ciudad Reynosa, Tamaulipas
Colombia, Nuevo Len
Nogales, Sonora
Other
.79
37
0
,
193
0.3
0
,7
68
To
tal
20
09:
,86
43
:1
08
20
A B C D E F G
C D
A B
33
18 20,8 10,4 ,130.
89
,87 50
.52 98
5.5 .04
6
26
,59
4.4
4
8
8.6
,24
31
.25
63
8,8 6
.9
551
18, 77.02 .34
18,0 25,596
E F
G
30
20
8,6
05.
14
95.9
8
42,5
01.9
l2
01
2:
33,5
G
F
1
509
.91
7
90.5
4
33
6
2,911.5 5.01 5
7
4
3,692.21
3
5,204.99
2
14,261.23
1
To
ta
6
621.4
6
488.2
546.60
172.91
557.67
G
23,324.99
F
7,787.64
E
15,338.7
D
1
14,17
C 1
4
9
.2
,2
5
84.07
B
A
8
,48 ,693
1
,74
.48 .59
8.5
1
27
,56
4.5
22, 5
264
.32
11,3
1
71.6 5,080
.32
0
6,60
4.32
23,26
2.69
9.22
3,88
5.25
4,77
By road
million
*
1,051.37
By air
million
39
28
6
1,2 6
1.3
74 .38
5
63 9
5.9
15 55.38
5
3.
6,0
62
3
2.4
6,007.56*
To
013: 1
5
5,
1,8
21
.
To
tal
20
08
:1
1 2
3 4
:1
2013
84.7
3
13,
53
3.3
6
al
Tot
Total 2007
: 10,2
11:
.95
01
5,0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1
2:
01
l2
ta
5
6
.84 855.5 7.64 8.0
5
,
25 8,53 4,7
1
1
04
,1
30
tal
To
F
G
290.71
134.84
533.94
731.44
1.63
63,24
E
5
165.8 8
84.7
.51
364
.91
686 3
9
87.
:1
Total 2007
A
36,212.26
B
6
.7
51
,6
30
C
9
.1
24,593
6 D
.2
2
4
17,6
E
1.43 F
15,48
G
8.90
8,59
A
B
1.82
6
0
,
C
30
6.
78
6 7
4 5
Tota
l 20
2
1
41
491
1
.57
321.7
7
4
353.6
6
8 5
601.86
4
839.88
3
.6
275
6
2. .87
96 2.6 90
0.0 3
0
55
73
17
6.4
53
.57
2,725.61
4,950.39
40,
1,0
.35
.72
86
41
40.
21
5,5
3,0
6,1
3,2
18
1,637.98
4,225.44
t
To
17,805.66
Total 2010: 12,896.54
5,342.18
2
3
14,447.56
8,133.58
.30
27,441
4
5
24,672.34
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Mexico City
Monterrey, Nuevo Len
Progreso, Yucatn
4
Toluca, Estado de Mxico
98.0
1,1
Chihuahua, Chihuahua
1
:
9
Other
200
al
.98
38,389.73
42,602
Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
*From January to September.
6 7
4 5
By railroad
million
infographic
infographicoldemar
oldemar
Negocios ProMxico | Figures
Mexican
exports by
transport mode
8,374.10
9,182.82
8,282.50
The Lifestyle
6,435.62
11,051.37
15,001.95
12,896.54
10,284.73
13,533.36
11,198.04
10
11,821.18
09
3,263.84
3,213.42
(million USD)
3,084.45
The Complete Guide to the Mexican Way of Life
07 08 09 10 11 12 13*
Other
Air
07
08
11
12
13*
156,007.56
208,605.14
193,037.79
173,493.15
141,896.31
168,706.78
163,241.63
Road
07
08
09
10
11
12
13*
36,942.52
41,082.18
36,469.61
30,102.72
19,656.76
26,377.72
27,005.45
13*
Total
Sea
Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
48
*From January to September.
matrix (2006) / photo byronic
281,311.16
370,705.78
349,375.05
298,473.15
229,703.55
07 08 09 10 11 12 13*
gabriel orozco, mobil
12
291,342.60
70,874.09
11
97,642.41
10
98,051.78
09
72,797.92
08
53,688.60
81,352.47
68,130.08
07
271,875.31
Railroad
A Window
to Mexicos
Contemporary
Art Scene
Mexico has a wealth of internationally-renowned artists.

Some are well established, while others are just starting to
make a name for themselves. We bring you a pick of eight
of the countrys most representative creative talents.
56
50
The Lifestyle Briefs
62
Mexican Ingredients
Influencing International Palates
52
Boutique Hotels,
the Fine Art of Service
and Attention to Detail
66
Meals on Wings
The Lifestyle Briefs
LITERATURE
Books Bring Droves

to Guadalajara
photo
courtesy of guadalajara international book fair
Nobel laureates Ada Yonath, Shimon Peres and

Mario Vargas Llosa were among the authors,
thinkers and politicians in attendance at the
27th Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL).
From November 30 through December 8,
the editorial worlds second-largest event drew
600 authors, 20,000 publishers from 42 countries and over 700,000 visitors.
French poet Yves Bonnefoy was awarded
the FIL Romance-Language Literature Prize in
the presence of writers like Alessandro Baricco,
Camilla Lckberg, Etgar Keret, Gonalo Tavares, Colm Tibn, Jel Dicker, Dani Umpi, Paula
Parisot, Ale teger, Use Lahoz, Rosa Montero,
Javier Cercas, Nicholas Sparks, Ildefonso Falcones, Forrest Gander and Leonardo Padura, to
name just a few.
This years guest country was Israel and
next year the honors will go to Argentina. Over
the 27 years it has been running, the FIL has
attracted some 10 million visitors.
www.fil.com.mx
ARCHITECTURE
photo
Tourists visiting the fortified colonial city of

Veracruz can now take a tour of the recently restored San Carlos Military Hospital,
built in 1764 by the Spanish Crown.
Made of stone removed from the
ocean, the hospital was planned after the
taking of Havana in 1762 by the English
to tend to soldiers protecting military bases along the coast. San Carlos was the first
hospital of its kind in Latin America and
the wounded from three of the four invasions of Veracruz by France and the US
passed through its wards.
After two years of painstaking restoration work carried out by the Mexican Army
under the supervision of the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH),
the hospital has now been turned into a
museum on the history of medicine in the
eighteenth century, while its state-of-the-art
auditorium will be used for cultural events.
archive
A Colonial Gem
Restored
www.sancarlos-museohospital.org
50
51
Negocios ProMxico | The Lifestyle
The Lifestyle | Negocios ProMxico
Boutique Hotels,
Hotel B Cozumel
Cozumel, Quintana Roo
the Fine Art of Service and Attention to Detail
photo
Blessed with great beaches and breathtaking scenery, most of Mexicos major tourist destinations
have a fine selection of boutique hotels to make your stay a bit more memorable.
The crown jewel of the Caribbean,

Cozumel is one of Mexicos larger
islands. Its predominantly limestone composition has propitiated
the formation of cenotes underground freshwater caves that can
be explored with dive guides and
that are one of the regions main
tourist attractions.
If you plan on staying the
night, a great option is Hotel B
Cozumel, the only one on the island certified as a boutique hotel.
B Cozumel has rambling gardens,
gourmet restaurants and organizes art exhibitions, painting, cooking, photography and yoga classes
to ensure guests a fun, memorable
stay. Local arts and crafts are on
sale at the hotel store and rooms
are available for guests traveling
with their furry friends.
courtesy of casa de mita
photo
photo
www.hotelbcozumel.com
Casa de Mita
Punta Mita, Nayarit
by patricia pea
Not having to make the bed or wondering if theres a clean towel in the bathroom. Leaving your room a mess and
knowing itll be spick and span when
you get back. Cooking? Why bother
when you can lift the phone and order
a piping hot bowl of soup, a delicious
steak and a glass of wine.
The upside of traveling is being pampered by your hotel. From the moment
you check in at the front desk to the mo-
52
ment your car is brought around front or

the receptionist orders you a taxi to take
you to the airport, you expect to be waited on hand and foot.
The worlds top hotels have mastered
the fine art of making their guests feel
special without being intrusive. And if its
personalized attention youre after, a boutique hotel is your best option.
This type of hotel offers exclusivity
and attention to detail. Some will make
note of the radio station you were listening to in the morning before leaving
your room and make sure the dial is at
the same station when you get back. Others will go to enormous lengths to offer
their guests meals tailored to their dietary
requirements.
We bring you a selection of Mexicos
best boutique hotels. What better excuse
to take that vacation youve been putting
off for so long?
Overlooking the beautiful beach of Careyeros on the Nayarit Riviera, Casa de

Mita offers its guests a unique experience
in the hands of discreet staff that instantly
make you feel at home.
The hotel has only a handful of guestrooms each decorated in its own style
with original artwork and hand-carved
furniture so peace and tranquility are
guaranteed.
Leave your worries behind as you lay
in the shade of a palm tree in this secluded
Pacific hideaway and lap up every well
deserved minute of rest and relaxation.

And when youre done taking in the ocean
view, why not go horseback riding or play
a round at one of the nearby golf courses?
If you come between November and April,
a boat trip to see the whales is another invaluable option.
Aside from its excellent service, Casa
de Mita is famous for its delicious cuisine.
We promise youll come away wanting
seconds!
www.casademita.com
53
hotel capella
photo courtesy of
www.casasandra.com
hotel casa sandra
Famous for its turquoise blue

waters and white sand beaches, Mexicos Caribbean coast
has some of the most breathtaking natural scenery in the
world. Cancn and Playa del
Carmen are two of its better known destinations but if
youre looking for something
different, we suggest Holbox,
an island just over 150 kilometers from Cancn International Airport, north of the
Gulf of Mexico.
Holbox is a world unto itself, far removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
In this sanctuary for the body
and soul, time seems to come to
a standstill.
Hotel Capella
Ixtapa, Guerrero
Ideally located on the island

is Casa Sandra, which is decorated with original works by its
owner, Sandra Prez, and other
Cuban artists. Art is the calling
card of this hotel, where guests
are assured great service, excellent amenities and good food.
The perfect choice if youre after a quiet but unconventional
vacation.
photo courtesy of
Hotel Casa Sandra

Holbox Island,
Quintana Roo
In the northwest of the state of Guerrero

lies the tourist destination of Ixtapa, which
boasts a unique combination of luxury resorts, quiet beaches and a relaxed ambience
that draws couples and families for a relaxing, no-worries vacation.
Adding to Ixtapas charms is Hotel Capella. Luxury, comfort and impeccable service are the hallmarks of this amazing hotel,
whose spacious suites command striking
Pacific views. The guestrooms and common areas are decorated in exquisite taste
and guests are guaranteed an unforgettable
dining experience at any of the hotels three
restaurants. To complete the experience, Capella has a full-service spa and offers a host
of fun activities. Whether youre on your
honeymoon or a relaxing getaway, you cant
go wrong with Capella.
www.capellahotels.com/ixtapa
LHotel Tres Vidas

Acapulco, Guerrero
Theres a reason Acapulco is Mexicos most
famous tourist destination and thats because
it has it all: fantastic weather and beautiful
54
beaches, not to mention all the best restaurants, clubs and hotels.
Like LHotel Tres Vidas. Located in the
club house of the Tres Vidas residential development and golf club, this sophisticated
boutique hotel has just 10 luxury ocean view
suites, each with a spacious private terrace,
perfect for winding down.

A Pacific hotel to die for in the beautiful
state of Guerrero, LHotel Tres Vidas is ideal
for golf lovers or anyone dreaming of an exclusive vacation in the lap of luxury.
www.tresvidas.com.mx
hotel hacienda san ngel
Puerto Vallarta is one of the

countrys top tourist destinations, one that offers visitors
the best of both worlds: the
incredible beaches and modern resorts of Nuevo Vallarta,
world-class restaurants serving up regional and international fare and clubs where
you can make new friends and
party till the sun comes up.
Flanked by clubs, bars,
restaurants and boutiques on
one side and the Pacific on the
other, a trip to Puerto Vallarta
wouldnt be complete without
a stroll down its promenade,
which recently underwent a
makeover.
In the town of Puerto Vallarta, close to the Church of
Guadalupe, is Hacienda San
ngel, a hotel comprised of
four traditional, newly-renovated houses, a villa and a
photo courtesy of
photo courtesy of lhotel tres vidas
Hotel Hacienda
San ngel
Puerto Vallarta,
Jalisco
charming chapel. Accommodations range from an exclusive Presidential Suite to

luxurious Junior Suites. But
whichever you choose, comfort is assured and all ameni-
ties are laid on so guests have

absolutely nothing to worry
about except enjoying their
vacation.
An exclusive boutique
hotel that promises a totally
unique experience youll want

to repeat the minute youve
checked out!
www.haciendasanangel.com
55
photos archive
A Window
to Mexicos
Contemporary
Art Scene
Mexico has a wealth of internationally-renowned
artists. Some are well established, while others are just
starting to make a name for themselves. We bring you
a pick of eight of the countrys most representative
creative talents.
by patricia pea
photo
drew leavy
Judging from the many and varied media Mexicos contemporary artists draw on, the fine arts have not escaped the onslaught
of globalization.
An explosion of visual, literary and plastic talent all rolled
into one, these multifaceted artists force us to question the world
around us, while remaining true to their roots. But rather than a
conscious attempt to defy classification, their aesthetic has been
shaped more by personal experience and the irresistible urge to
see the figments of their imagination materialized.
Some of the artists featured in this issue were born in the
mid-20th century and others are barely approaching 40 but all
of them are making the world sit up and take notice with works
that express their rationale and colors that reflect what is in
their heart of hearts.
Jos Luis Cuevas

Perceptive and provocative,
Jos Luis Cuevas has been
making history on Mexicos
art scene for the last half
century. He was born in 1931
in a Mexico City whose stark
contrasts formed his uniquely
monstrous perception of
beauty.
Sodium vapor tinged
memories of the bars and
prostitutes in the working
class neighborhood where he
grew up were etched in the
56
mind of young Jos Luis as

he walked down the street
holding his nana Lupes
hand. These same images
would later reappear in his
paintings, drawings, engravings, illustrations and sculptures.
The artists favorite subjects are voluptuous women,
who tend to bare more of
their souls than they do their
bodies. Early on in his career,
it was these solid masses
that grabbed the attention
of international critics like
Jos Gmez Sicre, the gal-
lery owner Phillippe Bruno,

the collector lvar Carrillo
Gil, the engraver Lola Cueto
and sculptors Henry Moore
and Giacomo Mansur, with
whom Cuevas began touring
and showing in the US, Latin
America and Europe.
Cuevas is often classed in
the neo-figurative genre due
to his work with lines and is
associated with the Breakaway Generation formed as
a reaction against the established Mexican School of
Painting, otherwise known
as the Mexican Muralist
Francisco Toledo
Movement. He has shown

at venues like the Edouard
Loeb Gallery in Paris, where
Picasso purchased two of
his works, and was named a
Knight of the Order of Arts
and Letters by the French
government in 1991.
Prostitutes, beggars and
lunatics remain his models
of choice, yet despite this
unsavory leitmotif the critics always applaud his work,
perhaps because of his uncanny ability to elevate the
grotesque to a state of aesthetic ecstasy.
Drum beating horses mounted

by dogs, frog children and lizard
men who slither up and down
vertical ladders. Toledo draws
no line between the human and
animal worlds. His phantasmagorical hybrids reveal a deep appreciation for the aesthetics of
nature. In particular, he shows
a fondness for scary creatures
like bats, iguanas, toads and
insects representations of his
Zapotec roots, which he imbues
with the colors of the earth and
the flavors of his native Oaxaca.
Irreverent, mystical, provocative, millenary, sensual
and playful, Toledo has always
been a lone ranger, associated
more with the Breakaway Generation of the Fifties than the
Mexican muralists. He started
out as a potter and went on
to experiment with drawing,
painting, engraving and sculpture after studying at the Fine
Arts Institute (INBA) in Mexico City but it wasnt until 1959

that he began showing at international galleries.
The originality of his work
has appealed to intellectuals
like Henry Miller, who stated
that his audaciousness stems
from certainty in his write-up
for the catalog to Toledos exhibitions in London and New
York in the 1960s.
A champion of social, cultural and environmentalist causes,
this natural-born philanthropist
has devoted a large part of his
energies to the promotion and
preservation of Mexicos artistic
heritage and is a staunch advocate of free access to education
in the arts. It was with this mis-
sion in mind that he founded the

San Agustn Arts Center (CaSa)
and the first Eco Art Center in
Latin America.
In 2005, his tireless efforts
in defense of the cultural heritage, environment and society
of Oaxaca earned him the Right
Livelihood Award, sometimes
referred to as the Alternative
Nobel Prize. Other accolades
he has garnered include the
National Prize for Sciences and
the Arts (1998) and the Prince
Claus Award (2000), while his
work has been exhibited in museums throughout Mexico and
at prestigious venues abroad,
such as the New York Public
Library and the Tate Gallery in
London.
57
Alejandro Colunga
This self-professed Rolling
Stone of painting views himself more as a rocker, bum
and madman than a contemporary artist.
Colungas world is a fantasy one that verges on the
nightmarish and that has been
20 years in the making. The
Magicians Hall and The Universal Magicians are two series
of sculptures by this self-taught
artist that are on public display
in downtown Guadalajara.
A native of Guadalajara,
where he was born in 1948, his
paintings and sculptures have
been shown at collective and
solo exhibitions in major galleries in the US and Europe, like
the Museum of Modern Art in
Washington, D.C. and the Rudy
Mller Gallery in Zurich, Switzerland.
Colunga currently alternates painting with an ambitious sculpture project involving water tanks, steel, glass and
live fish.
Javier Arvalo
Pre-Columbian culture is colorful to begin with; add to
that the magic of Javier Arvalos brush and you get an enchanted world populated by
modern art icons that retain
vestiges of ancient cultures.
Born in a working class
district of Guadalajara in the
western state of Jalisco, from
an early age Arvalo was eager to get out and explore the
world. I knew I wasnt going to be a studio artist and
quickly realized all my potential was in my hands, he says.
That love of traveling shines
through in his paintings, which
58
photos archive
Manuel Felgurez

Born in a Mexico in the full

throes of revolution, political unrest forced Felgurez to
leave his fathers ranch and
head for the big city. Little did
he know that this move would
put him on the path to becoming one of Mexicos most
prominent abstract artists of
the late 20th century. Much
less could he have imagined he
would be mounting one of his
most iconic sculptures, Gate
1808, here almost half a century later in 2007.
As a young man, Felgurez
met the writer Jorge Ibargengoitia, who introduced him to
Mexico Citys thriving cultural scene. Having attended
some of the countrys most
prestigious art schools, in
the 1950s he decided it was
time to broaden his horizons

and enrolled at the Grande
Chaumire Academy in Paris,
where he was mentored by
the French-Russian sculptor
Ossip Zadkine. It was from
Zadkine that he inherited his
Cubist tendencies.
A member of the Breakaway Generation of abstract
artists openly opposed to the
so called Mexican School of
Painting dominated by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro
Siqueiros and Jos Clemente
Orozco, in the Seventies, Felgurez began taking a more
serious interest in the artistic applications of technology. Two interrelated projects
in this vein, Multiple Space
(1973) and The Aesthetic Machine (1975), finally earned
him international recognition.
In addition to receiving a scholarship from the
French government (1954),

he won second prize in the
Painting category at the First
Triennale-India in New Delhi
(1968) and the Grand Prize of
Honor at the 13th Sao Paulo
Biennial (1975) for his Multiple Space series, a scholar-
ship from the Guggenheim

Foundation (1975), the National Prize for Sciences and
the Arts in the Fine Arts category (1988), and was decreed
a Creator Emeritus (1993) by
Mexicos National System of
Artistic Creators.
are signed and dated in places

as close to home as Acapulco
and as far flung as Turkey.
What began as an adventure illustrating medical texts
for the University of Guadalajara led him to experiment with
lithography and later turn his
hand to painting, which finally
opened international doors for
him with a show in California
in 1963. Since then, he has
shown in several countries in
Latin America and Europe.
Labeled a surrealist or hyperrealist by the critics, Arvalo prefers to be known as a
creator of magical worlds who
wakes up every morning trying to forget what he painted
the day before.
59
photos archive
Yuri Zatarain
The God of Love turned his gaze
to Earth and fell in love with a
woman. As the days passed, he
was unable to bear his mortal
feelings for her and decided to
lock her in a cage. But when
he realized she didnt love him
back, he opened the cage door
to free his feelings for her. That
is the story behind the first of
50 paintings that comprise Zatarains All for Love series.
Born on January 17, 1972,
in Mazatln, Sinaloa, the
characters in the paintings of
this young artist immediately
engage the spectator, projecting emotions that seem to
jump out from the canvas.
The brush strokes and colors
demand to be taken seriously, while the stories they tell
move some to tears and others
laughter, perhaps because they

are based on personal experience and real-life anecdotes of
friends and acquaintances.
The God abducted the
woman with the intention of
making love to her but didnt
have the courage and instead
took her to a lake in whose
waters the truth was reflected.
When they sailed over the lake,
his desire was unmasked
and so the saga continues.
After years of trying to get
noticed, one day Zatarain says
he woke up with the idea of
making love the central theme
of his paintings and sculptures. International fame came
virtually overnight.
Winner of the coveted Las
Vegas Desert Star Award, All
for Love the artists most
important collection to date
opens at the Rimonim Art Gallery in Miami in April 2014.
Sergio Garval
Gabriel Orozco
When he was six, Gabriel Orozco moved from his native Veracruz in Southeast Mexico to
Mexico City, where he would
watch his father, Mario Orozco,
turn listless walls into striking
murals under the watchful eye
of David Alfaro Siqueiros.
The year was 1970 and an
idealistic ambience reigned in
the capital. It was the kind of environment in which a boy could
talk about art with the most
prominent maestros of the day,
the kind of environment that
propitiated the birth of an artist with a unique style, one who
was destined to break with traditional paradigms.
Orozco was educated at
the Fine Arts Circle of Madrid
but on his return to Mexico in
1980 it was the get-togethers
60
at his home with other artists

and intellectuals that inspired
the artistic and cultural projects that were to give rise to a
new school.
Considered one of the 10
most influential artists in the
world, Orozcos work is not
limited to canvas but dabbles
in sculpture and installations
that form part of international
museum collections.
Eclecticism is a distinguishing trait of this highly original
artist, who juxtaposes everyday objects and materials with
no seemingly obvious connection and invites the spectator
to make creative associations
between them.
According to the critics, the
unifying elements of Orozcos
work are recurring themes and
techniques that manifest themselves in constantly changing
forms and configurations.
Born in 1968 in Guadalajara, Garval has

earned a name for himself in Mexicos contemporary art circles and his works have
been shown in the US, Spain, Italy and other
European countries.
The artists choice of subject matter is
undeniably raw, a prime example of this being his Ants series, in which we see humans
indulging in animalistic behaviors from a
birds eye perspective and where gradual
transitions unexpectedly lapse into impulsive, expressionistic brush strokes, creating
an aesthetic impact not easily forgotten.
Deemed a breath of fresh air by the critics, Garval expresses collective attitudes in
the form of men and women wandering,
rowing or scavenging through heaps of toys,
chairs and other detritus worn out by use
but at the same time impregnated with significances new objects lack.
To contain and transport this emotional trash, as the artist calls it, we need
suitcases, which symbolize mans existential
journey and are another recurring image in
Garvals work.
61
photos archive
Mexican INGREDIENTS
Influencing International Palates
Tempting Tender
A symbol of power and economic wealth in ancient Mesoamerica, the Maya used
cacao as currency and were
the first to roast and grind
the beans. They then mixed
the resulting cocoa powder
with hot water and added
vanilla and aromatic flowers
to produce chocolate, a name
derived from the Nhuatl
xocoltl, which translates as
fermented beverage.
Word of this Mayan delight reached the ears of the
Aztec in Central Mexico and
Emperor Moctezuma ordered
that his tributes be paid in
cacao. Every year he received
Thousands of years ago, the land that is today Mexico produced foodstuffs that were
to cross the ocean centuries later and end up on dinner tables the world over.
by antonio vzquez
Imagine a pizza without tomato sauce or a chilidog without chili.

And where, oh where, would we be without chocolate? Along with
avocado, corn, beans, agave and chia seeds, these are a mere sampling of the ingredients that form the backbone of Mexican cooking and that have added oomph to international cuisines.
For over four centuries, Mexico has been sharing its produce with the rest of the world. The following are eight foods
that have traveled exceptionally well and that Negocios has
chosen as examples of how Mexico has influenced palates all
over the globe.
Prickling the Senses

Poblano, jalapeo, chipotle,
pasilla, chilaca, habanero, de
rbol, cascabel, piqun, tabasco, serrano, ancho, verde, guajillo There are over 140 varieties of chili pepper in Mexico,
all of which will make your
eyes water, your lips burn, your
nose drip and your forehead
glisten with beads of sweat to
a greater or lesser extent depending on the amount of capsaicin they contain.
This hot, spicy fruit is a
member of the Solanacea fam-
Green Butter
62
Under that dark, wrinkled skin is a yellowy

greenish pulp with a unique flavor and soft,
buttery texture. The avocado is a fruit native
to Mexico but one that has been consumed
worldwide for some 500 years.
A member of the flowering plant family
Lauraceae, its name comes from the Nhuatl
ahucatl, which means testicle. The Spaniards referred to it as the pear of the Indies
but its scientific name is Persea americana.
Avocados contain large amounts of oleic acid, a good fat that helps reduce cho-
Mexicos Gift to the World

Would a hamburger taste the same without that mandatory
slice of tomato and squirt of tomato ketchup? There can be no
question that tomato has been one of Mexicos most valuable
contributions to international gastronomy.
The Spanish may have conquered Mexico but the Aztec
conquered Europe with the tomato or xitomatl, which literally
means fruit with navel. The Italian for tomato is pomodoro
or golden apple. This is because the first tomatoes grown
here were yellow and if it werent for Mexico, this country
would be short of its classic pomodoro sauce.
In Mexico, tomatoes are eaten in salsas, soups and salads.
An authentic Mexican preparation is a salsa known as pico de
gallo, which is basically a mixture of diced tomato, onion and
cilantro, with some chili thrown in for good measure.
lesterol levels in humans. There are 500

varieties of this fruit in Mexico, some of
which can be eaten skin and all.
As a spread on bread, crackers or tortillas or a welcome addition to any salad,
all it takes is a little imagination to turn
an avocado into a culinary event. Guacamole is perhaps the most well-known avocado-based Mexican dish. Simply mash
it in a bowl with some diced tomato and
onion and add chili, salt and a splash of
lime juice to taste.
ily and is a basic ingredient

in Mexican cuisine, forming
part of the staple diet of our
ancestors, along with corn and
beans. The name is derived
from the Nhuatl chilli, meaning hot, although the Spaniards called them peppers
because this was the closest
food they could liken them
to. In the fifteenth century,
the conquistadors introduced
them to Europe and Asia,
where new varieties of one of
the worlds most widely consumed condiments were subsequently produced to prod and
prickle the senses.
millions of cocoa beans, securing 50 cups of chocolate a

day for himself and his family.
Even the Spanish conquistadors were won over by its
attributes. A single cup of
chocolate is enough to keep
any soldier awake all day,
Hernn Corts wrote King
Carlos V.
A potent antioxidant, this
reddish colored oval fruit
has a rough skin and grows
mainly in Southeast Mexico.
Chocolate also stimulates the
central nervous system and
accelerates the heart rate but
its most notable quality has to
be its irresistible taste.
63
a Mighty Seed
photos archive
The Humble Bean
The humble bean, known simply as the frijol in Mexico, was a basic foodstuff in PreColombian Mesoamerican cultures like
the Aztec, who demanded it as a tribute of
the peoples they conquered. There are some
500 types of beans currently produced in
Mexico but the most popular are bayos and
negros common and black beans, respectively.
Refried with chorizo or served with rice,
beans are a comfort food that finds its way
into countless Mexican dishes and broths.
The good news is theyre low in fat, have no
cholesterol and are recommended for diabetics because their complex carbohydrates
are absorbed more slowly than those found
in sugar, honey and other sweeteners.
A Succulent Elixir
They say good things come in small packages and in the case of chia, the adage most
definitely holds true: this minuscule seed is
literally bursting with nutrients.
The Aztec would grind chia seeds to
make atole and obtain a type of oil called
chimatl, both of which were offered up as
gifts to Chicometatl, the Corn Goddess.
Chia is still used today as a food supplement and is often added to lemonade
for a nutritious, thirst quenching drink
when its hot out. In Michoacn, the
seeds are used to make chapatas, small
tamales that are presented as offerings
to the dead. And in the state of Guerrero, artisans use oils extracted from chia
seeds to paint with.
Chia production has increased in
Mexico in recent years, ever since scientists discovered how rich it is in fiber, antioxidants, calcium, proteins and Omega
3 fatty acids.
64
Few plants are as mystical as the agave.

Named after the Greek goddess Agave,
who was a maenad or female follower of
Dionysus, the God of Wine and Merrymaking, the agave plant is an unmistakable symbol of Mexico.
Its broad, fleshy stalks, or pencas, are
used to produce mezcal, tequila and pulque,
alcoholic beverages that are appreciated all
over the world, so much so that in 2012,
Mexico exported 165.7 million liters of tequila, 65% of that years total production.
The agave plant grows in several semiarid regions of Mexico but Jalisco is the
state with the highest tequila output. Plantations of blue, tequila-producing agave
are concentrated in the Valles region and
stretch for 35,000 hectares, taking in the
municipalities of Tequila, Magdalena, El
Arenal, Amatitn and Teuchitln. In 2006,
this agave landscape in Jalisco was declared a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)
World Heritage Site.
But this noble plant has more than one
trick up its spiny stem. It is also a source of
fibers like henequen and istle, used to make
hammocks, ropes, paper and even drums.
65
Meals on Wings
Beetlemania
There are some 549 species of edible insects in Mexico, many of which have crawled, hopped or flown out of the
countrys marketplaces and into gourmet restaurants.
by antonio vzquez
These little six-legged creatures have inspired writers and filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro but for centuries theyve also
been inspiring the chefs of Mesoamerica. In these times of calorie-counting and body image consciousness, insects are in.
If you havent tried them, you dont know what youre
missing. Not only are they tasty but also theyre clean and nutritious to boot. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), insects are the key to combatting
world hunger and Mexico is particularly rich in these foods
of the future.
Some 549 species to be exact, that can be found everywhere
from local markets to the countrys finest restaurants. Research
conducted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico
(UNAM) indicates that the central, southern and southeastern
states of the country have the greatest quantities of edible bugs,
namely Estado de Mxico, Hidalgo, Chiapas and Oaxaca.
Butterflies, flies, aphids, ants, bees, grasshoppers, fireflies,
worms, chinicuiles (the larvae of the Hypopta agavis moth),
stink bugs (Euschistus taxcoensis) and escamoles (the larvae of
the Liometopum apiculatum ant)... And the list goes on.
Mexicans, it seems, discovered the boons of insect eating
centuries ago. The earliest mention of entomophagy the scientific term for the human consumption of insects is to be found
photos archive
in Fray Bernardino de Sahagns Florentine Codex. According

to this 16th century document, insects were a staple foodstuff
in several Pre-Hispanic civilizations and were offered up as
gifts to the gods.
And its not hard to understand why. To begin with, insects
are found in abundance all over Mexico, which, incidentally,
consumes a third of all edible insects in the world. Another
advantage is that no sophisticated tools are required to collect
them. A pair of nimble hands will suffice!
Not only are they practical but also, according to UNAM
research, insects are a great source of nutrients, packed with
vitamins A, B, C and D, large amounts of phosphorous and magnesium and amino acids. And because they generally feed off
wild plants, theyre organic into the bargain.
Several studies have found that insects contain as much
protein and in some cases more as beef: as much as 75%
compared to 57% in a 100-gram sample, depending on your
grub of choice.
As for fat content, youve nothing to worry about when you
bite into a roasted grasshopper, guzzle down a maguey worm or
chew on a beetle larva. Insects contain no saturated fats, only
polyunsaturated ones that are beneficial to the human body.
They also have low cholesterol levels, which puts insect eaters at a lower risk of obesity, high blood pressure and heart
conditions.
Of the 500-plus species of edible insects in Mexico, the best

known is the beetle.
Some 88 types of edible
beetle grubs have been identified in Mexico, most of which
are to be found in Estado de
Mxico, Hidalgo, Tabasco,
Guerrero, Veracruz, Oaxaca,
Puebla, Chiapas, Nayarit and
Mexico City.
Chauis, for example, are
tasty beetle grubs that feed off
the mesquite tree, but have a
bitter aftertaste if not roasted
beforehand.
Escamoles,
Mexican Caviar
Known as Mexican caviar,
escamoles are the larvae of ants
endemic to the states of Guanajuato, Puebla, Hidalgo and
Tlaxcala.
They are generally eaten
as an accompaniment to other
Mexican dishes, like barbacoa
(meat baked in an earth oven)
or mixiote (meat wrapped
in banana leaves and oven
baked). Simply saut them in
a hot pan with a dab of butter
and a sprig of wormseed for a
delicious dish that has a protein content of between 40%
and 60% higher than that of
beef or chicken.
Considered a delicacy, escamoles can cost as much as
100 usd a kilo in markets in
Mexico City. Why are they
so expensive? The answer is
simple. The larvae can only be
collected in March and April
during the breeding period but
because the ants build their
nests underground usually at
the base of the maguey plant
they are difficult to get to, plus
the ants of this species are extremely aggressive.
A Hop, Skip and a Jump

from the Field to the Plate
For decades the Mexican comedian Roberto Gmez Bolaos entertained viewers with El Chapuln Colorado, a 1970s
television program that parodied superheroes.
And in case youre wondering what
a chapuln colorado is, its a red grasshopper native to the state of Oaxaca in
Southwest Mexico. This wild insect has
an acidic taste and is usually roasted to
give it a distinct crunchy texture.
The grasshopper is the most widely
consumed insect in Oaxaca baskets of
them fill the local markets and is commonly served as an accompaniment to
guacamole in the gourmet restaurants
of the state capital, although chefs the
world over have come to appreciate its
unique flavor.
66
67
Negocios ProMxico
photos archive
Para Exportadores
Jumiles,
the Mountain Bug
The Maguey Worm,

Gourmet Grubs
The maguey worm the same
one found in bottles of mezcal is a butterfly larva that
grows on the stalks and roots
of the maguey plant. There are
two species of this insect: white
and red. The latter is known as
a chinicuil.
The larvae are collected after the rainy season but each
maguey plant yields only four
worms on average and their
scarcity is what makes them
so sought after. Together with
escamoles, this grub is considered a gourmet food and enjoys
international prestige: an entre
of maguey worms can cost as
much as eight euros in a good
Mexican restaurant.
68
foto
archive
The jumil, commonly known

as the mountain bug, is a type
of stink bug that is a common
ingredient in Mexican cooking.
The holm oaks it feeds off are
what give it its cinnamon-like
flavor.
Jumiles can be eaten
cooked or alive, which is how
the inhabitants of the state of
Encino, Guerrero like theirs.
This insect has no proteins
or calcium but contains large
amounts of iodine.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico,
jumiles were eaten as part of
Day of the Dead festivities. The
Aztec would make a pilgrimage
to Taxco in the state of Guerrero and climb the Huixteco
Mountain, where they would
collect hundreds of them.
La poblacin musulmana radicada en

distintos pases del orbe representa un
mercado con enorme potencial para los
productos mexicanos. Ante esta oportunidad,
la certificacin halal es un paso estratgico
para las empresas mexicanas que buscan
diversificar sus mercados y fortalecer sus
exportaciones.
La certificacin halal
mexicanos a mercados
con gran potencial
78
mxico en el mundo:
el comercio
internacional
de mxico en cifras
74
Oportunidades de
exportacin de
crnicos a Rusia:
iNVERSiN JAPONESA
EN LA Industria de
autopartes:
76
80
impacto en el sector
ganadero mexicano
EN CRECIMIENTO
Negocios ProMxico | Para Exportadores
BREVES
salta el papel que ha tenido en este tema la

creciente Inversin Extranjera Directa (IED)
proveniente de Japn. Este pas asitico se
ha consolidado como un promotor sustantivo de la industria automotriz y de autopartes
mexicana. Cabe destacar que, segn datos de
la Industria Nacional de Autopartes (INA),
Mxico es el quinto ensamblador de autopartes en el mundo, posicionamiento que se
ha concretado en parte por la creciente instalacin de empresas de este tipo en el pas.
Por ltimo, se incluye una infografa con
los indicadores comerciales ms representativos de Mxico, la cual revela cmo es
la relacin del pas con sus principales socios comerciales, al tiempo que destaca la
composicin puntual de sus exportaciones
(manufacturas, petroleras, agropecuarias y
extractivas). Adems muestra la integracin
nacional de las mismas por sector (automotriz, elctrico, electrnico, qumico, equipo
mdico y farmacutico).
CULTURA
XII Congreso Mundial

de las Ciudades del
Patrimonio Mundial 2013
Oaxaca de Jurez fue sede del Congreso Mundial de Ciudades Patrimonio en
2013, evento que reuni a alcaldes de los
cinco continentes para discutir la problemtica de estas metrpolis y plantear
estrategias integrales a fin de salvaguardar
el patrimonio y fomentar el desarrollo
humano. Ms de 1 mil 400 personas participaron, entre alcaldes y asistentes provenientes de 117 ciudades en 52 pases.
En total se registraron 739 congresistas y
se acreditaron 289 periodistas.
En este contexto, ms de 3 mil
personas asistieron a las actividades
Bienvenidos a Negocios ProMxico!
70
foto
Mxico, adems de ser un

lder exportador de manufacturas, es un proveedor
esencial tanto de alimentos
frescos como procesados.
Una ptima diversificacin de mercados
tambin debe contemplar los requerimientos de consumidores potenciales que adems demandan productos con certificaciones orgnicas, kosher y, en este caso, del
potencial mercado musulmn consumidor
de productos halal. En la presente edicin
de Negocios ProMxico, se describe la gran
oportunidad que ofrece este mercado para
los productos mexicanos, y se hace especial
nfasis en la relevancia de impulsar la certificacin de ms empresas en afn de que
conquisten a los consumidores musulmanes
esparcidos en el orbe.
Este nmero tambin contiene una nota
sobre la relevancia de la cadena de proveedura del sector automotriz en Mxico, y re-
omar brcena
de
promxico.
Diciembre 2013 / Enero 2014
paralelas como la 4 Feria Mexicana de

las Ciudades del Patrimonio Mundial;
la Bienal de Arquitectura, Urbanismo
y Diseo: gora de Bordeaux; a las exposiciones Oaxaca Ciudad Patrimonio,
Mxico en el Patrimonio Mundial, El
Arte de la Cartografa: Memoria y Patrimonio, as como al Recorrido Multicultural Ciclista, entre otros eventos.
El ciclo de conferencias del Congreso
inici con un dilogo en torno al crecimiento acelerado de las ciudades consideradas
patrimonio mundial, sobre el deterioro de
sus centros histricos y la importancia de
la elaboracin de polticas sustentables. En
respuesta a dicha problemtica, se concluy
que es imperativo instrumentar polticas
pblicas que garanticen la sustentabilidad
del bien comn de estas urbes.
Asimismo, en el marco del Congreso

se firmaron dos importantes documentos
que consolidan el compromiso de las autoridades por la conservacin, difusin
e investigacin del patrimonio cultural,
as como de las manifestaciones culturales contenidas en este entorno: 1) Declaracin de Intenciones (preservacin y
proteccin del patrimonio cultural) y 2)
Convenio de Colaboracin para el Desarrollo Cultural del Estado de Oaxaca.
Por ltimo, se determin que la Ciudad Sede del XIII Congreso Mundial de
las Ciudades del Patrimonio Mundial
ser Arequipa, Per durante 2015.
ocpmoaxaca2013.org
www.ovpm.org
BREVES
BREVES
COSMTICA
foto
foto
archivo
LOGSTICA
Mxico, clave para

el crecimiento de DHL
ALIMENTOS
Puratos: en crecimiento
pera exportar 30 por ciento a
Estados Unidos y Canad.
El complejo industrial
operar con tecnologa UHT
(Ultra High Temperature) o de
ultrapasteurizacin, que ofrece
mayor vida a los productos y
evita su refrigeracin.
Puratos comenz operaciones en Mxico en la dcada de
1980. Hoy en da cuenta con
cinco lneas de produccin en
el pas.
Nueva plataforma logstica
www.puratos.com
ELECTRNICA
TECNOLOGA
archivo
BOSCH mantiene
su apuesta por
Mxico
foto
www.plexus.com
foto
Plexus se expande
La compaa de electrnica Plexus Corp. invertir aproximadamente 40 millones de dlares para
iniciar operaciones en Guadalajara, Jalisco. La
empresa instalar un centro de manufactura en el
Parque Tecnolgico de Guadalajara, donde estima que iniciar operaciones a finales de 2014.
Plexus Corp. participa en la industria electrnica mundial como proveedor de servicios de
manufactura para bajo y medio volumen en reas
de redes, comunicaciones, salud, ciencias de la vida,
industria y comercio, seguridad y aeroespacial,
segmentos a los que enfoca el diseo y desarrollo
de sistemas electrnicos.
www.dhl.com
LOGSTICA
cortesa de bosch
foto
cortesa de puratos
Grupo Puratos, empresa belga

proveedora de insumos para
la industria panificadora,
inaugur una nueva lnea de
produccin en su planta de
Tizayuca, Hidalgo, para producir crema de origen vegetal,
jarabe de tres leches y sustituto de huevo.
La nueva planta, en la que
se invirtieron 80 millones de
pesos, tiene capacidad para
producir 20 mil toneladas
anuales de dichos productos,
de las cuales la compaa es-
Mxico es un mercado clave de crecimiento

para Deutsche Post DHL y sus tres unidades de negocio: DHL Express, DHL Global
Forwarding y DHL Supply Chain, que planean invertir en conjunto alrededor de 235
millones de euros para expandir sus redes y
operaciones, en los prximos cuatro aos.
DHL Express planea invertir 127

millones de euros en Mxico entre 2012
y 2017. Como parte de dicho plan, el
ao pasado la divisin de logstica,
mensajera y paquetera, abri un nuevo
hub en Cuautitln, que brinda servicios
terrestres nacionales, el cual represent
una inversin de 27.7 millones de euros.
Actualmente est en expansin su nuevo
hub areo nacional que ser terminado
en octubre de 2014 en Quertaro, al
cual se destina un presupuesto total de
El grupo alemn Robert Bosch

planea invertir 460 millones de
dlares en Mxico durante los
prximos cuatro aos.
Parte de esa inversin se
destinar a la construcciwn
de un nuevo Centro de
Investigacin y Desarrollo en
Guadalajara, Jalisco, donde
la compaa espera generar
unos 200 empleos de alto
nivel.
Las nuevas instalaciones
de la empresa en Guadalajara
sern el centro de servicio
ms grande de Bosch en toda
Amrica, comparado con los
que la firma tiene en pases
como India y Vietnam.
www.bosch.com
El Estado de Mxico contar con una nueva plataforma logstica

sobre una superficie de 300 hectreas, en la que se invertirn 2 mil
400 millones de pesos.
La nueva plataforma denominada Arco 57 porque est ubicada en el vrtice que hacen la carretera 57 (Mxico-Quertaro)
y el Arco Norte, proveer de servicios a la industria de exportacin y contar con infraestructura de comunicaciones para
enlazarse con los puertos del Golfo de Mxico, el Pacfico y la
frontera con Estados Unidos.
Adems, el proyecto desarrollado por el Gobierno del Estado
de Mxico y la Asociacin Mexicana de la Industria Automotriz
(AMIA) contar con aduana.
www.edomex.gob.mx
archivo
www.belcorp.biz
foto
La compaa peruana Belcorp anunci una inversin de 110 millones de dlares para construir su primera planta en Mxico, en la
que espera producir alrededor de 60 millones de unidades de cosmticos en una segunda fase la produccin podra ubicarse en 140
millones de unidades para satisfacer la demanda local, de Centroamrica y de Estados Unidos.
La planta, que se ubicar en el Parque Industrial Aerotec en
Quertaro, tendr una superficie de ms de 140 mil metros cuadrados y permitir la creacin de casi mil empleos directos, de los cuales, de acuerdo con la compaa, alrededor de 70 por ciento sern
ocupados por mujeres
cortesa de dhl
Belcorp llega a Mxico
11.2 millones de euros. La flotilla de

unidades terrestres ha sido mejorada por
vehculos de combustin eficiente incluyendo camionetas Sprinter, que requiri
recursos por 17 millones de euros en los
ltimos dos aos.
DHL Supply Chain, que ya opera
875 mil metros cuadrados de instalaciones de almacenamiento en Mxico, planea ampliar su capacidad para atender
a sectores clave de rpido crecimiento,
como las industrias automotriz y del
cuidado de la salud.
DHL Global Forwarding espera activar un Centro de Competencias de Ciencias de la Vida en Mxico el prximo ao,
para ofrecer su nueva solucin Thermonet, un servicio de embarques de flete
areo compatible con las regulaciones
para productos sensibles a la temperatura como vacunas y medicamentos para
clientes relacionados con las ciencias de la
vida y el cuidado de la salud. DHL Global
Forwarding tambin planea expandir sus
servicios de transporte con la incorporacin de nuevos trileres.
Para Exportadores | Negocios ProMxico
infografa oldemar
Exportaciones
MXICO
EN EL
MUNDO
Millones de dlares
Rubro
Manufactureras
29,549
Octubre 13
El comercio internacional
de Mxico en cifras
CANAD
$7,718 | 2.7%
Petroleras
4,345
Agropecuarias
837
Extractivas
357
Variacin 12
5.0%
-6.4%
10.3%
-10.9%
Enero-octubre 13
261,872
41,552
9,170
3,806
Variacin 12
4.3%
-7.1%
1.0%
-7.1%
ESPAA
$5,675 | 2.0%
ALEMANIA
$3,120 | 1.1%
INDIA
$2,904 | 1.0%
CHINA
$4,799 | 1.7%
JAPN
$1,646 | 0.6%
316,399
millones de dlares
entre enero y octubre
de 2013 (un incremento
de 1.4% con respecto al
mismo periodo en 2012)
Principales
socios
comerciales
de Mxico
$
Exportaciones
acumuladas de
enero a septiembre de 2013
#2
#7
ESTADOS UNIDOS
220,010
#3
#9
#4
78.2%
#8
VENEZUELA
$1,641 | 0.6%
#10
Millones de dlares
COLOMBIA
$3,591 | 1.3%
%
Participacin de
las exportaciones
mexicanas totales
BRASIL
$4,161 | 1.5%
#6
#5
Enero a septiembre de 2013
CHILE
$1,617 | 0.6%
#11
Enero- agosto 2013
Variacin
Millones de dlares
Mismo periodo en 2012
Automotriz
Electrnico
Elctrico
Qumico
Equipo mdico
Farmacutico
58,229
36,057
18,268
8,298
4,333
1,643
-1.5%
6.1%
0.5%
7.6%
-0.3%
8.7%
Fuente: Banco de Mxico

74
Por sector
75
fotos archivo
Los cierres de fronteras rusas a la

importacin de crnicos benefician a sus
productores locales, y esto les permite
aumentar su capacidad productiva.
En abril de 2012 Rusia lanz un programa enfocado a dirigir inversiones en
sectores pblicos y privados de la industria de procesamiento de alimentos por
24 mil 900 millones de dlares (presupuesto a ejecutar entre 2013 y 2020).
Este plan tiene como objetivo modernizar la capacidad productiva y lograr la
sustitucin de importaciones alimenticias (los productos crnicos son un componente estratgico).
Los inventarios de ganado bovino en

Rusia han aumentado debido al apoyo que
otorga el gobierno por medio de subsidios
a programas de produccin de ganado. Durante 2012, las autoridades rusas proyectaron un crecimiento de 24 por ciento en el
ganado bovino respecto al ao anterior. En
este contexto, Rusia busca la autosuficiencia en produccin de crnicos para 2020.
El consumo de carne y aves per cpita en Rusia ascenda a 67 kilogramos
(kg) en 2009 y para 2012 fue de 69 kg.
Se estima que el mercado de importacin
de carne de res en 2013 crezca 20 por
ciento. Sin embargo, algunas agencias de
Algunas agencias de gobierno de los Estados Unidos

pronostican que 50 por ciento de la carne consumida en
centros urbanos y 70 por ciento de los crnicos procesados en
las plantas rusas tambin son de origen extranjero.
Oportunidades de exportacin
de crnicos a Rusia:
impacto en el sector ganadero mexicano
Rusia es uno de los mayores consumidores e importadores de productos crnicos
en el mundo. El mercado ruso representa grandes oportunidades para los productores
mexicanos, pero tambin plantea diversos retos.
por rafael lpez incln*
En 2012 Rusia fue el mayor importador

de carne de bovino congelada y represent casi 18 por ciento de las importaciones mundiales (2 mil 583 millones de
dlares). Asimismo, fue el tercer mayor
importador de carne porcina fresca o
congelada, con 8 por ciento del mercado
mundial (2 mil 407 millones de dlares),
segn datos de la Organizacin Mundial
del Comercio (OMC). En ese mismo ao,
la economa rusa creci 3.4 por ciento
y se estima que mantendr ese ritmo en
2013 y 2014.
76
Rusia es un pas dependiente de ciertos productos del exterior. El consumidor

ruso tiene un mayor ingreso promedio;
existe un crecimiento de la clase media,
mismo que incentiva un mayor consumo
de alimentos importados diversos estudios de mercado estiman que en 2020
Rusia superar a Alemania como el mayor mercado de consumo de la regin
europea.
En 2012, con la adhesin de Rusia
a la OMC, se esperaba una reduccin
considerable de aranceles a los produc-
tos agropecuarios de importacin. Sin

embargo, dicha incorporacin ha coincidido con la implementacin de barreras
tcnicas a la importacin de carne de res
y puerco. Desde 2012 el gobierno ruso ha
instrumentado polticas para limitar el
acceso de crnicos de baja calidad. Rusia
ha pedido a sus proveedores de crnicos
que realicen la certificacin correspondiente a efecto de que el producto est
libre de sustancias como la Ractopamina
(utilizada para estimular el crecimiento
del msculo en animales).
gobierno de los Estados Unidos pronostican que 50 por ciento de la carne consumida en centros urbanos y 70 por ciento
de los crnicos procesados en las plantas
rusas tambin son de origen extranjero.
En este marco, el mercado ruso de
crnicos presenta diversos retos para
Mxico. Hay una fuerte competencia por
parte de pases latinoamericanos como
Brasil en 2012 export mil 42 millones
de dlares de carne de res congelada a
este pas, siendo el lder del mercado con
41.6 por ciento de las ventas.
Asimismo, existen diversos controles
productivos con complejas adecuaciones que pueden ser vistas como barreras
tcnicas para limitar las importaciones.
Tambin prevalece una poltica nacional
para concretar una sustitucin de importaciones alimentarias, as como una
afectacin en la importacin de crnicos
dada la competencia de otros pases en
Europa que venden productos con menores estndares de calidad y precio.
Por ltimo, cabe mencionar que an
prevalece una infraestructura logstica
insuficiente aunada a las posibles barreras culturales entre ambos pases.
No obstante lo anterior, y de acuerdo
con cifras de la OMC, las exportaciones
mexicanas de carne de bovino congelada a Rusia durante 2012 alcanzaron los
112.2 millones de dlares casi 44 por
ciento del total de las exportaciones
mexicanas. Sin embargo, este monto represent nicamente el 4.5 por ciento de
las compras totales de Rusia.
Mxico y Rusia an negocian medidas
alusivas a los protocolos zoosanitarios que
permitirn la exportacin de carne porcina mexicana a este mercado.El sector de
crnicos de alta calidad es el que tiene una
mayor oportunidad de negocio para los
productores mexicanos y representa un nicho que demanda un mayor conocimiento
de las tendencias que definen el mercado
de alimentos ruso.
La globalizacin y estandarizacin de
las empresas y consumidores rusos incentivan cada vez ms la demanda por ingredientes de calidad que cumplan con estndares internacionales, y es justo ah donde
los crnicos mexicanos podrn encontrar
un nicho de mercado privilegiado. N
*Socio Director, Asia Business Consulting.
77
foto archivo
La certificacin halal
Viva Halal, A.C. y el Centro Cultural Islmico

de Mxico, son las instituciones que apoyan a
empresas nacionales e internacionales en la
obtencin del certificado halal, al facilitarles
la comercializacin de diversos productos
a pases del mundo islmico. Ambas
instituciones cuentan con el reconocimiento
internacional de la Sociedad Islmica
de Norteamrica (ISNA), la Liga Mundial
Islmica en Mecca, y el Consejo Islmico para
la Regin del Sudeste Asitico y Pacfico
(Riseap).

mexicanos a mercados con
gran potencial
La poblacin musulmana radicada en distintos pases del

orbe representa un mercado con enormes oportunidades
para los productos mexicanos. Ante esta oportunidad, la
certificacin halal es un paso estratgico para las empresas
mexicanas que buscan diversificar sus mercados
y fortalecer sus exportaciones.
por yolanda abarca*
Mxico ha promovido estrategias para cubrir la creciente demanda de productos gastronmicos por parte de los mexicanos radicados en el exterior o por las exigencias de alimentos y bebidas
de negocios o franquicias en constante crecimiento. Asimismo, ha
explotado la relevancia del mercado hispano en Estados Unidos,
Europa e incluso en pases de la regin latinoamericana. De hecho, Mxico es un productor de artculos muy demandados por
consumidores que no solo exigen garantas de inocuidad sanitaria
o certificacin orgnica. En este sentido, la estrategia de diversificacin comercial debe contemplar otras variantes para potencializar su incursin en mercados que, dado su consumo, tienen un
enorme potencial.
Segn estimaciones del Pew Research Center sobre religin y
vida pblica, la poblacin musulmana en el planeta aumentara
35 por ciento en los prximos 20 aos, al pasar de 1.6 mil millones en 2010 a 2.2 mil millones de personas para 2030. Si las tendencias actuales continan, los musulmanes constituirn el 26.4
por ciento de la poblacin total proyectada a nivel mundial para
2030. Tan solo en los pases europeos, se espera que la poblacin
musulmana crezca en casi un tercio en los prximos 20 aos. Casi
dos terceras partes de la poblacin musulmana en el mundo (62
por ciento) radican en la regin Asia-Pacfico.
78
La alimentacin halal
Los musulmanes tienen ciertas restricciones alimenticias como
parte de su fe. Consumen alimentos y bebidas que son permitidas por la ley islmica Shariah llamados halal. Especficamente se
podra traducir como lo permitido, autorizado, saludable, tico o
no abusivo. Lo halal no solo alude a los alimentos y bebidas, sino
a un estilo de vida integral de la poblacin musulmana, siendo
todo lo haram lo que est prohibido. Los productos halal tambin
abarcan el sector farmacutico, de higiene personal y cosmtico,
financiero e incluso turstico.
Segn el Instituto Halal de Espaa, el cual se rige por la normativa islmica, algunos de los alimentos que se consideran haram son: la carne del animal hallado muerto; la sangre; la carne
de cerdo y jabal (y sus derivados); aquellos animales sobre los
que no se ha invocado el nombre de Dios, en el momento de
su sacrificio; los animales carnvoros y carroeros; las aves con
garras; las bebidas alcohlicas y las sustancias nocivas o venenosas; y las plantas o bebidas que causan intoxicacin. Asimismo, no deben consumirse ingredientes procedentes de animales
o productos haram como la gelatina de cerdo ni los aditivos,
conservadores, colorantes o aromas que hayan sido elaborados
con ingredientes haram.
Dada la importancia del mercado halal y la expansin que

tendr en los prximos aos, debemos tomar en cuenta que estos productos tienen un futuro muy prometedor, mismo que debemos aprovechar. Pases como Brasil se estn beneficiando de
las oportunidades que ofrece este mercado. Tan solo en 2012,
el pas sudamericano le export mil 500 millones de dlares de
carne de bovino a este segmento, y se espera que para 2013 el
resultado sea mayor en un 10 por ciento.
Certificacin halal en Mxico
Viva Halal, A.C. y el Centro Cultural Islmico de Mxico, son las
instituciones que apoyan a empresas nacionales e internacionales
en la obtencin del certificado halal, al facilitarles la comercializacin de diversos productos a pases del mundo islmico. Ambas
instituciones cuentan con el reconocimiento internacional de la
Sociedad Islmica de Norteamrica (ISNA), la Liga Mundial Islmica en Mecca, y el Consejo Islmico para la Regin del Sudeste
Asitico y Pacfico (Riseap).
En este contexto, ProMxico ha tenido un acercamiento con
ambos organismos a fin de apoyar una estrategia que permita preparar a las empresas mexicanas en el aprovechamiento del mercado
musulmn. El director del organismo Viva Halal ha manifestado
que las compaas mexicanas que se han acercado a este organismo

en busca de apoyo para la certificacin halal, han sido bsicamente
aquellas que ocasionalmente tienen oportunidad de exportar a ese
mercado. Sin embargo, debe fomentarse que las empresas consideren al mercado musulmn dentro de su plan de negocios.
Firmas mexicanas de diferentes estados de la Repblica Mexicana, principalmente del norte, del Distrito Federal y del Bajo,
han certificado diversos productos para atender este mercado,
tales como: carne para hamburguesas, ajonjol, productos deshidratados como la clara de huevo, tomate y productos qumicos
orgnicos e inorgnicos que se utilizan en pequeas cantidades
para alimentos y productos pesqueros, entre otros.
Sin embargo, otros productos factibles de recibir certificacin
halal son: lcteos, miel de agave, carne bovina, pollo, mayonesa,
ctsup, cacao y sus derivados, dulces de guayaba, colorantes alimenticios, vainilla sin alcohol, carbn de origen mineral o vegetal,
y aromticos qumicos. Este importante mercado sin duda es una
gran oportunidad para los productores mexicanos que deseen diversificar mercados e incrementar las exportaciones del pas. N
*Subdirectora de Proyectos de Exportacin, Unidad de Promocin de
Exportaciones (UPE), ProMxico.
79
foto archivo
Inversin japonesa
en la industria de autopartes:
EN CRECIMIENTO
En los ltimos meses, varias empresas japonesas del sector de autopartes han anunciado nuevas inversiones
en Mxico, con lo que se confirman expectativas optimistas de los inversionistas sobre el futuro
de la industria automotriz mexicana.
La empresa japonesa Nagakura MFG comenz la construccin de una nueva planta en el municipio de Calera, Zacatecas.
Esta ser la primera planta de la empresa
en Amrica Latina, y en ella se fabricarn
autopartes para las plantas de Toyota y
Nissan, ubicadas en los estados de Guanajuato y Aguascalientes.
Nagakura MFG se dedica a la fabricacin y venta de productos de precisin
elaborados en forja fra, para automviles
y motocicletas, as como a la investigacin
y desarrollo de nuevos modelos y procesos
para la elaboracin de las autopartes. Su
nueva planta en Mxico requerir una inversin aproximada de 20 millones de dlares.
Calsonic-Kansei inaugur una nueva
planta en Aguascalientes, donde invirti
150 millones de dlares.
La planta, ubicada dentro del Parque
Industrial San Francisco, se dedicar a la
produccin de sistemas de aire acondicio-
80
nado, sistemas de salida de escape, y componentes de tablero principalmente para

Nissan Mexicana.
Actualmente Calsonic-Kansei abastece a
25 marcas automotrices como Nissan, Mazda y General Motors (GM); todo ello en 15
pases alrededor del mundo.
Con esta apertura, la empresa suma
mil 500 nuevos empleos y proyecta ventas anuales por mil 300 millones de dlares para 2016.
Por su parte, Hirotec, grupo japons
que maquila autopartes para Ford, GM y
Mazda, anunci su ampliacin en las dos
plantas con las que cuenta en Guanajuato, con lo que entre 2014 y 2017 invertir 59 millones de dlares y generar 370
nuevos empleos.
El 23 de abril de 2013, Hirotec Tooling
de Mxico abri una planta en el Guanajuato Puerto Interior, en Silao, donde invirti 40
millones de dlares y gener 70 empleos. La
otra planta de Hirotec se ubica en el Parque

Industrial Fipasi.
Con esta ampliacin Hirotec busca
diversificar su cartera de clientes y convertirse en proveedor de las nuevas armadoras que han decidido instalarse en el
estado de Guanajuato.
De igual forma, la empresa japonesa
de manufactura automotriz Showa Corporation invertir 50 millones de dlares
en una planta de manufactura de sistemas
de direccin elctrica para el mercado domstico y de exportacin.
Showa Corporation es la firma nmero 39 que decide constituirse en los Parques Industriales Santa Fe, en el municipio de Silao, Guanajuato. N
www.nagakura-mc.co.jp
www.calsonickansei.co.jp
www.hirotec.co.jp
www.showa1.com

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Business Tips

he government of Mexico has set out to

competition that will open up the sector and

Enrique Pea Nieto

Table of Contents December 2013 - January 2014

photo courtesy of flatbread evolution

courtesy of hotel b cozumel

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courtesy of sergio garval

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y el acceso de los productos

Download the PDF version and read

This publication is not for sale.

Mismo periodo en 2012

Negocios ProMxico ao 6, nmero XII2013 / I-2014, diciembre 2013 - enero

ways, ports, airports and telecommunications. As President Enrique Pea Nieto

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