Betting On Added Value To Attract Investment

Q: How has the customs office in Interpuerto Monterrey worked to attract new investment?

A: We opened this customs house in January 2019. It has been well-received by our clients because of the benefits it provides. Instead of having their exports and imports processed at the border, companies can do it here quickly and more efficiently. The customs house is ready to operate under the Customs Technological Integration Project (PITA) program, which is an initiative that proposes to automate, facilitate and expedite exports and imports by scanning shipments with a radio frequency card to gather data immediately.  When customs authorities make their final decision about the program, we will start our digitalization process. Through PITA, 60 revision points will be modernized, including ours.

Q: What is Interpuerto Monterrey doing in terms of environmental sustainability?

A: We are in the final stretch of our study to have a cogeneration plant that can offer electricity, with the alternative of having thermal energy as well. Currently, we are connected to CFE’s grid through a 115V line and a substation that supplies all companies. In the midterm, the idea is to produce our own energy and sell it to our clients at a more competitive price, but backed by CFE. With the cogeneration plant we can guarantee the electricity supply to our clients due to the double redundancy of the energy system. 

We are also exploring alternatives in water management. We use treated water to reduce consumption costs and we are boosting our ecological practices. Although it is still difficult to change the mindset of the industries, we do have tenants building their plants with environmental certifications and Industry 4.0 processes.  

Q: Why should a company choose Interpuerto Monterrey over another industrial park?

A: There are many elements to consider when investing in a new location, one of which is the park’s infrastructure. We offer a strategic location with access to the Mexican and US markets; all the services and infrastructure we offer include water, electricity, natural gas, optic fiber and treated water, among other services. There are also amenities like the customs house, proximity to Kansas City Southern’s Container Terminal and we are one of the few places in Mexico connected to two main railways, one of Kansas City Southern and another of Ferromex. With the custom house at Interpuerto Monterrey, our clients can enjoy great advantages in import and export procedures as well as different customs regimes that can be used to make their operations more efficient, such as the Bonded Area or the Free Trade Zone.

We still have new investments coming. There is one company from the food and beverages industry that just started investing in a 42,000m2 industrial plant that is already in construction and will be finished in 2020. We also have a letter of intent from an automotive company that wants to lease a 20,000m2 industrial space, among other projects 

Q: What opportunities will USMCA bring to Interpuerto Monterrey?

A: For companies, a central element for any investment is to have certainty and USMCA will bring that. We all know there will be adjustments, winners and losers; I trust the authorities negotiated this agreement in the best way possible and opened the opportunity to improve it under a win-win scheme. Mexico does not want to be a simple maquiladora, we want to become a country that not only manufactures but engineers products. If USMCA were not ratified, it would affect the entire region. But we are very confident that the treaty will pass and the trade relationship between Mexico, the US and Canada will improve even more and will maintain its position as the main trade region in the world.

The US continues to move the world and China is starting to play a leading role. Chinese companies are coming to Mexico and, without doubt, they will have great participation in the next few years. As long as we do not enter a recession, results will be positive. 

Q: What is the relationship between Interpuerto Monterrey and the Automotive Cluster of Nuevo Leon?

A: We have a great relationship with the cluster. It has done an extraordinary job in aiding and bringing companies together. Currently, almost 40 percent of the supplies that OEMs in Mexico consume come from companies settled in the Monterrey-Ramos Arizpe area. Local suppliers make a positive chain because it challenges companies to offer better services and products to excel among their competitors. 

Interpuerto Monterrey is an industrial park with infrastructure and services including a customs office and rail interconnection. Its strategic location makes it a successful manufacturing and logistics hub. It is located in Salinas Victoria, Nuevo Leon