Isthmus of Tehuantepec Will Be Supervised by the Navy

President López Obrador said the Inter-Oceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec will be supervised by the Navy (SEMAR) and will receive support from the governments of Tabasco, Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca. The project will also connect industrial parks that will provide development opportunities to companies in nearby areas.

The Inter-Oceanic Corridor is a priority project for the government as it aims to connect the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean. This connection will boost national and international investment, develop the national market and diversify economic activities in the region, reported MBN and La Jornada.

While the president did eliminate the previous program created by Peña Nieto’s administration, López Obrador will still connect the corridor with 10 industrial parks. The president announced that the Isthmus train will bring investment boosted by tax benefits similar to the Special Economic Zones (ZEE) program that he cancelled during his first year as president, according to The Real Estate Market. “The companies that establish in these industrial parks will receive benefits and support. This will allow them to reduce taxes, just like we are doing in the northern border. Instead of paying 16 percent for VAT they will pay 8 percent. The same goes for corporate taxes, which we will lower to 20 percent,” said the president.

The plan includes the rehabilitation of the railroad track that goes from Palenque, Chiapas, to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, reported Forbes. It will run from Ixtepec, Oaxaca, to Tapachula, Chiapas. “We have to promote economic development in this region, together with the Bienestar (Well-Being) programs,” said López Obrador.

The project will also help the region of Tehuantepec. As previously reported by MBN, Transisthmic Corridor Project Director Rafael Marín Mollinedo stated that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a region that has been neglected in terms of national development, making this one of the weakest and least developed regions in the country. The government has implemented several social projects, such as the recent alliance between UNDP and ICTT to promote economic development and the preservation of regional history, culture and traditions in the region.