SHCP and IDB to Promote Investment in the Interoceanic Corridor

The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), in cooperation with the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), will launch financing and tax stimulus packages for companies that want to move their operations to the industrial parks of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 

SHCP announced that IDB Invest, the private sector-focused branch of IDB, will grant up to US$2.8 billion of private financing to companies that want to settle along the Interoceanic Corridor, part of the joint effort of SHCP and IDB to boost the value of the corridor’s assets. “These resources are added to the previously granted US$200 million for micro, small and medium-sized companies, which will be channeled via NAFIN and the Ministry of Economy (SE),” Minister of Finance Rogelio Ramírez de la O said. 

SHCP reported that the Deputy Minister of Finance, Gabriel Yorio, Rafael Marín, Director General, the Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT), Richard Martínez, Vice President for Countries, IDB and James Scriven, General Manager, IDB Invest, visited the facilities of the corridor to identify development opportunities. 

“During the two days of work, we visited three of the 10 industrial hubs that are to be developed and checked the progress of the railway upgrades for goods transportation between the two oceans, as well as the revamping and expansion of the Salina Cruz port,” Marín reported. 

According to SHCP, the project consists of an industrial area of over 3,200ha with 10 interlinked industrial hubs. This will create an industrial production environment based on the sectors that create value for the region. Yorio said that the construction of the industrial hubs will require an investment of over US$9.2 billion. SHCP pointed out that the corridor will boost the local economy and will create more and better-paid jobs.

In Veracruz, the government will build the industrial hubs of Coatzacoalcos I, Coatzacoalcos II, Texistepec, San Juan Evangelista and Jaltipan. In Oaxaca, it will develop Ixtaltepec, Santa María Mixtequilla, San Blas Atempa and Salina Cruz. 

According to IDB, Latin American and Caribbean exports could increase by almost US$80 billion in value thanks to the relocation of key supply chains. Mexico could benefit the most, with a potential of US$35 billion produced just by new exports. This is the equivalent to 2.5 percent of the national GDP. “We live in an international environment where it is necessary to relocate supply chains and make them resilient against the global changes to ensure they stay operational… Mexico has the highest potential in the region to benefit from these phenomena,” added Yorio.