Spanish Experience for a Unique Railway Project

Q: What opportunities does the Mexican market offer to a company like Mextypsa?

A: Mexico has always been a country of opportunities. Even in the past months when the country and the industry as a whole experienced deceleration, we continued to see more dynamism than in other countries. It is true that the business rhythm we have experienced since the current presidential administration started is not normal. In Mexico City, we experienced almost a year no new permits for any type of construction. Fortunately, projects are slowly getting back on track. Still, we need to be patient and learn to work with new players. We still see a niche of opportunities. At the moment, we are collaborating with the government, although we would like to start working with the private sector even more.

Q: What strategies has Mextypsa implemented to become the right engineering partner in a heavily competitive sector?

A: When we entered the Mexican market, we started working on small projects. However, we eventually began obtaining more and larger projects. We are a global company that was created in the 1960s, although in Mexico we started operating in 2009. Still, we are playing an important role here. Our global production center for photovoltaic projects is here in Mexico. Also, we are the designers and supervisors of the circuits and race tracks for Formula E and everything is done from Mexico using Mexican personnel.

Q: What role does Mextypsa play within Grupo TYPSA (TYPSA)?

A: Mexico is around 10th in importance within TYPSA. Starting in the 1970s, the group decided to venture into other countries and arrived to the Middle East and several other regions. Today, it is in over 40 countries. In Mexico, we have been operating for 10 years and we compete with other companies that have been in the country for 50 years. However, every year we grow our presence in Mexico and thus the importance the country has for the group. Today, we can say that the Mayan Train, on which we are working, is among the Top 3 projects for the group. An important factor for Mextypsa is that we have worked with important international companies like Cargill and Inditex. This is a great success for us. 

Q: Mextypsa has a business vertical focused entirely on water and related services. How important are these services in Mexico?

A: Our first projects in Mexico were water-related. We are the only engineering company to participate in all the last aqueducts been built in the country. While there have not been that many water-related projects lately, water is a fundamental public service, so any project related to it needs to be started by public initiative. At one time in Mexico, our water division represented around 50 percent of our business operations. We have participated in significant projects and we want to continue participating in the segment.

Q: What are the challenges and opportunities that flagship projects like the Mayan Train represent for the private infrastructure sector in the country?

A: We would like the project to move faster. Though the project has been on the table for several months, we are still in the structuring process. We have had many meetings with different government entities and the project finally released some of the bidding processes. The project is a go. However, it is going slower than what it seems in the media, especially compared to Santa Lucia and Dos Bocas. Regardless, we are advancing at a safe pace with processes meticulously done.

Q: What lessons can Mexico draw from projects similar to the Mayan Train around the world?

A: There is no other project like the Mayan Train. In other countries, there have been railways of 400km but a 1,600km train has never been done. Moreover, the project is located in a karstic region that poses several difficulties regarding construction, in addition to the environmental and indigenous challenges. When you add all these to a political will to finish the project during the current administration, we can say there is no comparable project. 

Q: How can the private sector work together with the government to reactivate the construction sector in the country?

A: We need to be able to adapt. There has been a lot of fear regarding the arrival of the new presidential administration. While it is true that several messages from the government were not reassuring, such as NAIM’s cancellation, it is important to remember that the same happens every time there is a change in government. Several projects stopped that were not as big as NAIM, but we tend to forget that all this has happened before.

A very important element to provide certainty for private investment in Mexico would be to have a long-term master plan for the country. However, we need to adapt and eliminate the idea that there are no more opportunities in Mexico. We need to approach the authorities and analyze how we can help them. We are optimists. Still, we would like to see certain sectors re-activated. We have a lot of experience building highways and, in the water, and airport segments, so we expect to work on several good projects with GAP and ASUR

Mextypsa is the Mexico-operating brand of the Spanish Grupo TYPSA. The company provides consulting services in civil engineering, architecture, industry and energy and environment.