Maquila Industry in Mexico Today

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Maquiladoras or Maquila is a word used to describe manufacturing operations in a free trade zone – typically a company that processes components imported into Mexico and then exports the components back to the company’s headquarters in another free trade country.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows not only U.S. and Canadian companies to operate in the Mexican territory, but also companies from many other countries such as Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain, France and the UK. This business expansion results in the need to engage a regional supplier to support their international operations, with many of the suppliers preferably located within Mexico.

Certain areas of Mexico typically attract businesses within specific industries. The central region of Mexico, including the El Bajio area as well as Northeast Mexicoin the states of Nuevo Leon and Coahula, competes to attract investors focused in the die casting and metal stamping industries. Other states in Northwest Mexico, such as Chihuahua, Sonora and Baja California, specialize in the electronics and aerospace industries. The states of Jalisco and Tamaulipas attract electronics companies.

Those of us who live in Mexico are fortunate that we are able to offer investors, from countries around the world within many different industries, a skilled labor force with competitive labor costs strategically located next to one of the most important markets in the world: The United States.

Today the Maquila industry accounts for significant direct and indirect job generation in Mexico, and it continues to grow with the arrival of different OEMs that will begin manufacturing operations in Mexico soon.

For more information about Godfrey & Wing's presence in Mexico, please contact us.