At least 300 U.S. companies, including Ford and Carrier, 100 Japanese companies and 30 Chinese companies are in the process of finalizing foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Mexico, according to Francisco González, CEO of the government-run trust fund ProMéxico.
Although these projects have not yet been finalized, González claims this is evidence that foreign investors aren't pulling out of their planned investments in Mexico any time soon.
In fact, claims that Ford and Carrier won't invest in Mexico aren't entirely true since Ford has no plans of slowing down its growth in Mexico and Carrier had already doubled its investment projects in Mexico before news broke out that they wouldn't be outsourcing 1,000 Indiana-based jobs to Mexico.
“Regardless of what's been said, Carrier is investing in the region. Some of its production will remain in Indiana, but it's still coming here. The company's already doubled the size of its project. And in the case of Ford, the situation at the Kentucky plant hasn't affected their plans here,” he said.
According to Mexico's Entrepreneurial and Foreign Trade Council (Comce), the estimated FDI in Mexico remains unchanged at 33 billion dollars, and 50% of this amount was directly attracted by the ProMéxico trust fund.
Officials in Mexico continue to work around the clock to attract investors to Latin America's second largest economy, especially in view of Trump's protectionist rhetoric that's left many in Mexico feeling worried, but according to ProMéxico's CEO, he says it's normal for investment to slow down every election cycle.
He also said that if President-elect Donald Trump's plan is to provide companies such as Ford and Carrier with incentives as a means to deter them from sending jobs abroad, “then we're not really worried because tax incentives are a one time kind of thing. It might be a 1, 2 or 3-million dollar tax incentive, but the bottom line is that if projects aren't competitive, companies go out of business.”