Besides Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey , most urban areas where Mexico’s ministries are to be moved lack the necessary infrastructure to receive them.
Ciudad del Carmen, Tlaxcala, Chihuahua, Nuevo Laredo, Chetumal, Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Chilpancingo
are the most underdeveloped cities, lacking infrastructure in terms of housing, health centers, schools, and roads, according to the real estate services firm Colliers International .
There is also a group of medium-sized cities that may have a limited capacity to receive government departments such as Puebla, Mérida, and Villahermosa , which have proper but limited infrastructure.
Luis Enrique Méndez, director of the Office Division at Colliers International
, stated that the purpose of decentralizing government dependencies was to compensate a lack of economic opportunities in different regions of the country, but the project would require a master plan to achieve that goal.
“If you send a whole state ministry to a city that lacks office building infrastructure, proper housing, or services, in the end you will only do more harm than good,” he claimed.
Mexico City’s Chamber of Construction Industry (CMIC CDMX)
commented that it would take years in housing construction to move the ministries.
“Although there is a serious housing deficit in Mexico City, there is also a deficit in Mazatlán, Mérida, Mexicali, and Ciudad Juárez . We will all need to focus on building more houses and improving infrastructure in the country, at least for the next 20 years,” stated Arturo Bautista , chairman of the CMIC CDMX .
“The idea is not new. In the United States , all government dependencies are spread throughout the country and it has worked for them, but you can’t expect to move them all from one day to the next.”
The CMIC pointed out that the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) is located in Aguascalientes , the Federal Roads and Bridges of Revenue and Related Services (CAPUFE) is in Cuernavaca , and the Agricultural Trust Funds Institution (FIRA) is in Morelia . They have all operated smoothly.
Another important fact to consider is that government workers have mortgage loans at the Institute of Social Security and Social Services for State Employees (FOVISSSTE) , which doesn’t have mobility programs like the Workers’ National Housing Fund Institute (INFONAVIT) .
FOVISSSTE indicated that the internal control management would have to request such changes to the institute, but only after the workers union has consulted how many of them have mortgage credits and how many of them would be in a position to move to another state.
“We know how complex it can be to sell a house and move an entire family from one state to another. We need to provide these places with a new infrastructure, electricity, public lighting, drinkable water, sidewalks, roads, highways, and airports. It will not be easy,” commented Alejandro Kuri, chairman of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI) .
AMPI suggested that local governments should review their current property inventory in order to assess swap options.
“They could also resort to public-private partnerships with local real estate developers in order to build infrastructure on time,” said Kuri.
Air connectivity will also be insufficient since there are cities such as Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche , where PEMEX (Mexican Petroleums) offices will be sent. The number of daily flights at the local airport is limited, and travelling to Villahermosa in order to take another flight requires a 3-hour road trip .
Since May 2017 , when the Federal Economic Competition Commission recommended a few measures for schedule assignment at the International Airport of Mexico City , some airlines had to cancel flights, especially to places with low demand.
Aeroméxico
cancelled the Mexico City-Cozumel route, and temporarily canceled the Mexico City-Saltillo route. Interjet did the same with the Mexico City-Zacatecas route, and TAR canceled the Guadalajara-Mazatlán route.
The National Airborne Chamber made no comments about connectivity at cities where some government dependencies will be moved in Mexico’s upcoming administration.
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