MY MARKET Our woman in...

JUDITH MACGREGOR HM AMBASSADOR | MEXICO

Judith Macgregor is HM Ambassador to Mexico. She was previously Ambassador to Slovakia and, immediately before being posted to Mexico, was director for migration at the Foreign Offi ce

Despite having done my homework, I was taken aback by the scale of development in Mexico when I fi rst arrived here. With more than 20m people, Mexico City is very dynamic; indeed there is tremendous sophistication in all of the big cities. Our UK Trade & Investment team

of 30 is active in most sectors of the economy, refl ecting the wide range of opportunities for UK companies. Mexico and the UK have committed to doubling bilateral trade from 2009 levels by 2015. Mexico has a population of 112m with an average age of 26. It is investing heavily in education and healthcare provision, and in upgrading amenities – hospitals, roads, schools – across Mexico’s 32 states. The federal Government is

currently implementing a US$226bn national infrastructure plan (covering roads, railways, ports, airports, energy infrastructure and water) designed to increase Mexico’s global competitiveness and position the country as a global trading and manufacturing hub. Energy is a key sector. Pemex, the

state oil company, recently opened up to the private sector and UK fi rm Petrofac has won two of the fi rst three contracts. There are many more rounds of these contracts to come. Renewable energy is another

promising area, with Mexico aiming to obtain 25 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2012.

24 | springboard | www.ukti.gov.uk One very successful UK company

is already here working on generating gas from landfi ll sites, with 10 projects around the country and six more in the pipeline. Perhaps of even more immediate

interest are the aerospace and automotive sectors. For over 10 years, Mexico has attracted the most inward investment in the aerospace sector worldwide. Mexico has the world’s second-largest aircraft fl eet. People fl y everywhere here, so airport construction and expansion, repair and maintenance – and aircraft themselves – are all in demand. Most of the world’s major car

manufacturers have plants in Mexico, and some recent UK successes include GKN Driveline and Bodycote. At least 350 UK companies

operate in Mexico and membership of the British Chamber of Commerce (britchamexico.org) here has never been higher. A Mexican Chamber (mcc-org-uk.com) now has offi ces in Canning House (canninghouse.org) in London and both these organisations as well as our UK Trade & Investment team in Mexico can provide invaluable advice. The message I would like to

convey is a sense of urgency. European competitors are already active in Mexico, on their bikes and peddling, whereas the British are still parked up and only just taking the lock off their bikes. There are massive opportunities here – don’t miss out!

FAST FACTS

• Mexico is the largest exporter of beer in Latin America and the second-largest in the world

• Most televisions and PCs sold in the US last year were made in Mexico

• One in eight cars sold in the US is made in Mexico

• Mexico is the largest trading nation in Latin America, trading around as much as Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Chile combined

• Mexico is the best place to do business in Latin America (World Bank)