| VIEW FROM THE TOP
DRIVING SIX YEARS OF AUTOMOTIVE GROWTH MIGUEL MÁRQUEZ MÁRQUEZ Governor of the State of Guanajuato
18
Q: What would you consider the highlights of your
opportunities. We are taking the industry to the employee,
administration regarding new investment?
instead of trying to take the employee to the industry.
A: During this administration, we have consolidated Guanajuato as the biggest automotive cluster in Latin
Q: How is Guanajuato helping SMEs to adopt digitalization
America. We have assembly plants belonging to OEMs
and technology into their processes?
such as Mazda, Honda and GM, as well as component
A: In 2017, Guanajuato was the first state in the world to
manufacturing facilities from others such as Ford and
declare a year focused on innovation. We collaborated with
Volkswagen. Toyota will shortly finalize the construction
UNESCO to diagnose how the state was doing regarding
of its new venture in the country. By 2020, we expect
technology and what we want to achieve by 2040. This
Guanajuato will be the main vehicle producer in Mexico
initiative went beyond the industry and included cultural,
and Latin America.
sports, agricultural and other elements that could help Guanajuato reach the concept of Industry and Company
In terms of foreign direct investment, we had projected
4.0. We also organized the Innovation Forum, which was
a total of US$5 billion by the end of the administration
one of the most important technology events in Latin
but we will close our six-year period with almost US$13
America, and we established the basis for this to be an
billion in new projects. Consequently, we have had a great
annual event in Guanajuato.
impact on the state’s unemployment rate, driving it down to 3.5 percent, which is barely above the national average
We want the state to be committed to the idea of Industry
of 3.1 percent. Guanajuato has recently been among the
4.0. Today, we have eight innovation parks, supported by
main states regarding job creation and by the end of
a strong network of universities and research institutions.
the administration, we will have generated 300,000 new
Moreover, Guanajuato is third for patent registrations
positions. Only in 2017, 62,000 new jobs were created,
nationally according to the Mexican Institute of Industrial
leading to an average of 50,000 new positions per year.
Property and first in GDP generation due to patent registrations according to UNESCO. We went from zero
Q: How have you helped Guanajuato become a pinnacle
innovation in the state to leading our nation’s committee
of the automotive industry in Mexico?
to the World Educational Robot Contest with nine students
A: Human capital has been key for the development of
from Guanajuato out of the 15 that traveled to Shanghai
Guanajuato. We are now the leading state in terms of
to compete.
training and in the opening of academic slots due to the industry’s talent demand. At the same time, educational
Q: How are you ensuring continuity in Guanajuato’s
institutions are gradually adapting their programs based
investment promotion strategies?
on what companies require and our offering of robotics,
A: Investment promotion is not only dependent on state
nanotechnology, aeronautics and pharma engineers has
policies and all investment projects are approved by a
increased considerably.
citizen’s council. That being said, Guanajuato offers legal certainty above anything else. According to the National
We have also worked extensively to ensure new investments
Institute for the Consumer, we are among the Top 3 states
have strong support. We wanted to close the administration
for contract fulfillment. As a result, companies know that
with seven new industrial parks and the end result was 27
whatever contracts they sign with this administration
and an additional offering of 2,000ha of available space.
will stand once the new government arrives. We also
We are growing beyond the traditional industrial corridor,
offer certainty based on the development plan we have
offering companies new areas in the north and south of the
structured for 2040, which helps investors understand
state where there is more available talent looking for job
where the country will be in the next couple of decades.
