Gorbachev Optimistic at Juarez Competitiva

Mikhail Gorbachev gave an inspiring speech before a replete auditorium at the Paso del Norte Cultural Center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. In the context of Juarez Competitiva, a two week long event aimed at promoting the international business sector of Ciudad Juarez, Mikhail Gorbachev offered words of encouragement that meant to inspire and motivate an audience of 2,000 ⎯ one that included a large number of young attendees. Click here to see more on the MexicoToday website.

New Web Site Shares News on Mexico's Growing Economy

As part of an initiative to share news and current events in Mexico, yesterday Marca País – Imagen de México launched the www.MexicoToday.org web site. Mexico Today will be offering the latest news on tourism, culture, economy, and the environment, among other topics. Invest in Mexico will be partnering in the site in order to bring you the latest on investment and financial news, as well as insight into business opportunities in Mexico. Take a look here.

Volaris Airline Introduces Direct Flights Between Mexico and U.S.

The Mexican and U.S. governments have recently approved direct flights between Mexico City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas as well as flights between Monterrey and Chicago. According to an article by Milenio, a Mexican newspaper, the Mexican airline Volaris will be operating these direct flight routes. In 2011, Volaris has increased the amount of flights it offers between the two countries by virtually 50% percent.

FIAT to Export 50,000 Cars From Mexico to China Each Year

A few days ago, the first 100 cars of FIAT's Cinquecento model assembled in Mexico arrived in China. The FIAT manufacturing plant, which is putting together the latest edition of the Cinquecento is located in Toluca, Mexico and is quickly becoming another example of the valued quality engineering that Mexico offers. The Italy-based auto assembler plans to manufacture 100,000 of these units by February 2012. Victor Villanueva, CEO of Fiat Mexico said that Fiat will sell 50% of their production to the Chinese market. Click here to see to what other countries the Cinquecento will go.

Germany to Continue Heavy Investment in Mexico

“There are more than 1,000 German companies in Mexico, which is proof of how deeply linked we are in the [Mexican] economic arena”, says The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guido Westerwelle, who is visiting Mexico. He also mentioned that German businessmen lend their attention to the news on Mexico's current affairs, yet are interested in continuing to invest.

Mexico’s Marcatel Acquires 50% of STX Communications

The largest distributor of phone cards in U.S., STX Communications, sold 50 percent of its stocks to Marcatel SA, a closely held Mexican telecommunications company, the company said today in an e-mail statement made by PRNewswire. Through STX Communications, Marcatel aims to strengthen its business structure.

Unilever to invest 100 million Euros in Mexico

The world’s second biggest consumer goods company, Unilever, announced at the beginning of this week, that they plan to open a factory in Mexico, located in Jiutepec in the central Mexican state of Morelos in the CIVAC (Ciudad Industrial del Valle de Cuernavaca) industrial park.

President Felipe Calderon opened the new facility together with Unilever CEO Paul Polman, in which Unilever will invest 100 million Euros ($145 million dollars) in the factory over the next three years, as a way to double their sales growth. This new plant is expected to have a very positive effect on the economy of the region.

Click here to see the full story.

Debunking Market Myths: 4 Reasons to Keep Investing | Fin - Breakout - US - Yahoo! Finance

Debunking Market Myths: 4 Reasons to Keep Investing | Fin - Breakout - US - Yahoo! Finance

Watch this video on personal investing that can be considered as a mini class in learning where to invest your money. Knowing the keys to economic recession and recovery can affect just how well you carry out your offshore investing.

Asia Stocks Decline After Weak US Jobs Report - TheStreet

The Street, an economic blog, reports on how the world stock market fell after new data on the U.S.'s job market was released last Monday.

"Economic news in the U.S. was disappointing," said a Barclays Capital report Monday. "The employment report was weaker than expected across the board: employment, unemployment, hours, and wages all reflected the same worrisome trend."

Data released Saturday showed a negative outlook; China's inflation accelerated to a three-year high in June even as the overheated economy began to cool.

See the rest of the story and what this could mean for international stocks.

Cannon Power Group to Invest $2.5bn in Mexican Wind Farms

Today the news was released that US company Cannon Power Group will make a $2.5bn investment into new wind farms in Mexico. Currently active in the Baja California area, according to reports, they will build another wind farm in the central state of Zacetecas.

It was reported that President Calderon has stated that the capital commitment from Cannon brings foreign investment during his term up to $100bn.

Click here to read the full story.

Cemex Revival of Shelved Offering Sparked by Market Rebound: Mexico Credit

Cemex sold $650 million of its notes due in 2018 on July 6. The company sold the bonds to yield 9.5 percent (462 basis points more than similar bonds sold by Holcim Ltd., the world’s second-biggest cement maker).

In addition, Mexican central bankers will leave the lending rate at a record-low 4.5 percent today. Mexico is the only major Latin American country to keep borrowing costs unchanged in the past year.

Trade Agreement to Improve Economic Area

Up until this week, Mexican trucks were prohibited to travel within 25 miles of the border.
This change, in what was part of the NAFTA agreement signed in 1994, was made with the inception of President Obama, most probably due to security concerns.

“The agreement signed today between the governments of Mexico and the United States to resolve the cross-border long-haul trucking dispute is a major win for U.S. agriculture, American jobs and our nation’s economic prosperity,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in a release.

Mexico will lower existing tariffs ranging on U.S. goods by 50 percent at the start of the program and the remaining 50 percent will be suspended shortly after Mexican trucks are allowed to cross.

Click here to read more.

Mexico Becoming Go-To Country for Export Manufacturing Sector

“Mexico is becoming more attractive for manufacturing, particularly that aimed at the US market.”

Mexico has been overlooked, without cause, for the past, oh, let's say ten years or so.
China has been the main cause of that, exporting cheap goods along with the idea that it's the only country in the world where companies can find the best ratio of production capacity and cheap labor.

A research note from RBC Capital Markets released this Tuesday reclaims Mexico's right to a larger part of the market share of U.S. imports. Mexico is an obvious first choice for many importers, due to its geographic advantage over China. Aside from this, in recent months, wage inflation in China and wage stagnation in Mexico have combined to make labor prices in these countries virtually equal.

Click here to read the rest of the story on the switch to Mexico for export manufacturers.

More Foreign Investment in Mexico Has Lead to A Protected Economy

From El Financiero:

El Financiero reported today that foreign institutional investors put more money into Mexico during the first quarter of this year compared to same quarter last year, creating a barrier against the negative effects of the global economy. The board also analyzed what impact the EU, particularly Greece, might have on Mexican economics.

Read the entire report here. (Report in Spanish)

CEMEX Scraps $650 Million Bond Offering

Cemex SAB, the largest cement maker in the Americas, scrapped a $650 million bond offering today. The company pulled the sale of eight-year bonds because of “volatility” in global markets, said Jorge Perez, a spokesman for the Monterrey, Mexico-based company.

Cemex, battered by a slowdown in the U.S., its biggest foreign market, had planned to sell the bonds to repay debt stemming from a $15 billion loan in 2009 that helped it refinance in order to avoid default. The company needs to pay back $200 million of debt by the year's end to prevent the interest rate on $7.6 billion of loans from rising by 50 basis points.

From the report: "The yield on Cemex’s benchmark dollar bonds due in 2020 jumped 40 basis points, or 0.40 percentage point, to 9.74 percent at 5 p.m. New York time, the highest since October. Jack Deino, who oversees approximately $1.8 billion of emerging-market debt at Invesco Inv. in New York, said "For Cemex, what’s going to move it or break it is the recovery of the construction market in the U.S."

Made in Mexico: The New China

It's no secret that Mexico's economy is booming...but did you know that it's becoming the new China in terms of exports? Mexico's place as an emerging market is largely due to it's export industry. Mexico's share of the global export industry was 12.5% in 2010, the highest in a decade. While the perception has been that China's cheap labor and large production capabilities are greater than Mexico's, the Financial Times states that Mexico could become the U.S.'s second-largest source of imports.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you think Mexico is bound to become the next China? In what ways?

Please leave me your comments below :)