Mexico sets a record in attracting foreign investment without having received a single dollar from Tesla

Without having invested a single dollar from the American manufacturer Tesla, Mexico received capital for 36,058 million dollars in 2023. This figure of investment received last year, which marked a record and had never been seen before, was driven by the new businesses of the American companies General Motors, Ford and Citi, as well as from the Spanish firms BBVA, Riu and Iberdrola and the Canadian companies TC Energy, Scotiabank and SMTC.

“At the end of 2023, foreign direct investment was 36,058 million dollars, which is a record of a historical maximum (of the arrival of capital to Mexico),” reveals the Ministry of Economy (SE).

The arrival of foreign direct investment is the result of economic stability, competitive advantages and the good business environment in Mexico, says the entity in charge of promoting the country’s economic benefits.

He adds that the confidence of foreign investors in the country is shown through the record figure in the reinvestment of profits, that is, in the expansion of existing factories, plants and production lines.

Of the investment registered in 2023, 38 percent (or 13.6 billion dollars) of investment flows come from the United States, positioning it as the main investing country in Mexico.

The investment by American companies has not yet reflected the 5 billion dollars needed to build an electric vehicle plant in Nuevo León, one in the northeast of Mexico.

Nor does there appear an investment of 15 billion dollars from Mexico Pacific Limited, which is building a natural gas liquefaction plant in Puerto Libertad in Sonora, northeast from Mexico.

The arrival of capital to Mexico came through 5,271 trust contracts, as well as 3,209 Mexican companies with foreign direct investment and 2 foreign legal entities.

Spanish companies invested 3,774 million dollars in Mexico, as well as Canadian firms injected capital of 3,472 million dollars and Japanese companies with 2,909 million dollars.

“Mexico is a specialized manufacturing center with a growing need for capital for the development of its industries,” says the government agency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

50 percent of registered foreign direct investment is concentrated in the manufacturing sector, highlighting the transportation equipment industries, beverage and tobacco industries, metals, computer equipment, chemical industry and electrical appliances.