Cancun, Q.R. — Only nine states in Mexico have reported annual growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the first three months of 2021. According to the Ministry of Economy, the states of Zacatecas, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Sonora, Chiapas, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco and Quintana Roo reported attracting foreign capital.
The Ministry also pointed out that during the same period of 2020, 21 states across Mexico reported increases.
For the first three months of the year, the state of Quintana Roo reports having raised a total of $91 million USD from foreign investments, a significant increase from the same period last year when the amount totaled $23.8 million.
The main reason for the increase is said to be the return of capital to the countries of origin. The Ministry said that conuntries with the highest investments were the United States and Spain with $57.6 million between the two. Other countries that maintain their interest in Quintana Roo are Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Sergio León Cervantes, president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) said they will continue to hold meetings with other countries in hopes of more investments. In Quintana Roo, they are hoping to detonate real estate, health and well-being projects as well as sustainable tourism, renewable energies, airport infrastructure and corporate services.
Last year, due to the pandemic, many of the projects contemplated were put on hold, however, through negotiations, 14 were guaranteed with a total investment of $2.9 billion USD, but over the next three years.
In 2020, Quintana Roo closed the year with $121 million in foreign direct investment, while the estimates for this year are higher.
Across the country, the state of Zacatecas reported the highest annual increase in FDI, increasing from $21.5 million USD in the first quarter of 2020 to $202.5 million in the same period of 2021. By type of investment, $40.0 million corresponds to new capital, $60.3 million to reinvestment of profits and $102.2 million to intercompany accounts.
Zacatecas was followed by Michoacán, which climbed from 238.3 to 964.2 million USD (304.6%), Quintana Roo from 23 to 91 million (282.6%), Guanajuato from 296.8 to 969.6 million (226.7%), Sonora from 193.9 to 495.4 million (155.5%), Chiapas from 104.9 to 190.1 million (81.2%), Chihuahua from 351.4 to 514.9 million (46.5%), San Luis Potosí from 415.6 to 608.1 million (46.3%) and Tabasco from 108.2 to 117.6 million USD (8.7%).