The Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, met with the Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, in order to strengthen the economic and commercial ties between Mexico and the state of Arizona.
During the meeting, the Secretary Guajardo Villarreal said that the initiatives are being carried out with the state of Arizona will help to boost the competitiveness of the Parties, by strengthening the bilateral mechanism High Level Economic Dialogue Mexico - United States (DEAN, in Spanish) ; an ambitious bilateral agenda promoted by the presidents of both nations that seeks to promote the competitiveness and the connectivity, encourage the economic development, the productivity and the innovation, and be strategic partners in the regional leadership.
In turn, the governor of Arizona said that the priority of his administration is to promote the trade and the investment opportunities with Mexico. The Governor Ducey insisted that this trip is the beginning of a new relationship between Mexico and Arizona, and he pledged that his state will help to promote the interests of our country in the United States.
As part of the bilateral agenda, Mexico and the United States have emphasized the importance of improving the management of the border crossings through the initiative of Border XXI Century, in which the participation and leadership of Arizona is essential to develop projects to improve the relationship and the efficiency of operations at the border. In Arizona, there are six highlighted projects that will contribute to this objective in the ports of entry of Douglas, Naco, Nogales, Sasabe, Lukeville and San Luis, where every year 48.3 million people, 760,000 trailers and 1,600 trains cross them.
The development of infrastructure in the border will improve the bilateral relations between Mexico and Arizona, and will open new opportunities for trade and investment. Mexico is the first export market for Arizona, with 41% (8,600 US million) of the sales made by that entity.
In 2014, the exports of Arizona to Mexico grew 22%, surpassing the growth of 6.2% in the exports the United States makes to Mexico. Meanwhile, the Mexican exports to that state reached 7,300 million dollars in 2014, 3.8% more than the previous year.
The Governor is accompanied by a delegation of 50 businessmen from the state seeking business opportunities in sectors such as aerospace, health, logistics and transport, education and construction.
The state of Arizona has a representative office in Sonora and another one in Mexico City, through which an attempt is made to link companies of that country in the national production processes.