Looking Towards Mexico for Foreign Direct Investment

Following a successful Caribbean Investment Summit in London during October, the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) and the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) took the Summit to Mexico bringing several of the regions investment projects to the attention of Mexico’s investors. According to the World Investment Report 2015, Mexico is the second outward direct investor after Chile from Latin American and the Caribbean region, with outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to $5.2 billion in 2014.  Working in collaboration with ProMéxico CAIPA members were able to showcase some of the Caribbean’s most promising projects and investments opportunities in the areas of tourism, banking, infrastructure and renewable energy.  Moreover, attendees heard first hand from investment success story Qualfon, a global provider of call centre, back office and business process outsourcing based in Georgetown Guyana.   The attending CAIPA members and Mexican investors were afforded the time to hold meetings on available opportunities generating significant interest.

Funded by the European Union, within the framework of the 10th European Development Fund, Regional Private Sector Development Programme and the Haiti Dominican Republic Binational Programme the event provided an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between Mexico and the Caribbean.  This commitment to work together was formalised with a signing of a collaboration agreement between ProMéxico and Caribbean Export to boost reciprocal investment and trade relations between Mexico and the Caribbean region; the agreement also includes the strengthening of institutional relations between the Parties as well as capacity building through mutual cooperation.

Mr. Escipion Oliveira, Deputy Executive Director of Caribbean Export, emphasized the continued role of the Agency in promoting and supporting a collaborative approach to attracting FDI into the Caribbean.  Thus, the delegation was able to share best practices with ProMexico learning about the different platforms used by the Mexican agency to attract investment and to promote trade.

The Investment Promotion Agencies present at the event were: BelizeInvest, the Centre for Export and Investment in the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD), the Centre for the Facilitation of Investments in Haiti (CFI), Invest Saint Lucia and Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) who were able to conduct site visits to the University Tec de Monterrey and the entrepreneurship incubator named “Start-up Mexico”, as part of Caribbean Export’s initiative to foster the collaboration and exchange of best practices within the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).  Within this same vein, CAIPA and Caribbean Export engaged in a constructive dialogue with the CARIFORUM Embassies based in Mexico City with a view to promoting cooperation and increased knowledge on investment promotion initiatives taking place in the region. This meeting was hosted by H.E. Ambassador Guy Lamothe, from Haiti.

The Agency’s will be taking the Caribbean Investment Summit to Miami in March 2016, providing a further opportunity for investors to discover the opportunities available in the Caribbean.  This activity will be funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).