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000073 Visit since
| Facts
on foreign Investments in Mexico | by Prof.
German Estrada
July 2, 2001. | For those
of you interested or curious about the foreign investments that come into what
was "our" economy (sometime ago), I just read an article(1) that gives
us some interesting numbers. According to the Secretaría
de Comercio (Commerce Secretary), between 1994 and 2000, Mexico received $67,866.7
Million dollars in direct foreign investment, which is the equivalent of 11% of
the GNP, and at the end of the year 2000, there were 20,199 corporations in our
country -the most important ones- that had big and small participation from foreign
capital. In order of importance, the Manufacturing Industry
received 62.9% of all foreign capital invested in our country's production economy,
which came to $42,669.7 Million dollars, of which $13,229.4 were invested in the
"maquiladoras" (sometimes translated as "processing plants"),
14.1% or $9,566.5 Million dollars in Financial Services, while Commerce attracted
12% or $8,157.6 Million dollars, and other services (hotels, restaurants and others)
received the rest, 7.8% or $5,316.8 Million dollars. It
is obvious, but one still has to point it out, that direct investments from the
United States represented, during said period of time, 63.4% of the total, with
an investment of $43,035.5 Million dollars. Capital coming
from the United States is present in 12,355 (61.2% of the total) of the 20,199
most important corporations that report foreign investments. In 10,728 of them
(86.8% of the total), US participation has the majority of the shares and control,
and the others 1,627 (13.2%), have a minor capital participation. Of
the $43,035.5 millions of dollars of the United States accumulated investment
(1994-2000), 59.7% were invested in the manufacturing industry, 20.9% in services,
13.9% in commerce, 3.8% in transportation and communications, and 1.7% were invested
in a variety of business within the active economy. Last
year, Tio Sam's money invested in Mexico added up to $8.94 Billion dollars, and
this money was channelled as follows: 35.7% into the manufacturing industry, 21.5%
in commerce, 2.1% in communications and transportation, 2% in construction, 1.9%
mining, 1.4% in agriculture and livestock and 0.3% in water and electricity. These
statistics, of course, do not include the purchase by Citygroup of the Financial
Group Banamex-Accival. U.S. capital has made its way
into 1,048 of the financial services sector (credit and banking institutions,
insurance, bonds, stock market and real estate, amongst others). Of this total,
it holds a majority in 922 of them, and a minority in 126. Japanese
capital occupies the second place in importance in our country, as far as direct
investment is concerned, having accumulated $2,989.9 Million dollars. The sectors
elected by the Japanese capital have been the manufacturing industry with 49.8%
of the money invested, 26.21% in the commercial sector, 17.1% in services and
17.1% in the construction business. Against all odds,
believe it or not, direct investment of Dutch capital (Holland) comes in third
place, with an accumulated $5,226.5 Million dollars, equivalent to 7.7% of the
total. Without taking into consideration the acquisition of Seguros Comercial
America (one of the biggest insurance companies in Mexico) by ING, Dutch capital
participated in 623 corporations, 550 of them as the majority stock-holder (88.3%),
and in 73 as minority partners. Dutch capital is invested mainly in services with
37.4% and in the industry with 34.7%. Canada occupies
the fourth position with an accumulated direct foreign investment of $2,930.3
Million dollars, which is invested in 1,233 corporations. Of these, it registers
a majority participation in 1,060 of them (86%), and a minority share in 173 (14%).
The major Canadian presence is reported in the service sector with 36.2% of the
total investment, and in industry with 22.8%. Direct
investment from Spain occupies the fifth position, with an accumulated of $2,812.6
Million dollars, participating in 1199 corporations, as a majority shareholder
in 73.6% of them, and a minority partner in 26.4%. From 1994 to 2000, the presence
of Spanish capital in Mexico grew almost 1000% !!! Spanish
capital has been oriented basically to the service sector (39.6%). In the manufacturing
sector it has 28% and 25.1% in commerce. Investments from Spain have been on a
constant increase in the last years, with the exception of 1995-1996. Between
1999 and 2000 the presence of Spanish capital in Mexico grew by 288%. If
one takes a look at the commercial blocks, between 1994 and 2000 the direct foreign
investment in Mexico came to 67.7% from the United States and Canada, Mexico's
partners in NAFTA, and 19.2% of the nations in the European Common Market. Germany,
for example, reported an accumulated investment of $2,629.6 Million dollars, or
3.9% of the total, and the United Kingdom with $2842.5 Million dollars or 4.2%
of the total. On the opposite side, the presence of France
has been diminishing to the point where in the year 2000, it cancelled investments
in the amount of $2,682.3 Million, causing its presence to disappear. Sweden acted
more or less the same way and in 2000 cancelled investments in the amount of $348
Million dollars, although what they accumulated between 1994-2000 still keeps
a positive balance of $574.1 Million dollars. (1) MEXICO,
S.A. - La Jornada
gestrada@pvnet.com.mx
Prof. Germán Estrada is the
author of the best selling book, "México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know About... But Nobody Told
You..." available in Puerto Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc.,
Books, Books as well as directly from the author by internet. Archives
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