Mexican officials roll out investment plans for southern corridor

Mexican authorities announced on Monday details of a government plan to attract businesses to a coastal corridor along a southern stretch of the country, part of a larger bid to pump investment in the long-neglected region.

The project is a priority of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and aims to link Mexico’s Pacific and Gulf coasts via an expanded freight rail line along with multiple industrial parks designed to attract manufacturing investment to poorer parts of the country.

Officials announced details for ten industrial parks slated to be built along the corridor connecting the Pacific port of Salina Cruz, in Oaxaca state, with the Gulf coast hub of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state.

Four of the parks will be located in Veracruz and six in Oaxaca, officials said during an event touting the potential of the so-called Interoceanic Corridor development plan.

The government will formally announce tax incentives for the parks this week, according to Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro.

The project aims to take advantage of the “nearshoring” trend of moving production to North America and away from Asia, said Alejandro Encinas, Buenrostro’s deputy minister.

The plan’s anchor project, a transoceanic freight rail line, aims to ultimately compete with the Panama Canal for moving trade goods across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico’s narrowest point.