Coahuila, a benchmark for investments in Mexico

By Luis Mendez. Julio 2021

Coahuila received 365 million dollars in Foreign Direct Investment in the first quarter of this year, a figure higher than the 166 million dollars of the same period in 2020

As a result of the arrival of the automakers in Coahuila, General Motors (GM) in 1978, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA)  in 1981, the industrial development of the state has been on the rise, managing to attract a significant number of companies to the Southeast Region.

The growth project in Derramadero is planned for 40 years in order to detonate investments in the entity with another purpose involved, which is to turn it into a city that offers a quality of life for the 20,000 people who work there.

For now, there are approximately 60 plants installed, originating from all over the world and supplying large vehicle companies.

César H. Cantú García, CEO and president of Grupo Alianza , shared that it is one of the areas that receive the greatest investment, the last one from BTL, a plant of Chinese origin, and that it will have its first expansion outside of the Asian country to serve to its customers in North America.

In this sense, the Saltillo businessman affirmed that they are working to create the best conditions that generate the consolidation of the industry, such as in Ramos Arizpe or in Arteaga.

Cantú García said that the promotion of the entity is done through the Grupo Alianza office located in the United States, making a deep search for potential companies, presenting them all the competitive advantages of Coahuila in terms of suppliers, economic development, logistics, and manpower is concerned.

“The local Coahuila infrastructure is very good in the commercial, energy, talent development, schools, and training center, it meets all the requirements of large industries, that is a very important factor that they take into account to invest here ”, Expressed the interviewee.

On the other hand, he said that the consolidation of companies in the state is due to the certainty that they find in the long term, constantly working on roads, such as the northern industrial corridor, which will facilitate logistics to the United States at a greater volume, specifically to Dallas, Texas, from where the routes are traced to transport the shipped parts.

Referring to the promotion strategies and the added value that they offer for a company to transfer its operations to Coahuila, César Cantú affirmed that the parks, including the Alianza Industrial Park, have two types of development, one to house companies with little land, of a hectare for example, and others of greater space, forming fields where there are complexes of the greater surface.

The businessman gave the Saint Gobain company as an example, which on his arrival had 55 hectares, the same case with Daimler, which occupied 300. The main characteristic of large plants is that they always prioritize being in an isolated area because not all parks have an established measure to house their operations, a situation that does occur with Derramadero.


The Ministry of Economy of Coahuila (SEC) has dedicated the last years to promoting the entity to continue standing out in the investment field, implementing different work tours in different parts of the world, mainly in Asia, the United States, and Canada.

The strengths have kept the state as one of the leaders in attracting investment, during 2020 17 investment projects were made official, for an amount of 1,631 million dollars, generating approximately 7,169 jobs.

Compared with other states, it was below Nuevo León, which had a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for 3,366.6 million dollars, which represented 12% of participation for the neighboring state.

For this year, it is estimated that Coahuila can reach 1,762 million dollars through 15 projects, which forces the corresponding parties to continue increasing their competitiveness.

According to Jaime Guerra Pérez, head of the agency, the goal of the current administration is to promote the economic development of the six regions of the state, so they will continue to improve the infrastructure of the industrial parks already established and those that are still being built.

Guerra Pérez said that the synergy between industrialists and government authorities has been fundamental for this step, now two parks are being built, one in Parras de la Fuente and the other in Monclova.

Investment from Asia is the one that has dominated, it is expected that five companies in the automotive industry and one more in robotics will be installed, so it is important to continue strengthening the value chain so that they can meet the requirements that factories need.

On the other hand, during the first quarter of 2021, there was notable growth in investment results, equivalent to 119% more than in the same period of 2020. In data provided by the Ministry of Economy, Coahuila received 365 million dollars in FDI during the first three months of the year, a figure much higher than the 166 million dollars in 2020 and the 145.3 million that were registered in 2019.

In the distribution of the 365 million dollars that were received in investment, 182.7 million dollars correspond to the reinvestment of profits, accounts between companies with 183.3 million dollars, while the new investments registered a decrease of one million dollars. 

Among the sectors that stood out the most is the manufacture of components for transportation, which led the range with 349.4 million dollars, of which 287 were due to the manufacture of vehicles and heavy trucks.


Skilled labor is a characteristic in which Coahuila stands out. Its preparation is the subject of debate between chambers and authorities, who prioritize continuing to train and prepare staff to adapt it to new ways of working.

With the beginning of the manufacture of electric cars by GM, the interviewee assured that the method will have to be renewed to increase the competitiveness of the local supplier, since possibly new careers will have to be implemented in educational institutions for this new process.

“Investments in Coahuila promote employment, require us to provide all the facilities for them to be consolidated in the state, continue working to create roads, schools, hospitals, entertainment venues, and everything that can improve the quality of life of the population. in general and those who come here for work needs ”.

Jaime Guerra concluded that the number of investments registered during 2020 could be exceeded if the new projects are closed at the door, for which he stressed that the management of the state authorities will be essential to achieve this.

Source: Mexico Industry