ProMexico’s Closing… For better or for worse?

Originally set up in 2007 as a trust fund to promote international trade and investment, ProMexico is now facing its last weeks in operation.

César Fragoso, head of ProMexico’s sectorial development unit, stated last September that of the $200B of direct foreign investment secured by the then Mexican administration, 40 percent of that was the result of the work carried out by ProMexico.

This effort, among others, is now going to be carried out by the Mexican embassies and consulates as ProMexico continues to close 46 offices around the world by the end of this month.

The Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade (Comce) stated that the specialists who worked at ProMexico will work under the embassies and/or consulates to continue these responsibilities. Along with ProMexico, the Instituto Nacional del Emprededor (Inadem) will also close, their responsibilities will be taken over by the Ministry of Economy.

The reason for the closing, as stated by current Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is because the overseas offices do not do anything and use up a lot of resources in promotional work.

There had been a budget of $908.8M pesos proposed in 2019 for ProMexico, and these savings will now be used to construct the Mayan train consisting of more than 1,500km of railroads to connect the entire Yucatán peninsula in an effort to promote tourism.

So, is this good? Or not so good? From one perspective, it may seem like things can turn a little gloomy, but, it may be too early to tell.

When speaking with Blue Book members from Mexico whom either collaborated with ProMexico or knew of their operations, they expressed the same feeling of uncertainty.

Given that ProMexico hasn’t finished closing all the mentioned offices and responsibilities still moving around behind the scenes, it may take a little longer to see the effect, if any.