Message from Ambassadors

The Aerospace Sector in Mexico:
A Good Opportunity for
the Japanese Manufacturing Industry
Melba Pría
Ambassador of the United Mexican States to JapanThe Japanese industrial presence in Mexico has beenoutstanding for the last 60 years. After the adoption of ourbilateral Economic Promotion Agreement fifteen years
ago, the commercial relation has almost trebled. With astrong legal structure for hosting industrial FDI, mycountry today is firmly inserted into the Japanese worldwide manufacturing network as a strategic partner forJapan in the North American market. Thanks to Mexico’sdeep insertion to the US industrial and manufacturing
chains, and its geographical proximity to one of the mostimportant markets of the world, Mexico has provided astrategic opportunity for Japanese integration into theelectronics and automotive sectors in the region. We
believe that the Aerospace sector possesses many
similarities to these sectors, as it has been growing steadily
as an emerging component of Mexico’s manufacturingindustrial capacities.
Specialization in the automotive industry prompted
Mexican manufacturing competitiveness in different
aspects, and offers new frontiers of opportunity. This isalso the case of the Mexican Aerospace industry.
According to the Mexican Federation of Aerospace

Industries (FEMIA), at the moment Mexico only produces
5% to 6% of parts and components consumed by thenational Aerospace sector, but this could rise to 50% to
60% if the industry takes the right steps. The Mexican
experience and infrastructure in Automotive
manufacturing guarantees a relatively easy transition to agreater Mexican aerospace industry supply chain
integration.
Every year the AEM (Mexican Aerospace Agency) holds
the “Mexican Aerospace Fair” (FAMEX), where many
projects related to the aeronautic and satellite
communications sectors are presented to the international
aeronautic sector in search of investments and jointcollaboration. FAMEX rapidly became the mostimportant aerospace fair in Latin America. In 2019,
before the pandemic, the fair received 635 participating
firms and 52,000 visitors from 39 countries in theAerospace sector, and hosted more than 5,800 businessmeetings.
This year the Fair was held in the military base of Santa
Lucia and witnessed many interesting proposals for

Ambassador of Mexico to Japan since June 2019. H.E. Pría was Ambassador to India
and to Indonesia before her actual position. She was born in Mexico City. Holds aBachelor Degree in Sociology, two Masters Degrees in Public Policy and InternationalStudies and a Post Graduate in National Security and Strategic Studies. A professional
public servant who has served Mexico’s public and private sectors for 40 years, themain themes of her work are embracing political and developmental objectives that
focus on and address issues relating to poverty, identity and tolerance, marginalized
and ethnically differentiated communities. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she has
worked in areas that promote the inclusion of different stakeholders in internationalaffairs. She worked as Head of Public Diplomacy and also Director General for Mexican Diaspora. Prior to theabove roles with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she was political and consular attaché at the Mexican Embassyin Israel and later advisor to the Foreign Minister. Ambassador Pría is the author of several books and publications.

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FAMEX 2021 Pavillion, in Santa Lucía(Source: f-airmexico.com.mx)

aeronautical and aerospace projects from companies suchas Grupo SSC, Eutelsat, Airbus, among others. The event
also saw the signing of MOUs on technology cooperation
with governments in Latin America. This year, theUniversity of the State of Mexico and the Polytechnic
University of Puebla have integrated cooperation projects
to develop satellite and Aerospace telecommunication
projects with NASA.
Educating the new generations in the Aeronautical sector
has been a priority of Mexico for more than a decade. In
2007 the Queretaro state government established the first
National Aeronautical University with technical programs
supported by public and private initiatives to focus on theconstant development of the aerospace engineering andindustries. The States of Chihuahua and Nuevo Leon
adopted similar initiatives for their states, as did theNational Polytechnic Institute, Mexico’s premierinstitution dedicated to the formation of professional
engineers and technicians.
The Mexican Federation of Aerospace Industry (FEMIA)
carried out a study among one thousand manufacturing
companies and found that 460 of them have a highpotential to grow and develop in the Aerospace industry.
Given their specialized technical support and adequate
managerial structures, these companies could promptly
develop specialized industry clusters with the help offederal and local governments. For example, FEMIA
maintains close coordination with state and local
authorities in Monterrey to promote the establishment ofresearch and development partnerships that link theautomotive and aerospace industries to the famous
Tecnológico de Monterrey Institute.

support to spur the growth of the Mexican aerospaceindustry through joint-ventures or the establishment offoreign enterprises. In Mexico, companies that arequalified to be part of the aerospace industry can receiveloans of up to $3 billion USD for project financing andinfrastructure from Bancomext, the Mexican developmentbank dedicated to promoting of Mexican SMEs andindustry. Moreover, the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation (JBIC) has expressed interest to the Embassyof Mexico to support the expansion of the Japanese
aerospace industry in Mexico through Japanese andMexican enterprises working together.
The COVID-19 crisis provided an important lesson on
the need for industrial diversification and the expansionof international manufacturing networks. In moments ofdire need, the scarcity of semiconductors severely
impacted the Electronic and Automotive industries. Thisprovides an area of opportunity for the Mexican
semiconductor industry. The commercial frictions
between the US and China have reshuffled priorities andstrategies for production sites, making countries like
Mexico an ideal option to shift industries that are
strategically linked to the manufacture chains of the North
American market. Mexico could rapidly become, without
a doubt, a semiconductor manufacturer or leader inlithium production for batteries for Japanese electronics
and the automotive and aerospace industries. This way,
Mexico could help Japan mitigate its current unnecessary
dependence on two or three production sites. The need todiversify global manufacturing centers and industrial
chains can represent an opportunity to expand theMexican industry towards new areas.
For Japan, this trend would guarantee new options with amore resilient and competitive industrial structure. That is
why in times of the “new normal”, Mexico continues tobe a strategic partner for Japanese industry.
お問い合わせJOI 事業企画部
E-mail: bd@joi.or.jp 、TEL: 03-5210-3311

駐日メキシコ大使館
E-mail: infojpn@sre.gob.mx
URL: https://embamex.sre.gob.mx/japon/index.php/en/

There are banking institutions that can provide financial
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