Asian investment in the automotive sector of the Bajío region, Mexico

Abstract

The Asian investment has had an important presence in productive sectors considered motors of the Mexican economy, and the automotive and auto parts industry is one of them. Its economic dynamism has grown especially since the entry into force of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in 1994.  Since the 1980s, the economic policy of Mexico had among its objectives the growth of International Trade . In addition, it is considered that foreign direct investment (FDI) is extremely important for the creation of jobs; and although there have been few advances in this aspect; the expectation of creating productive linkages with the Mexican industry persists . Although, according to macroeconomic statistics, progress has been made thanks to this public policy, the truth is that only significant impacts of its location are observed at the regional level .The automotive companies of Asian capital are an essential part of the geographical configuration of the automotive and auto parts industry around the Bajío region, which is considered a very important corridor for it . For this reason, the present work focuses on identifying its size, structure and dynamism in this region since the entry into force of NAFTA . Regional economic indicators and the causes that have contrib-uted to the growth of Asian investment in the automotive sector are analyzed.