Corridor pass
For this publication, leading public and private authorities in the transport industry shared their perspectives on the advances the country has made toward becoming a global logistics hub.
One of the principal developments in this matter is the Interoceanic Multimodal Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a project that was previously initiated in 1907 but abandoned following the construction of the Panama Canal. Now, in 2021, with global trade levels putting pressure on Panama’s eponymous waterway, the need for alternatives is growing. “Right now, there is heavy demand to cross from ocean to ocean, and the Panama Canal is saturated," said Rafael Fernando Marín Mollinedo, General Director of the Public Decentralized Office of the Interoceanic Multimodal Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. “We want to offer vessels a new option to trade from region to region. Once we are ready to operate, there will be a new route to Asia or the US,” he continued. In this edition, many interviewees expressed optimism over the opportunities this project could create, opening up new export corridors, including a new route for gas to reach Asia. The corridor also offers up the potential for new synergies, with Marín adding that, “We offer not only a route, but a strategic area where goods can arrive, be processed, and leave once they have gained added value.”
The Business Year also spoke to Arturo Reyes Rosas, the President of the Confederation of Associations of Customs Agents of the Mexican Republic (CAAAREM), who shared the strategies the association is putting into place to create better processes and incentivize legitimate trade and tax collection. “We constantly propose professionalization through obtaining licenses and constant training,” said Reyes, going on to say that, “The most important strategy is the use of technology applied to customs control and the logistics process.”
Along with transportation and logistics, this chapter highlights the security sector and how players in the industry are working toward modernizing and formalizing processes. “We designed a service where we can monitor a place without having a physical security guard onsite,” shared Armando Zúñiga Salinas, CEO of IPS. “We install the technology, cameras, and access control system, and everything is then managed from a monitoring center. This service allows a single guard to monitor up to five facilities, which lowers costs without sacrificing facility security.” IPS, seeking to disrupt the security industry the same way Uber disrupted mobility, is just one of many Mexican firms in this area making bold strides.