Mexico’s government has released a cluster map uncovering the interconnection of businesses, both manufacturers and service providers, operating in Mexico. The interactive map, designed to serve as a framework for understanding drivers of private investment and job creation, identifies geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions across the region.
Developed by the country’s National Institute of Statistic and Geography (INEGI), the map is based on 2014 census data and information provided by the state governments. The statistics agency took assistance from the Monterrey Institute of Technology to identify strategic sectors, and then gathered employment and occupation data from all the states before sitting down to draw the map.
For investors, it offers wide-ranging data that they can use to figure out a place ideal for setting up their business.
According to the map, the northwestern-most state of Baja California had more people employed in information technology and analytical instrumentation sector than Jalisco during 2014.
The sector, inclusive of electronic component companies and computer equipment manufacturers, in addition to software development firms, had created more than 62,000 jobs in Baja California by the end of 2014.
By contrast, Jalisco cluster members employed only 42,000 people in 2014, even though the state is home to the city of Guadalajara, dubbed the Mexican Silicon Valley. Chihuahua and Tamaulipas are the other major states with approximately 40,000 and 30,000 employed by cluster members, respectively.
The data on the map shows that Jalisco received almost US$58 million investment in this sector during 2014, the largest for all states in the country.
When it comes to ICT jobs and investment, Cuidad de México, the state where Mexico City is located, is the leader, with the state creating more than 197,000 ICT jobs by the end of 2014.
The map is a byproduct of the recently held North American Leaders’ Summit. Following the summit, the U.S. has created similar map and Canada is also in the process of creating one.
The United States has welcomed the map, with Commerce Department official, Leslie Wilson, writing in his blog post that Mexico is America’s third largest trading partner, with around $1.5 billion in trade crossing the border every day.
