With that said, the following is a scorecard of my predictions versus the actual results:

Prediction: The nearshoring boom will continue to accelerate and Mexico will receive a record amount of foreign direct investment

Result: CORRECT!

Mexico is on track to receive a record amount of foreign direct investment, but the rate did not grow as fast as many hoped and the vast majority of the investment was not new money coming into the country but rather reinvestment. Definitely something to keep an eye on in 2025. Read more below:

Did Mexico really ‘miss the nearshoring boom’? A perspective from our CEO

Prediction: One, if not two, Chinese auto companies will announce massive plant investments in Mexico.

Result: INCORRECT!

Multiple large Chinese companies, including BYD and others, announced that announcements of plants would be coming, but they have not yet happened. Trump’s recent presidential victory seems likely to have stalled these plans indefinitely.

Prediction: Increased discussion and tension will arise among USMCA partners (United States, Canada, Mexico) over the rapidly increasing Chinese investment and imports into Mexico.

Result: CORRECT!

Both Canada and the United States have been piling on the threats to Mexico over Chinese investments and imports, with several Canadian provincial ministers even going so far as to say that the USMCA should be updated and Mexico should be cut out of the agreement.  To try to bring some sanity and facts to the discussion, Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and President Sheinbaum both presented actual data on Chinese investment and imports into Mexico to try to lower tensions.

How much has China actually invested in Mexico?

Prediction: The NBA will confirm that an expansion team will come to Mexico City.

The result: INCORRECT!

The NBA has not yet confirmed a team in Mexico City, but has continued to express interest in the possibility. It will likely happen at some point, but will take time to come to fruition.

Prediction: Claudia Sheinbaum will win the presidential election in a landslide.

The result: CORRECT!

Dr. Sheinbaum did in fact win in a landslide.

Claudia Sheinbaum is elected the first female president of Mexico

Prediction: The Mexican peso will not move significantly in reaction to the election results (as it often does).

The result: INCORRECT!

The peso has weakened by nearly 20% since the election and is now back where it was several years ago. Compared to previous elections, this was actually not a large move (especially given the huge appreciation of the peso in the year leading up to the election), but the move was significant nonetheless.

Prediction: The Maya Train project will be more positively viewed by the end of the year and increasingly be recognized as a strategically important investment for the region.

Result: I think it is still too early to tell on this one.

The entire train network was just completed a few weeks ago, and emotions are still high on both sides. 2025 will be a key year to answer this question.

Prediction: The Tulum airport will receive a surprisingly high number of new flights and become a major flight destination.

The result: CORRECT!

Tulum’s airport just hit its one-year anniversary with more traffic than predicted, and new direct flights to both Germany and Colombia were recently announced.

Coatzacoalcos-Palenque stretch of Interoceanic Train to start operations

Prediction: The Interoceanic Train crossing the Isthmus of Tehuantepec will get increased interest and attention due to continued problems with the Panama Canal.

The result: This is another one that seems to be in the “too early to tell” category.

Trump’s recent suggestion that the U.S. take over the Panama Canal again could help or hurt Mexico’s cause…

Prediction: Mexico will become an increasingly important topic in the upcoming U.S. elections. Issues like immigration, fentanyl and drug cartels will cause some candidates to threaten significant actions against the country.

The result: CORRECT!

A significant part of Trump’s winning message was focused on what he would do on immigration, drug cartels and migrants from Mexico.

Prediction: Despite the campaign rhetoric, Mexico will increase its lead and share as the largest trading partner of the United States.

The result: CORRECT!

Mexico increased its exports to the U.S. and increased its share as the largest trading partner to now nearly 16% — ahead of Canada and with China now in third place.

Two-way trade between Mexico and US reaches record high

Prediction: Tesla will accelerate its plant investment in Monterrey.

The result: INCORRECT!

Tesla, blaming an uncertain electric vehicle market and the threat of tariffs, put an indefinite pause on the project to the dismay of many in the region.

Prediction: The number of U.S. and Canadian citizens moving to Mexico will continue to accelerate.

The result: Too early to tell.

I have not yet seen actual figures, but all anecdotal evidence I see and hear tells me that the numbers continue to increase.

Prediction:  A record number of international tourists will come to Mexico.

The result:  CORRECT!

Mexico has seen record numbers of international tourists and tourist spending this year.

International tourism spending up 5% through October, surpassing US $24 billion

Prediction: The Bank of Mexico will finally begin to lower interest rates in the first quarter of the year, which should weaken the peso gradually.

The result: CORRECT!

Rates were cut in March and for a total of five times this year, putting the current rate at 10%. The peso has weakened (albeit not gradually).

Prediction: The Mexican peso will end the year above 18 to the US dollar.

The result: CORRECT!

Although it seems like a no-brainer prediction now, let’s remember that it was at 16.3 not too long ago. The current rate is near 20.

Prediction: Mexico will end 2024 as the 10th largest economy in the world (moving up 2 places from 2023 and 4 places from 2022).

The result:  Too early to tell, but I am confident in giving myself an INCORRECT on this one due to Mexico’s low GDP growth this year.

The economy underperformed its potential growth rate yet again, and next year’s forecasts are being revised downward by just about everyone.

So in summary, I had 9 correct predictions, 5 incorrect and 3 that are still too early to tell.  Given that 2024 had increased volatility due to being an election year in the United States and Canada, I think I did okay, but with definite room for improvement.

How did 2024 play out for Mexico versus your expectations? What predictions did you make that were correct or incorrect?

Please share your thoughts and comments in the comments section and stay tuned for my Mexico Predictions for 2025 in my first column of the new year.

The post How accurate were my predictions for Mexico in 2024? A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

From a financial perspective, it was a painful decision, as at that point more than half of MND’s total revenue came from these types of ads. As you might imagine, the ads that most annoy you are by far also the most lucrative ones. Sexual dysfunction cures, toenail fungus treatments, dietary supplements and chest-enhancing products (for men and women) are precisely the ads that make the most money. But most people don’t want to see them, and they are created in a way that is meant to get your attention and distract you from reading the article so you click on the ad.

Since day one, our mission has been to build an MND that we would be proud to have our name attached to, and that meant making the painful decision to remove the total number of ads from the site. I remember how nervous we were about the financial hit we would take when we made that decision, but we knew it was the right thing to do. We wanted to send a strong message to readers that we were serious about not only creating great content, but also an enjoyable experience for the reader. When we did it, I told the team that I hoped we would keep growing subscribers to the point at which we could eliminate ads entirely.

Since that decision, Mexico News Daily has worked with four different advertising agency partners (always using the Google Ad Manager platform), to try to improve the quality of the remaining ad blocks that we had. To say the least, it has been a very frustrating experience. Google has done an outstanding job at completely dominating the digital ad world, which results in media companies like MND (and the agencies in the industry) having to resort to increasingly (from my perspective) terrible ads to continue to earn ad revenue.

What do I mean by “terrible ads”? We have increasingly been seeing ads on our site (placed by the agencies through Google Ad Manager) that are very deliberately trying to trick the reader. Ads that say “Click here to continue” or “Click here for customer service” or “Click here for a rebate coupon.” All of these ads falsely and deliberately give the impression to our readers that they are MND ads, only to take readers to another site that tries to trick them further into giving credit card or personal information. We obviously hate those types of ads, and despite many, many attempts to block them, they keep popping up with different URLs (website addresses). It is a never-ending game of wack-a-mole and it gets more difficult each day as the ads become increasingly sophisticated, thanks to artificial intelligence tools. So as a result, we decided to take proactive action.

It is with that backdrop that we are announcing today that MND is removing all external advertisements from our site, effective today. We want to be able to control all of the content on our site and ensure that our readers are never being tricked into clicking on something that is not part of MND. Our guiding principles are a great reader experience as well as one in which our readers can trust any link on our site.

This decision, of course, is yet another financial hit to our business, as we will now be reliant exclusively on subscription revenue to pay our team members, fund our software expenses (we need over 30 back-office software subscriptions to make MND run smoothly), and invest in growth initiatives. Tamanna and I still have yet to take one peso of salary in over two years, but we are confident that this is the right strategy. There will be short-term pain, but we will continue to build a better MND.

Our team takes very seriously our role to provide you with an apolitical, unbiased, and balanced front-row seat to Mexico across our news and features sections. It is a very exciting time for the world and for Mexico, and we are honored to be a trusted, reliable source of news and information for you.

Thank you for supporting MND and please consider sharing MND with family and friends so they get to know us as well. We make a great Christmas gift!

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.

The post Why is MND going ad-free? A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

I am a big believer in learning by reading or watching case studies about successful businesses, or by reading books on famous or impactful leaders throughout history. If you have yet to tune in, I highly recommend paying close attention to the case study of Mexico’s newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum. It is a real-life, real-time leadership case study playing out right before out eyes.

Let’s start with a quick refresher on President Sheinbaum, as she has a fascinating background.

• She’s 62 years old and was born in Mexico City.
• Her grandparents on both sides were immigrants to Mexico from Lithuania and Bulgaria
• She has an undergraduate degree in physics, a master’s degree in physics and a Ph.D. in energy engineering.
• She has authored over 100 articles and two books on energy, the environment and sustainable development.
• She completed her Ph.D. at Berkeley and lived in California for four years.
• She is married, has a daughter and a step-son, and is a grandmother.
• She contributed to a Nobel Peace Prize-winning report organized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• She was mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023.
• She became president of Mexico on Oct. 1, 2024.
• First woman president in Mexico’s history
• First Jewish president in Mexico’s history

President Sheinbaum has what is likely one of the most difficult jobs in the world right now. To begin with, she has the weight of millions of women throughout Mexico and the world on her shoulders as the first female president of Mexico. Her predecessor, AMLO, left her with a significant amount of “things to clean up” from his presidency. Although he did have a long list of accomplishments, most agree that he also:

• Underinvested in clean energy.
• Overinvested in the inefficient government run PEMEX energy company.
• Racked up considerable debt.
• Invested billions in the still-not-completed Maya Train and Trans-pennisula Train projects.
• Did not improve the country’s difficult security situation.

AMLO also proudly rejected invitations to participate in global forums with other world leaders, preferring to keep his focus on domestic issues. He sold the presidential airplane, making it more complicated for Sheinbaum to re-engage again in global forums. On her first foreign trip, she actually flew to the recent G20 meeting in Brazil on a commercial airline — in economy class!

(He also changed the presidential residence from Los Pinos in Chapultepec Park, which has housed the president since 1934, to the National Palace in Mexico City’s Zócalo.)

To further complicate matters, just one month after taking office, former President Trump, known for his tough talk on Mexico, won a second term in the U.S. Within days, he ratcheted up the rhetoric against Mexico on everything from migrants to drugs to trade agreements to deportations of Mexican citizens currently residing in the United States. Mexico’s other trade agreement partner, Canada, also began to suggest that Mexico should be cut out of the trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Can you see why the President Sheinbaum case study is shaping up to be such a fascinating one?

Let’s walk through just a few of the many leadership situations that she is facing. I think that it’s an interesting exercise to go beyond our initial “love her/dislike her” impulses and think about how we would react or respond in each situation below.

1. The former president preferred not to engage in international diplomacy and sold the presidential airplane to Tajikistan. You want to begin to re-engage Mexico in important international forums. Do you:

• Buy a new presidential airplane?
• Fly commercial airlines in business class?
• Fly commercial airlines in economy class?
• Open a NetJets account to rent a jet?
• Enroll in the Viva Aerobus and Volaris frequent flyer programs?

2. President-elect Trump threatens 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports to the U.S. “on day one.” Do you:

• Downplay the threat and potentially be perceived as weak by Mexicans?
• Respond with logic explaining why and how that would result in negative consequences for both countries?
• Respond with passion explaining how absurd of a threat it is and face further wrath from the new U.S. administration?
• Respond with the threat of your own tariffs?

3. Several Canadian provincial prime ministers begin to publicly state that Mexico should be cut out of the USMCA trade deal, and a new one should be signed between only the U.S. and Canada. Do you:

• Ignore the comments and potentially be perceived as weak by Mexicans?
• Respond with thoughtful logic and data?
• Respond with the same political-driven rhetoric and risk looking hot-headed or unpresidential?
• Close the Mexican border to all Canadians for the winter as punishment?

4. Multiple Chinese car companies have expressed interest in making significant, multi-billion-dollar investments in Mexico that would create tens of thousands of jobs producing cutting edge technology electric vehicles. In addition, tens of thousands of low-cost, high-quality Chinese made cars are entering your country each month. The U.S. has recently put in place tariffs that all but halts Chinese cars and auto investment coming into the U.S. and is now pressuring you to do the same in Mexico. Do you:

• Follow the lead of the U.S. and block new Chinese auto investments into Mexico?
• Follow the lead of the U.S. and block new Chinese-made vehicles from being imported into Mexico?
• Try to find a middle path that allows you to court Chinese investment while still maintaining relations with the U.S.?

5. Cartel violence continues to be a major problem throughout the country. Your predecessors’ “hugs not bullets” strategy clearly did not work and failed to provide the hoped-for reduction in violent crime. The U.S. is strongly pressuring you to improve the situation, and quickly, to prevent tariffs and other potential measures. There are even rumors that the U.S. will attempt to take action on Mexican soil if you don’t. Attempting to improve the situation would likely result in a short-term increase in violence throughout the country. Do you:

• Try to let sleeping dogs lie and continue with the “hugs not bullets” strategy, giving further ammunition to the U.S. to apply pressure through tariffs and other measures?
• Try to take on the cartels in a meaningful way, risking potential civilian unrest and casualties?
• Let the U.S. military help take on the cartels on Mexican soil?
• Try another strategy in the decades-long battle against the cartels and the drug trade?

6. The new U.S. administration has made clear its intention to stop migrants from coming across the Mexico-U.S. border. They are putting pressure on you to help make it happen. Do you:

• Not take action, since the migrants do not intend to stay in Mexico?
• Take action to prevent the issue from spilling over into other points of discussion (i.e.  tariffs)?

7. Your predecessor has made massive investments in trains — both freight and passenger. The Interoceanic Train is a freight and passenger network from one coast to another with aspirations to create economic growth in one of Mexico’s poorest areas and provide an alternative to the Panama Canal. The Maya Train is a passenger network connecting dozens of ruins and touristic areas. Both cost billions of U.S. dollars and have had huge cost overruns. Both will cost billions to do operate and maintain each year going forward. Do you:

• Continue on as planned with these two projects?
• Look to privatize them and cut your losses?
• Double down with more investments in more train projects?

8. Your predecessor did very little green energy investment and, in fact, further invested in PEMEX (creating a debt burden of nearly U.S. $100 billion). Pemex is a mess, energy production is declining, it has massive pension burdens and is not focused on green energy. Do you:

• Look to sell off or privatize parts of the business to make it sustainable?
• Continue to fund the business and push the problem to the next administration, as has been done year after year?
• Force necessary change within the PEMEX organization?

9. It is estimated that there are over 4 million undocumented Mexican immigrants living in the United States. Trump made it a key campaign message that he would “send back” undocumented immigrants to their country of origin. Do you:

• Not take action and assume it is a false campaign promise?
• Take it seriously and begin making preparations?

These are just a few of the many issues facing President Sheinbaum, and she has only been in the office for two months! She is a strong leader with a powerful mandate from the voters, but arguably is in one of the toughest jobs in the world right now.

President Sheinbaum will need to have incredible poise, stamina, intellect, maturity and leadership skills to navigate the country through what is arguably an extraordinarily complex time. Many leaders have a “honeymoon period” in which they get a few months, or even 100 days, to get the lay of the land before having to engage in big decision making. Sheinbaum clearly did not have that luxury and has had to hit the ground running.

Let’s hope and pray for the best for her and for the country. President Sheinbaum does not have an easy job and the next six years will most certainly make for a fascinating case study for future generations to play close attention to and learn from.

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.

The post Claudia Sheinbaum, a case study: A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The columnist is one whose work I have read diligently for over a decade, and who I respect for her opinions and perspectives on Latin America. But this particular column’s thesis of a “missed opportunity” was, to me, totally incorrect.

A review of key nearshoring and export data would make it hard to conclude that the opportunity has been missed:

• As of September, Mexico has received US $35.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024, representing 8.5% growth over the same period of 2023.
• Janurary through September 2024, private companies have announced plans to invest a total of US $64.7 billion in Mexico.
• From October 2022 to July 2024, Mexico has seen 118 foreign investment announcements totaling US $122.7 billion.
• Of the above mentioned $122.7 billion, so far only $13.2 billion of these projects have been completed — meaning 89% or $109 billion remains unrealized.
• There are 93 new industrial parks currently being built in Mexico, which will bring the country’s total to 460.
• As of the close of Q3 2024, Mexico’s exports to the United States had increased 6.5% over the same period last year.
• Just last year, Mexico became the leading exporter to the United States for the first time in 20 years.
• At the close of Q3 2024, Mexico continues to consolidate its lead, now representing 15.9% of total imports to the U.S., versus 14.4% for Canada and 10.8% for China.

These numbers present the real story, show a clear trend, and provide no evidence of a “missed opportunity.” In fact, if the next U.S. administration enacts a 60% tariff on China as has been suggested, then Mexico could become even more attractive and further increase its leading position in exports to the United States.

As Mexico News Daily has frequently reported, business leaders on the ground in Mexico insist that the nearshoring boom is real, that it is in fact happening, and that there is much more impact yet to come.

More importantly, the results of many companies show just how real the trends are. Sales of many export-oriented companies are growing double digits, profits are increasing, and many of those companies are making significant investments in plants, equipment and people to continue driving growth in the years to come. Industrial parks are at record low levels of occupancy and new ones are being built throughout the country. That is precisely why it’s so important to listen to business leaders on issues like these, hear firsthand what they are doing, and look beyond the political rhetoric. Business leaders make decisions that involve money and often long-term investments, so observing their actions matters.

There is, of course, much uncertainty on the horizon for global trade flows and manufacturing plans given the promises of significant tariffs coming soon from the Trump administration — and Mexico will most certainly be impacted. But it’s hard to not see this uncertainty having an even more significant impact on China, which should only make Mexico even more attractive as a nearshoring destination. Mexico has and always will have geography in its favor, and its cost of labor, workforce skills and productivity levels are globally competitive.

The nearshoring boom has not had as large an impact as quickly as had been hoped for Mexico, but I think it’s important to recognize that such significant changes in supply chain strategy often take time. Many companies spent the last several decades moving manufacturing to Asian countries, so it is reasonable to expect that changes in a company’s manufacturing footprint do not happen overnight.

It is also likely that many companies were waiting for more clarity on the Mexican elections, the U.S. elections and potential trade policy changes. With some of those big questions resolved, it seems reasonable to expect that things will now begin to move faster.

Mexico, despite its imperfections, has shown to be a consistent and reliable destination for investment for many years. I personally think that we are still in the early innings of what will be a significant nearshoring opportunity for both Mexico and North America as a whole for years to come. Declaring that it was a missed opportunity is neither correct nor constructive.

The real missed opportunity was chance to present an accurate picture of nearshoring in Mexico. What was presented in the article is far from the reality that I see and hear on the ground, or from what the data shows. It was yet another example of what I have seen as the consistent trend of international media to often only focus on the negative side of the story when it comes to Mexico. That was, of course, a significant motivator of ours in buying Mexico News Daily: to present a more complete and comprehensive perspective on the country that is sorely lacking in most international media today.

I will say that the nearshoring boom has not come as quickly as hoped and has not yet had nearly the impact expected. Yet hardly a day goes by without critical improvements in the country’s security, energy, water, education and infrastructure. Mexico (both the public and private sectors) have much work to do to fully realize the benefits of the nearshoring opportunity, but it is moving in the right direction.

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.

The post Did Mexico really ‘miss the nearshoring boom’? A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

My wife and I recently went on a road trip to some parts of Mexico we had not yet discovered. The objective of the trip was precisely to “not really plan anything” so that we could spend our time listening, learning, and observing the communities and the people that live there. (Yes, that is a very geeky thing to do, but that’s how we roll.)

Our first stop was Ajijic, a charming little town on the shores of Lake Chapala an hour outside of Guadalajara. I had been hearing about Ajijic since I studied in Guadalajara 30 years ago, but never actually went there until this trip. We rolled into town at the tail end of the Día de Muertos long weekend, and the town was still buzzing with activities, music and color. We were given a great tour of town by Greg Custer, a long time resident, local historian and MND writer who recently completed a “Where to Live in Mexico” series of articles for us.

We were impressed and amazed at how many people have made Ajijic their “happy place” over the years — from famous writers and musicians to expats looking for a quieter life and slower pace, to Guadalajara families looking for a place to relax outside of the city. The charming town sits on a narrow strip of land between impressive mountains and Mexico’s biggest lake. The setting is impressive any time of the year, but even more so now that the mountains are lush green and the lake brimming with water after a good rainy season.

We spent time walking around over our two days there, visiting the Lake Chapala Society, and observing the many expats who have made the location their home. The common threads we felt were a strong sense of community, a slow pace of life, a beautiful and convenient location, and affordability.

Our next stop was La Manzanilla (not Manzanillo) on Jalisco’s Costalegre, about three hours south of Puerto Vallarta. Part of our inspiration for this stop was a series of articles written by MND writer Meagan Drillinger that described the area as one still relatively untouched from mass tourism. La Manzanilla was tiny. We stayed there for four nights and never drove the car a single time after arriving. It’s the kind of place that forces you to slow down, relax and scrap the action-packed agenda. It’s a place to just be and observe nature and the still-light touch of humanity on nature.

Mornings and evenings consisted of long walks on a beautiful, nearly 3-mile beach.  Our entertainment was watching the birds fishing, dolphins jumping, fisherman at work and families playing in the water — very peaceful and calming.

Over several days there, we chatted with locals, foreigners from the U.S. and Canada, and Mexicans from other parts of the country. All described La Manzanilla as their happy place, a place still untouched by the increasingly fast-paced and crazy world we live in. A place to reconnect with oneself and nature. We found ourselves drifting into a state of relaxation that neither one of us was entirely comfortable with yet, given our busy MND life, so we decided to head north to Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta is another place that, increasingly, is becoming a happy place for many people, for a myriad of reasons. The setting of PV is beautiful: It has an incredible sweeping bay with great beaches and stunning mountains. The weather is great for much of the year, albeit damn hot and sticky for a few rainy season summer months. What many people find irresistible about PV is its charm. There aren’t many bigger cities on the Pacific Ocean in Mexico (Acapulco being an obvious exception) and Puerto Vallarta has managed to grow significantly while still finding a balance of a connection with nature and a strong Mexican flavor.

Puerto Vallarta has charming neighborhoods with great restaurants, shopping and nightlife, all just a few steps away from the beach. The airport continues to grow and now has direct flights to most major cities in North America. Both to the north and south of the city, within a short car ride, are beach towns with totally different vibes. Tolerant, multicultural, scenic and lively — Puerto Vallarta seems to tick the right boxes for an increasing amount of people year after year.

And that, perhaps, was one of my biggest learnings (and validations) from the road trip.  More and more people from around the world are finding their “happy place” in Mexico. It can be in a landlocked, dry mountain town like San Miguel de Allende; a small town on a lake like Ajijic; a tiny, quiet fishing village like La Manzanilla; or a bustling, vibrant city on the beach like Puerto Vallarta.

Of course people can and do find their “happy places” all over the world, but there is something about Mexico that increasingly lands it on the list of so many people. If you are finding yourself feeling like you are not in your “happy place” or looking for an additional one, why not come to Mexico and explore the many diverse options throughout the country? If you take time to look, I bet you will find it here!

The post The joy of finding one’s ‘happy place’: A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Living in Mexico, that hasn’t changed. When my wife and I travel around the country, which we do frequently, we have always taken either a bus or an airplane to our destination.  But as I recently hit an important (albeit, slightly depressing) birthday milestone, we were brainstorming how to celebrate and an idea occurred to us: What if we took a road trip to some parts of Mexico we have not yet discovered? It seemed like a good idea; some places are hard to get to by bus or flight, and we thought we needed some downtime to just chat in the car on the road. So we did it.

How did it go? Well, we survived the trip and I am still married … but barely. Here are my top eight observations on taking a Mexican road trip:

1. Planning a road trip in Mexico requires a very different mindset than in the U.S. or Canada. Driving should be done during daylight hours and the distance covered each day will be significantly less. Every spring break, my family would pack up the family van in Wisconsin and drive non-stop through the night for a total of 20 hours to go on a ski trip in Colorado. You are not going to do that in Mexico — neither the all-nighter nor the ski trip!

2. Depending on the type of driver you are, you most likely will not find your time on the road in Mexico very relaxing. There are sudden lane changes, frequent toll booths, extremely sudden lane closures due to construction, speed bumps (of course!), sharp curves, and often double-load semis driving as slow as 10 mph. The result: You likely will not even want the distraction of music, a podcast, a coffee or a talking spouse, and will likely have your hands locked in the “10 and 2” position the entire time.

3. Baños, food stops and gas stations require careful planning. This is a very big difference from a north-of-the-border road trip. In the U.S. or Canada, we are used to multiple gas stations, restaurants of all types, and acceptable bathrooms at literally every single exit. A highway driver north of the border is rarely more than a mile or two away from truck stop hot dogs, trucker caps, decent bathrooms and junk food. In Mexico, we often would go for 30-plus minutes without a gas station and for several hours without encountering food I would want to eat, beyond Oxxo-type provisions or a baño I couldn’t ask my wife to use without fear of a divorce.

4. Highway driving in Mexico is generally safe, if you are smart and take a lot of extra precautions. Not all states and not all areas are safe. Smaller roads can be risky.  Night driving is unsafe. Hanging out at truck stops can be unsafe. But if you are smart — drive in daylight hours, use your Google Maps app, and drive carefully at speeds much slower than you would up north —  you will very likely be just fine.

5. Frequent comments I have heard from gringos to “beware of the federales” seem to me to be a lot of hyperbole. I do not and would not drive in Mexico City as I have heard many stories of traffic police shakedowns. But on this road trip, we never saw a police car “trying to radar-gun a speeding car.” In fact, we saw very few police cars on the roads the entire drive. In full disclosure, I have been stopped by Mexican police close to a dozen times in my nearly 30 years of driving in the country (always with rental cars driving short distances and most of the time because I did something wrong). However, not one single time — not one — have I been asked to pay a bribe or received a ticket. That being said, I am absolutely certain that my fluent Spanish has helped me get out of such a situation more than a few times.

6. The scenery on your Mexican road trip will likely be varied and quite stunning. Given the country’s many mountains, often rapidly changing climate zones and prevalence of microclimates, we would see incredible changes in trees and vegetation in just a few hours.  What makes the actual driving stressful is precisely what makes the scenery so beautiful: Driving in mountains is never easy!

7. Toll roads are the way to go. Yes, they are expensive, very expensive, but they really are the only logical option. Our road trip of approximately 25 hours of total “time on the road” cost over US $200 in tolls. However, toll roads are much faster, much safer, and in case of a breakdown of any type, would be much more conducive to getting help. Note: I have gotten two flat tires in Mexico (actually both in the same 24 hour period) and in both cases got outstanding and affordable help despite not being on toll roads at the time. Another way to look at toll roads in Mexico to help “ease the pain” of the cost is to remember that they are a pretty good model of “those that use them, pay for them” versus charging higher taxes for everyone to help pay for them — regardless of the usage. Does this make for a better model? … I’m not sure.

8. I love my wife and have enjoyed every minute of our 21 year marriage, but that still doesn’t mean we are cut out for road trips. After this one, we found ourselves thinking that perhaps why we still love each other is precisely because we haven’t taken road trips together. We had a great time and will for sure do shorter road trips again, but definitely reconfirmed that we are more of a “bus and airplane” couple!

So where did we go? We started in our hometown of San Miguel de Allende, drove through the state of Guanajuato to Ajijic (Lake Chapala) in Jalisco. Then we drove down through Colima to the beach town of La Manzanilla, up the coast to Puerto Vallarta, over to Guadalajara, and then back home to SMA via León — all in 10 days.

I will write more on some of my non-driving observations of the journey in my next column.

Do you agree with my thoughts on driving in Mexico? Have you had similar good or bad experiences on the highways? Did you test a marriage or friendship with a Mexican road trip?  Please share in the comments!

The post Is taking a road trip in Mexico a crazy idea? A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Both energy and education are equally unique issues as well that need significant and urgent attention nationwide. To better understand what is being done and learn from one of the leading companies in the world in both water and energy, I recently met with the CEO of Siemens’ Mexico, Central America and Caribbean business, Alejandro Preinfalk. This year Siemens is celebrating 130 years since the German company began doing business in Mexico. One of the first projects completed by Siemens that year, 1894, was the illumination of the famous Paseo de la Reforma street in central Mexico City — so needless to say, the company has a bit of experience in the area of energy in Mexico.

Fast forward to the present day, and Siemens now has over 7,000 employees in the country including over 1,000 new hires just this year. The company has opened three new factories this year in the cities of Ciudad Juárez, Querétaro and Monterrey, bringing them to a total of six plants in the country. Siemens also has two R&D centers in Monterrey and Querétaro and a distribution center in Guadalajara.

The company is proud of the fact that it is now sourcing 50% of its products locally in Mexico — a figure that has increased and will continue to do so. Siemens estimates that for every one of its employees in Mexico, an additional 10 indirect jobs have been created with suppliers in Mexico to support its business. Approximately half of Siemens Mexico production is for local use, while the other half is for export. This is a higher percentage of local use than many companies I talk to, who export a much higher percentage of production.

Siemens has doubled their Mexico revenue in just the past four years. When I told Mr. Preinfalk that I often hear doubts about nearshoring’s impact on Mexico from (non-business) thought leaders and economists, he was adamant that “nearshoring is real, it’s happening.”

He also mentioned that “expectations management” was important as the full impact of nearshoring on the country will take time yet. The record low vacancy in many industrial parks throughout the country, he noted, is evidence of what is yet to come.

Two of the major focus areas that the company is focused on in Mexico are automation/digitalization and electrification, both of which have a significant impact in the water and energy industries. A few examples of the many projects and technologies that the company is working on include:

• Detecting leakages in the water distribution network
• Conserving energy of pumps
• Remote flow meters to monitor and control water usage
• Intelligent farming
• Creating digital twins to find ways to optimize water and energy usage

Mr. Preinfalk talked at length and with great pride about the work being done by the company in the area of training and education. Siemens has helped over 1 million students in Mexico through its work to help strengthen science and technology (STEM) education in Mexican schools, especially with young girls. The company is now at a level of 50% women in its new hires nationwide. The company has trained over 30,000 students, educators and future industry professionals nationwide in just the past two years on industrial software and technologies.

He also talked about an initiative called “Mexico 4.0 Commission: Innovation and Industrial Digitalization,” in which Siemens has collaborated with the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of the United Mexican States (Concamin). This collaboration led to the development of an app that allows companies to do “digital maturity assessments” to help identify gaps and build a plan to better integrate digitization into its operations.

It’s no secret that Mexico faces important challenges in the areas of water, energy and workforce education and preparation. I often hear thought leaders and columnists lamenting the seemingly insurmountable challenges and the slow pace of improvement. It is exciting and inspirational to learn what companies like Siemens are doing in Mexico to help solve the challenges and doing so in a way that takes into account the importance of helping to make a positive impact in the education of the country’s current and future workforce.

It’s no surprise to me that Siemens has been able to double its business in Mexico in just the past 4 years, given its focus on solving key challenges facing the country and investments in its people. Mexico needs them to continue to be successful and continue to invest in workforce development. The work the company is doing and the impact it is having are hugely important for the future of Mexico.

The post Siemens shows how industry can help solve Mexico’s water and energy challenges: A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

As many of you have noticed, we recently covered both the Mexican and U.S. elections in a fact-based manner. We reported day in and day out, providing expert analysis of what top politicians, business leaders and political analysts had to say. We took great care to present voices and perspectives from both sides of the political aisle. We presented you with the facts and information to form your own opinions without telling you how we think you should think. We are proud of being your impartial guide through two very polarizing elections — something not many news outlets can say in 2024.

Our team is constantly thinking about how we can better serve our readers. That is why we have recently launched our MND Local sections with expanded local content and the opportunity to read the stories in your area that matter the most to you. That is also why we recently launched a YouTube channel with digital video shorts of a portion of our content. Have you checked out our YouTube page yet?  It’s pretty cool.

It is also why we continue to launch a variety of new content series like: “Water in Mexico,” “My American Dream is in Mexico,” and “Taste of Mexico” — just to name a few.

Leveraging new technologies to improve our offering

I am excited to announce today that we are now going to begin offering our paid subscribers two new cutting-edge products that we are certain will help further deliver on our mission to educate, inform, and entertain you.

The first one will be called MND Deep Dive. Starting today and on a regular basis going forward, our team will be bringing you an audio podcast “Deep Dive” by using AI tools to analyze MND articles and create a podcast discussion on some of the most important topics facing the country.

Our first Deep Dive will focus on the arrival of Chinese car companies, specifically BYD, who are evaluating the possibility of nearshoring in Mexico in order to access the North American market more effectively. In upcoming weeks, expect to hear other trending stories like the movement of the Mexican Peso, the case for the Maya Train, and the potential of Mexico’s railroad alternative to the Panama Canal.   

The podcast will arm you with additional information, present different opinions and perspectives, and shed new light on complex topics in an accessible manner. MND will analyze and summarize a number of our articles to bring you an overview podcast that helps make sense of it all.

The second product is called MND Perspectives. Here, we will analyze my CEO perspectives articles and present you with interesting and different ways to think about the topics we cover each week. Today, we will dive into Mexico’s minimum wage and the pros and cons of President Sheinbaum’s plan to increase salaries to US $500 per month by the time she leaves office in 2030.

The MND team has used AI tools to create these discussions and give you new perspectives on important topics in an effort to help you better understand them.

It’s important to note that both of these podcasts, despite being AI voices, had a heavy human touch. The articles were written and edited by humans. The podcast preparation and editing were done by humans.  We expect both of these products will improve and evolve quickly over the next weeks and months as the technology and our use of it improves.

The Team at MND is committed to continuing to get better and we are reinvesting every penny of our subscriber revenue to be your best source of news and information on Mexico. We are confident that the Mexico News Daily podcast series will be another platform to further educate, inform, and entertain youThank you for supporting us and for reading, watching, (and now listening to!) MND. The best is yet to come!

The post Introducing MND Deep Dive and MND Perspectives – two exciting new AI audio products from our team appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a story on how people were coping with pre-election stress. Several of the people interviewed referenced their favorite drug or alcoholic beverage to help them keep calm.

Here in Mexico, the stress is also high — perhaps even more so. Mexicans and residents in the country are dealing with a barrage of headlines about the new Mexican administration under President Sheinbaum (which began just a month ago). At the same time, they are trying to figure out what the new U.S. President might mean for their own country.

It’s important to remember that many Mexicans have family on both sides of the border and, as a result, are very impacted by U.S.-Mexico relations.

Is a ‘big move’ coming for the Mexican peso?

In the past several months, as per Banxico, the Mexican peso has weakened sharply and is now above 20 to the US dollar. Every day I read pundits predicting that it could soon go to 25. Despite the confidence of those making the predictions, I have yet to read any rational economic arguments for such a big move.

As we have witnessed, currencies often move irrationally in the short term, and a big Mexican peso move is definitely possible.

Further complicating a clear view of the future, there have been mixed messages coming from the Mexican government.

On one hand, key members of the Sheinbaum administration have moved quickly to send positive messages to investors. A visit to New York City by Mexico’s Finance Minister, Rogelio Ramírez de la O, as well as statements by Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard of the importance of creating a favorable environment for foreign direct investment have been positive steps.

How do we make sense of all that is happening?

The administration’s recent U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue was also a positive first step. Sheinbaum’s team has been clear that they view increased cooperation and coordination with North America and reduced imports from elsewhere as a top priority.

On the other hand, Sheinbaum’s push to move forward on judicial reform continues to cause alarm. Despite concerns voiced by both domestic and foreign businesses and leaders, the administration has moved quickly, resulting in the tendering of resignations of eight of the 11 Supreme Court justices on the same day earlier this week.

A careful reading of the details of the resignations brings passionate arguments from each side as to the real motives — but it’s clear that such a move does not improve investor confidence, to say the least.

So how do we make sense of all that is happening? I’m often asked by people on both sides of the border which US presidential candidate I think would be best for Mexico. Unfortunately, I do not have a straightforward answer.

Former President Trump by far has had the most vocal comments about what he would do with tariffs with Mexico. As a result, many think he would be “bad for Mexico”. But the current USMCA agreement, which has undeniably been good for the country and allowed Mexico to steadily increase exports to the point of now being the No. 1 exporter to the United States, was signed during the Trump administration.

Ironically, Vice President Harris was one of only 11 Senators to vote against the agreement. If elected president, Trump would most certainly take a hard line on Mexico on many topics, but it appears he would likely take an even harder line on China, which could ultimately benefit Mexico.

Harris might not be as hard on tariffs on Mexico, but also might not be as hard on China. As much as I would like to provide a clear answer, it’s really not obvious yet which candidate would be better for Mexico. There are still too many unknowns.

Only a few days of high anxiety remain. Let’s pray for a clear winner and a clear path forward. That clarity will hopefully allow Mexico and the new U.S. administration to begin engaging on the many important issues and opportunities that the two countries face.

The post As the US election nears, anxiety is running high in Mexico: A perspective from our CEO appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Hardly a day goes by when we are not inundated with stories from across Mexico with concerns about judicial reform, water scarcity, inflation, infrastructure, security issues and more (to name a few). It’s easy to get pessimistic with these headlines and, I would argue, miss the bigger picture of what is really going on in the country.

With that in mind, I have taken up the task of interviewing CEOs of key companies throughout the country to hear first-hand how they see the market. At the forefront of every conversation is this question: Given the current political and economic climate, how should our MND readers feel about the economic prospects of the country?

Recently, I met with the CEO of Bayer Mexico, Manuel Bravo, to find out more about what the company is up to in the country. Below are 10 important takeaways from our conversation:

1. Bayer has been in Mexico for 103 years and has three separate divisions: Pharma, Consumer Health and Crop Science (agricultural products).
2. Bravo, a proud Mexican, is the first non-European CEO to lead the company in Mexico in its over 120-year history in the country.
3. Bayer has doubled its net sales in Mexico over the past five years, with revenue now exceeding 1.5 billion euros. The company is confident that its double-digit growth rate in Mexico will continue over the next five years.
4. Bayer has over 5,000 employees in Mexico in eight plants and 15 R&D centers across many states nationwide.
5. The company has invested over 300 million euros over the past five years in Mexico in capital expenditures (plants and equipment), new technologies and innovations.
6. Bayer recently announced that its Lerma plant near Mexico City will be one of just three R&D “centers of excellence” globally for its Consumer Health division.
7. Research by the company shows that nine out of every 10 Mexican households currently have a Bayer product in their home. The Pharma division in particular has a major focus on developing and commercializing treatments in three areas of significant need throughout Mexico: kidney disease (Bayer has a new Type 2 diabetes drug that helps target kidney disease), prostate cancer and menopause.
8. Products and services from Bayer’s Crop Science division are already being used by 3.5 million farmers in Mexico. The company has set a goal of helping over 5 million farmers in the country by 2030 with its vast array of agricultural offerings in both products and services.
9. An interesting new initiative by Bayer to reach more small farmers is called “Better Life Farming” in which the company places small stores (kiosks) in rural communities to make it easier for farmers to get help. Bayer already has over 100 of these kiosks nationwide, with 500 possible in the next several years. A fascinating fact about these stores is that over 70% are run by women. When I asked Manuel why, he said that in many of these communities, the women take care of the money of the family and in many cases, the men are working abroad and so it is the women who are doing the farming.
10. Mexico is the global center for a new revolution coming soon in corn. After 15 years of studying how to shorten the life cycle of the plants to accommodate areas with water scarcity, Bayer’s “short corn” was launched in Mexico four years ago.
    
    • This year, the second generation of short corn was planted and the results are impressive. The corn grows to 2.2 meters high compared to nearly 4-meter-high conventional corn. The corn husks grow at 1 meter high versus 1.8 meters high in conventional corn. The most exciting part: 120,000 plants can be grown in one hectare of land versus 90,000 plants of conventional corn.
    • The result is an ultra-high-density corn that grows significantly more corn per hectare with the same amount of water and fertilizer. The team is working hard towards an even more ambitious target of 150,000 plants per hectare soon in future generations. Manuel confidently and proudly told me that I would soon be seeing Mexican short corn in my native Wisconsin as well as around the world.

It was impossible to not leave the meeting excited and inspired by Manuel as he shared what the Bayer team is up to in Mexico. The company is creating good jobs, investing in new technologies, helping rural farmers and women entrepreneurs and addressing key health issues affecting the country, all while developing a new type of corn that could revolutionize the crop globally.

The team at Mexico News Daily is honored to be your front-row seat to Mexico — helping educate, inform and entertain you by bringing you a complete picture of what is happening in the country.

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for over 27 years.

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