“We have attracted an investment of more or less five billion dollars to Mexico for the installation of the largest electric vehicle factory in the world,” Foreign Relations Undersecretary Martha Delgado said in a video. on Twitter.

"This investment materialized after 14 months of work (...) We continue to work", she continued.

"I'm going to Austin, TX to attend @elonmusk @Tesla CEO @elonmusk announcement of their investments in 2023," Ms. Delgado added, in the text accompanying her video filming her solo departure from the airport. from Mexico City.

The slightly offbeat announcement of a simple "Under-Secretary for Multilateral Affairs" completed the first elements given that morning by the President of the Republic, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Tesla will set up its factory in Monterrey, in the north of the country, near the border with the United States, announced the head of state.

"It's going to mean a huge investment and lots and lots of jobs," Lopez Obrador continued, adding that the company would give more details from Wednesday.

"I want to thank Mr. Elon Musk because he was very respectful and very attentive. He understood the importance of taking into account the problem of the shortage of water", underlined the president of nationalist left, specifying to have discussed twice with the CEO of Tesla.

A Tesla car in Bangkok, Thailand, December 7, 2022 © Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

"There is a first commitment, which is that of using recycled water throughout the manufacturing process of electric cars".

Located just over 200 km from the border with Texas, Monterrey is one of the economic and industrial engines of Mexico, a member country of the OECD.

The region experienced a severe drought last year.

Local authorities rationed the distribution of water to populations in July.

Third overseas factory

This will be Tesla's third factory overseas and the first in Latin America.

Elon Musk's company already has a "gigafactory" in Germany, near Berlin, and another in China, in Shanghai.

At the beginning of February, the German BMW announced an investment of 870 million dollars to manufacture electric cars in Mexico.

Mexico has potential lithium deposits in the state of Sonora (north).

The Mexican president signed a decree on February 18 nationalizing the possible future production of lithium -- considered "property of the Nation" -- "so that foreigners cannot exploit it, neither Russia nor China, nor the United States," he said.

Elon Musk at a press conference near Boca Chica, Texas, February 10, 2022 © JIM WATSON / AFP/Archives

Mexico is the world's seventh-largest automobile producer with three million vehicles manufactured in 2021, according to the Mexican Automotive Industry Association (AMIA).

The German groups Volkswagen and Audi, American General Motors and Ford, and Japanese Honda, Nissan and Toyota have vehicle or engine manufacturing units in the country, a signatory to the free trade agreement with the United States and Canada. , and gateway to Latin America.

The South Korean Hyundai and Stellantis (group born from the merger in 2021 of Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler) also have factories in Mexico.

Foreign investment in the automotive sector accounted for $5.3 billion in 2021, according to AMIA.

The automotive industry accounted for 3.5% of GDP and 930,000 jobs that year, from the same source.

In 2022, foreign direct investment in Mexico amounted to $35.3 billion, up 12% from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy.

The United States is by far the leading investor in Mexico ($16 billion) ahead of Canada ($3.8 billion).

In 2021, Mexico was among the ten countries in the world receiving the most foreign investment, according to the investment company BlackRock.

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© 2023 AFP