The US delegation was headed and sponsored by the Equis Institute led by Dan Restrepo, in collaboration with the US Embassy in Mexico.
Academy
It is well known that Mexico is internationally recognized for its skilled labor, but where is it trained? In the case of Bajío, particularly in Querétaro, an important cluster of the automotive and aerospace industry has been established, which is the Aeronautical University of Querétaro (UNAQ).
This place, located near companies such as Vuhl Automotive, which builds the Mexican supercar of the same name, and Bombardier, trains the workforce to meet the needs of the industry.
In a tour of the corridors of this educational center, its rector, Enrique Gerardo Sosa, commented that there they train the workforce in four axes: 1) training at a basic technical level, 2) higher university technician, 3) engineering and 4) master’s degree.
The study plans, he explained, are put together according to the needs of the companies that are located in its surroundings and in the Bajío.
UNAQ has been recognized by foreign educational institutions such as Purdue, as well as by the Mexican Air Force, with whom it has collaborative work.
Companies
A few kilometers from UNAQ, is the Vuhl Automotive plant, a Mexican company that manufactures a super sports car. Guillermo Echeverría, who together with his brother founded the company, said that this car is for those who have already driven cars like Porche, Ferrari or Lamborghini.
In Querétaro, he said, around 12 units are assembled per year, which are sold inside and outside of Mexican territory.
Vuhl, whose starting price is $168,000 and can go up to $235,000, is an ultra-light, high-performance car armed with professionals graduated from UNAQ, in this symbiosis between academia and the private sector.
In addition to the car, at Vuhl, they work assembling parts for other companies in the automotive industry such as Acura and other productive sectors.
As a result of the appearance of the coronavirus and, before that, due to the trade war between the United States and China, the world found itself in need of making its production chains shorter and more agile.
According to figures from the Ministry of Economy, there are some 400 companies seeking to move part of their production from Asia to Mexico.
The Querétaro cluster, which has 60 members, generates 1.4 billion dollars in sales of products and services. “In bloc we are stronger,” said Verónica Méndez, president of the Querétaro aerospace cluster.
“Every two seconds a GE engine takes off in the world. Of these planes, most of the engineering is provided from Querétaro, by Mexican engineers,” he added, while noting that the aerospace industry in the entity adds 8,700 jobs.
Government
In Querétaro is the fourth largest aerospace hub in the world, boasted Tania Palacios, Secretary of Sustainable Development of the Queretaro capital.
As well as the aerospace sector, the entity houses companies from related sectors such as manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, technology, but there is also a part dedicated to creative industries.
The government is attentive to the needs of the industry, making tailored suits for each case, not only in the fiscal part, said businessman Renato Villaseñor.
As part of the tours of Governor Mauricio Kuri, more than talking about what is done at the government level, he takes representatives of the different sectors to tell their success stories.
Regarding security, one of the pending issues throughout Mexico, the businessmen who participated in the meeting assured that they felt safe, not only in the workplace, but also in the family aspect.
