The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) points out in a recent report that Mexico’s plan to attract industrial activities in development hubs is based on several instruments, not only on the construction of strategic infrastructure, but also includes tax incentives and technical education initiatives.
He adds that the Podebis are part of the Tehuantepec Isthmus Interoceanic Corridor project and are designed to house specific industrial productions, with a view to becoming clusters.
The federal government delimited 10 Podebis in Oaxaca and Veracruz, then two more were announced for Chiapas, but these have not been specified.
Although it was initially intended for the development of the most backward entities in the south-southeast region, the government is giving signals that this is not limited to the poorest and other states in the region can also benefit.
What did Yucatan do to have its development poles?
The governor of Yucatan, Mauricio Vila Dosal, negotiated directly with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to include the entity within the Podebis.
This is at a time of prosperity, since the state has more than 350 new projects from companies such as Airbus, Mercado Libre, Amazon, Walmart, Heineken, Accenture and Warbird Marine Holdings, which represent an investment of more than 150,000 million pesos.
Thus, after the Vila Dosal negotiation, a few weeks ago the federal government declared in a publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation, two Podebis in Yucatán: Progreso I and Mérida I.
These hubs will be located on the Mérida-Progreso highway and in the Yucatán Science and Technology Park and will serve 11 sectors: electrical and electronics; semiconductors; automotive; medical devices; pharmaceutical; agroindustry; electric power generation and distribution equipment; machinery and equipment; information and communication technologies; metals and petrochemicals.
It was through the work of the Yucatan Secretariat of Economic Development and Labor, and the federal Secretariats of Economy, and Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) that 11 branches of industry were included, since there was only one branch in the special economic zone project.
So a few days ago these Podebis were presented with great fanfare by the government of Yucatan to the representatives of the main business organizations in the country.
