LEON, Mexico, October 26, 2016. – Mario Hernandez is a US citizen, his parents are originally from Monterrey, and he currently lives in Silao, Guanajuato, because he was able to get a high paying job in cargo transportation, working for different automotive industry suppliers throughout Mexico.
Mario, as thousands of other foreigners, came to Guanajuato as a result of the exponential automotive industry expansion in central Mexico, with the arrival of multinational companies.
It is estimated that more than 20,000 foreigners live, do business or spend long periods of time in the state of Guanajuato.
The Guanajuato’s Automotive Cluster Director, Alfredo Arzola López declared: “From 1995 to 2016, at least 340 transnational companies have settled their operations in Guanajuato, not only in the industrial corridor, but in several towns, north and south of the state “.
A total of 5,000 Japanese citizens live in Guanajuato (Image: Google)
“The largest foreign community is the American, with more than 13,000 people; and the second one is the Japanese, which has been increasing significantly in the last three years. These two communities represent 85% of the total foreign population in the state”. Arzola López continued.
Yasuhisa Suzuki, Consul of Japan in Guanajuato, declared: “In the last three or four years, the number of Japanese residents has been constantly increasing along the Bajío region, with a total of 3,500. However, we are not counting the “seasonal” people, but if we calculate the total, we are talking about over five thousand Japanese in the area”.
At the same time, Arzola stated: “Many companies have invested millions of dollars, generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Mexicans and foreigners alike. More than 750 thousand cars are produced per year in this region, and we aim to produce 1.5 million by the year 2020”.
SMA Expats (Google)
“Transnational companies represent an accumulated investment of 15 billion US dollars, generating more than 200 thousand jobs. Around 100 of these companies come from Japan, other 40 firms are from the US, and 35 more from Germany”, Arzola López added.
“Foreign communities have settled down in many parts of the state, and spread over different cities, such as the Americans in San Miguel de Allende, the Japanese in Salamanca, Celaya and Leon and the Germans in Leon and Guanajuato”, he continued.
“In conclusion, Guanajuato seeks to become one of the most important automotive clusters in Latin America. Therefore, the government estimates that the population of foreign residents will be increasing even more in the next 10 years.” Alfredo Arzola said.
Source: http://noticieros.televisa.com/
