Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) serves as a pillar of great impact for the growth of a society. It causes positive effects in various sectors such as generating jobs, attracting foreign exchange, increasing competitiveness, transferring new technologies and even boosting the exports of a state or nation.

Investors have maintained their confidence in Aguascalientes and its economy because for several decades the presence of large companies, mainly in the automotive industry, has managed to consolidate their expansions.

Despite the fact that the economic future of some nations remains uncertain at a global level, in the case of Aguascalientes the situation is different, since successful commercial agreements have been reached over the past four years, which today amount to $3.43 billion in FDI. 

But what makes Aguascalientes an attractive place for business?

Aguascalientes has been characterized by being an accessible city for those seeking to do business, and has even been recognized by the World Bank, which listed it as the “best city to start business” in its Doing Business 2016 report, in addition to placing it as one of the states with the best perception of security in the country.

That is why here we present the opinion of four large companies that have bet on Aguascalientes:

Capgemini

Capgemini is a multicultural company, with 270 thousand employees worldwide. The company was founded approximately fifty years ago and has been present in Mexico for twenty years, and in Aguascalientes since 2012.

“One of the main benefits of working in Aguascalientes is that it is a city that offers us what big cities can offer, with positive conditions for our people, since it is a city and a state where we have found the talent we need to work with our clients,” said Roberto Francisco Álvarez, director of Capgemini’s Delivery Center in Aguascalientes.

A symbol of Aguascalientes is part of what is put on the state’s shield: it is a state of good people, eager to work and enter into challenges.

“We have been able to impact the society of Aguascalientes: in 2012 we were twenty people and eight years later it is consolidated with the inauguration of its Delivery Center, located in the north of the city and whose operation implies, eventually, the creation of three hundred new jobs, additional to the five hundred offered today, and now we are around five hundred people; in the same way, we have been able to create a set of skills for the delivery of our clients’ projects,” commented the Capgemini team.

Mahindra

“After a long investigation, one of the main reasons why it was decided to establish the assembly plant in Aguascalientes was due to the geographical location of Aguascalientes, since it is in the center of the republic, likewise, Aguascalientes has a qualified labor force and thanks to the commercial partners that are in the state, we have a lot of advantage to create relationships with other states,” commented engineer Jorge Marin, general director of Mahindra.

Mahindra started commercialization in 2017, and now, this year, it has 6% of the national market for tractors, and its star product, Mahindra 6060, among others, has a 47% market share. 

“The metal-mechanic industry is very important, Mahindra wanted a partner for the implements and Aguascalientes is a state where forty percent of the people who make implements are located, however, our vision for the future is the manufacturing of the implements, we want to sell them. Another advantage I find is the capacity to adapt to other activities, tasks different from an automobile plant, and the people’s disposition is very good; the state’s slogan is applied very well,” said Engineer Jorge Marin. 

Triple Propeller Projects 

Mahindra started a project with the Universidad Tecnológica del Norte de Aguascalientes, “we signed an agreement to give them one of the tractor teams we have here, to make a laboratory for the students at the university who are working with them, and they in turn are opening the doors for us to host Mahindra’s national training center at the Universidad Tecnológica, That has helped us a lot to attract students to the plant to do their social service and that the distributors have a first class space with all the Mahindra equipment and the university facilities so they can take their courses in the best way” commented Engineer Jorge Marin.

Cooper Standard

Not only has the state’s infrastructure positioned Cooper Standard Aguascalientes as a strategic plant for investors, clients and the corporation, but the people and commitment they have had to achieve the objectives and have outstanding results that have occurred throughout the company’s more than twenty years in the state.

In addition to the extensive capabilities of its human capital, the company explains that Aguascalientes has many advantages, which were key to the opening of Cooper Standard: the state’s geographic location and infrastructure played an important role, as well as the proximity to its automotive customers. “Aguascalientes stands out because of its good location, the talent of its people and the easy transit through the most important regions of the country,” Rogelio Silva, Cooper Standard’s plant manager.

Through its valuable relationship with the government, education and business sectors, which has given them the opportunity to collaborate in the development of talent and contribute to attracting investment through the Ministry of Economic Development (SEDEC), Cooper Standard intends to continue strengthening the state together with other strategic companies.

Vantec Logistics Mexico

This company was established on September 29, 2008 to provide all types of logistics services to customers, mainly to the automotive industry. 

The corporate office is established in Aguascalientes where there are also 6 warehouses. In addition, the company has branches in Irapuato, Silao, Guadalajara, Manzanillo, Monterrey and Mexico City, as well as 3 more warehouses in Cuernavaca, Irapuato and Monterrey.

“One of the main benefits of being located in Aguascalientes is that it is in the center of the country, so we can have good access to other cities, there is also a great concentration of automotive industry factories and, in addition, there are many industrial parks with good infrastructure and land costs that are available at competitive prices,” commented Hideki Tsukiori, President of Vantec Logistics Mexico.

Likewise, the president of Vantec Logistics Mexico commented that in terms of family, safety is one of the most important factors, just as the Japanese school in Aguascalientes is a great advantage, but there are not only Japanese schools, but also international schools.

When you have an industry as demanding as the automotive industry, you need the best allies, such is the case of Vantec, a company that since 2018 has been providing logistics services to important companies in the state of Aguascalientes in various representative sectors, among which the already mentioned automotive and technology sectors stand out.

“Our parent company in Japan has a research and development center to develop new logistics technologies. We would like to introduce such technology in our operations to improve the quality of our service and the safe working environment,” concluded Hideki Tsukiori.