ASiAn invASion wElcomEd - ProMéxico

24 Negocios PHOTOs nissan mexicana
Shipment of Tiidas for Europe from
the plant of Nissan in Cuernavaca
the Aguascalientes plant, the first vehicle of
this worldwide alliance was produced: the
Nissan Platina.
“We at Nissan have been delighted with
the success of our plants in Mexico, a country
that has proven itself to be an able partner,”
Arrazola said.
Another Asian company, Sanyo Electric Co.
Ltd, last year disclosed plans to increase production
capacity by nearly 2.5 times of solar modules
at its Mexicoś Factory located in Monterrey.
The increase in production will serve the
rapidly rising demand for solar power in the
North American market. The Mexican plant
currently has an annual production capacity of
20MW for solar module assembly of Sanyo’s
proprietary HIT solar panels. The planned
increase would add up to a total production
capacity of 50MW, more than doubling the
factory’s current capacity.
India-based Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS), a leading IT services, business solutions
and outsourcing firm, has expanded its
operations in Latin America by setting up its
first Global Delivery Center in Guadalajara,
in the state of Jalisco. This is the first major
investment by an Indian information technology
firm in Mexico. The new center represents
an important step in TCS’ global strategy to
further enhance its Global Network Delivery
Model, allowing it to better serve its clients in
Mexico and across the world.
“Apart from a strong domestic IT market,
Mexico shares a similar time zone with and
is within five to six hours flying distance from
anywhere in the US, allowing us the ability to
According to the widely respected Krene Group, there is a growing trend of
Asian companies relocating to Mexico.
“They [Asian companies] initially moved to Mexico to reduce their labor and
operations costs in order to be competitive. The population is predominantly
young with 37.5% being under the age of 15. The advantage this gives to companies
choosing to relocate to Mexico is an abundant labor force. Not only is
the labor factor the impulse to move to Mexico, but also:
provide near shore services for our large US
client community,” said N Chandrasekaran,
executive vice president & head of global sales
& operations for TCS.
Guadalajara, the second largest city in
Mexico with a population of over 4 million,
was chosen by TCS after an extensive survey
because of its accessibility, infrastructure and
available talent pool.
“We are impressed by the tremendous talent
in this region, nurtured by a very strong education
system. We will recruit the best people
and train them extensively in the same high
quality processes and methodologies that we so
successfully use in our operations around the
world,” said Ankur Prakash, general manager
of TCS Mexico.
Over the last seven years TCS has set up operations
in 14 countries across Latin America,
including major centers in Argentina, Brazil,
Chile and Uruguay. They employ over 5,000
professionals in those countries and cater to
more than 150 clients.
“This expansion in Mexico marks an important
phase in our growth. We have hired
500 people for the Mexico center in the short
term and thousands more in the next five
years, as we continue to build a strong high impact
organization in this region,” said Gabriel
Rozman, president of TCS Latin America.
And according to the Mexican Embassy
in Seoul, South Korea, trade between the two
countries had grown so much that South Korea
is now the third largest Asian investor in
Mexico. The Embassy reports: “Manufacturing
and commerce deals between the two countries
have generated almost 808 million usd between
1994 and 2008. That will continue to increase.”
Add inward investment from India and
Singapore amounting to 2.5 billion usd and one
can clearly see that the Asia-Mexico business
sector has been a fabulous success. n
• Competitors and suppliers for industries are following companies to Mexico
and locating in the same area because of the necessity of close proximity
to fit production chain requirements.
• Consumers’ needs are changing very quickly. The United States is such a
large market that a company cannot afford not to be close to its consumers.
For foreigners, this makes Mexico an attractive location versus Asian
countries with similar competitive benefits.
• Mexico serves as the doorway to the rest of Latin America. The consumer
markets in Latin America will exceed those of Europe and Japan by 2010.
Mexico is a logical choice for Asian companies wishing to enter the Latin
American market.”