Aeronautic cluster, $889 million dollars investment
17/05/2012 20:58
Queretaro, Nuevo Leon and Chihuahua received heavy investment from the international aeronautic sector in 2011. Mexican aeronautical cluster is getting ready to be ranked as one of the top ten places in the world in 2020.
Eurocopter, the helicopter manufacturer, reported an investment of $550 million dollars for the construction of a plant in Queretaro. The plant's production is intended mostly to the export market.
Safran Group, French aeronautic company, announced the investment of $50 million dollars for the construction of a maintenance plant for aircraft in Queretaro, which will generate 350 jobs for professionals specializing in turbines.
In addition, the Canadian company Héroux-Devtek announced that over the next three years it will invest in Mexico $21 million dollars to build a production plant for aircraft components in Queretaro.
The aerospace industry in Queretaro has a value which amounts to $900 million dollars and contributes with 36% of national exports. The foreign direct investment (FDI) rose to 1.028 billion dollars, with the arrival of aeronautical and automotive companies to the state.
Aeronautical sector companies in Queretaro are: Héroux-Devtek, Bombardier Global 7000 and 8000, Safran and Eurocopter.
Aeronautics cluster of Nuevo Leon, consisting of 24 plants dedicated to the aerospace industry, gets 10% of the total investment of this field in Mexico.
In 2011, it opened in Nuevo Leon, the Research and Innovation in Aerospace Engineering Center (ICIE), with an investment of $253 million pesos and will be supported by Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares of the Secretariat of Communications and Transport.
In addition, Labinal, subsidiary company of the French group Safran, announced an investment of $10 million dollars to open a new plant in Chihuahua.
Labinal Chihuahua will focus its activities in aeronautics, defense and security. Sales in 2011 reached $250 million dollars for clients such as Boeing, Embraer, Dassault, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky and Airbus.
Chihuahua has 29 aeronautical companies, from the 238 companies established in the country.
Also, 11 companies of the aeronautical sector, including Safran, Labinal and the Dutch company Fokker, dedicated to the manufacture of plane tails will invest $240 million dollars. Investment projects will be to open new plants or expand existing ones in Chihuahua, which will represent the generation of 2,000 new jobs, said the industry promoter of the Secretariat of Economy of the state, Gabriela Jaschack.
Aerospace industry has a global value of $450 billion dollars, so it arises that Mexico becomes spearhead on a global scale. (Edna Mariana Cano – Mexican Business Web)
