Recent reforms in Mexico should invite more private investment into the country’s energy and infrastructure markets, according to the report Spotlight on Reforms in Mexico by international law firm White & Case.
Government has been the traditional investor in many of Mexico’s industries, and even Mexican nationals have been kept out of the market, leading to “significant underinvestment in infrastructure,” White & Case notes. “Such demonstrable need, combined with proposed legislation allowing private investors to have a more prominent role in previously restricted sectors, have positioned these sectors as prime targets for international investment.”
The report highlights the Etileno XXI project — a $4.5 billion oil and gas plant with investment from the International Finance Corp. as well as six other multilateral and domestic financial institutions — as an example of the country’s new focus on embracing foreign investors.