Latin America/ Caribbean

Overview of the Market

• population : 107 million
• GDP : 1.1 trillion dollars (2008)
• Currency : peso 

• Mexico is the second largest economy, in terms of GDP and population in Latin America.
• Mexico is the Latin American giant in foreign trade, accounting for almost 40 per cent of the total trade of the region.

• After having gone through various crises, Mexico's economy has now stabilised and is healthy with strong fundamentals.
• Inflation and primary lending rates are in single-digit. The Government has been following fiscal discipline and has kept current account deficit below 2 per cent.
• Mexico is a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). That means its investment practices and business regulations are generally the same as those of the developed OECD countries.

• Mexico is an energy-surplus country; it is one of the largest producers and exporters of crude oil. Mexico produces 3.25 million bpd (barrels per day) and is among the top four oil exporters to the US. Mexico also has rich deposits of gold, silver, copper, iron and zinc.
• Manufactured products account for 89 per cent of total exports, petroleum 8 per cent and agro-products 2.4 per cent. This makes Mexico different from the rest of Latin American countries, which mainly export raw materials and commodities. Mexico exports more than one million vehicles annually. It is the main maker of television sets in North America with an annual production of 25 million units. It is a major supplier of textiles to the US.
• After Canada, Mexico was the largest trading partner of the US until China replaced it in 2006. US accounts for 91 per cent of Mexico's exports and 62 per cent of its imports.
• Mexico is a member of NAFTA , which includes USA and Canada.
• 30% of GDP of mexico is dependent on USA through exports and remittances. There are 12 million Mexicans in USA sending back 23 billion dollars a year.

• Mexico has signed the maximum number of free trade agreements (FTAs). It has FTAs with 33 countries and has preferential market access to 850 million consumers, including European Union, Latin American countries, Israel, Korea and Japan.
• There are a number of assembly units, called as maquilladoras,in the border with USA. Taking advantage of the NAFTA, these units assemble products for exports to USA.
• New Product : Caffeine [58-08-2]

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