Mexico City: Investment Capital

MEXICO CITY, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, addressed 150 of the capital's business elite, as he inaugurated the first annual Mexico City: Investment Capital Forum, an event held in partnership with the country's leading business daily, El Economista. Ebrard said Mexico City remains the country's leading foreign investment magnet, attracting 66% of Mexico's total direct foreign investment.

Ebrard said the city offers attractive business opportunities in the public infrastructure, technology, biomedical and transportation sectors. Ebrard also said that a healthier and more transparent state of city finances, the creation of new public-private partnership investment models, a refinancing of the city's debt, and expanded investment tax credits have combined to increase Mexico City's investment outlays from $US 1.44 billion in 2006 to a current level of $US 5.55 billion.

Currently, Mexico City has 43 investment projects under construction around the greater metropolitan area, including two of Latin America's largest infrastructure developments: [1] the Eastern Drainage Tunnel, a 38-mile long tract being built in partnership with the Federal Government and the State of Mexico that will more than double the region's deep drainage capacity upon its completion in 2012; and [2] the construction of Line 12 of Mexico City's subway system, El Metro.

Today's announcement of the sale of 2 billion pesos ($158 million) in bonds will help finance the Metro subway construction, the capital's Finance Minister Mario Delgado said today. As reported by Bloomberg News, the city will auction 1 billion pesos of 10-year fixed rate bonds and 1 billion pesos of five-year notes tied to the 28-day TIIE interbank lending rate. Mexico City may sell as much as 5 billion pesos of bonds this year, the news report added.

In addition to investments in public infrastructure, Mayor Ebrard also highlighted the city's commitment to social progress. This year, 230,000 public school students in Mexico City will receive scholarships or some form of financial aid. An educated and capable workforce, Mayor Ebrard added, is essential if Mexico wishes to remain competitive in the global investment arena. A call for soft investments was also made at the forum by Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister of India, and longtime advocate of telecommunications, information systems and biomedical investments in cities seeking to evolve from a service economy to a knowledge-based economic model.

For more information in Spanish on El Economista's Forum, Mexico City: Investment Capital, visit: http://eleconomista.com.mx/foro-infraestructura-junio2010.

For more information on Mexico City, visit: www.mexicocityexperience.com.

SOURCE Gobierno del Distrito Federal

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