First Look

New Mexico Border Authority officials this week got their first look inside the huge, new Foxconn assembly plant just south of Santa Teresa border crossing. Santa Teresa is a focus of New Mexico development due in some part to the anticipated growth in trade with Mexico including the impending and Punta Colonet Mega-Port. Representatives from New Mexico’s Economic Development Department and the Border Authority board of directors were among those participating in the tour.

Foxconn is the trade name for Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry who broke ground last July on what is to ne the largest maquiladora in Mexico. The first building on the 440-acre campus was completed in February and is the first commercial development in San Jeronimo, an area of desert stretching south into Mexico from New Mexico's Santa Teresa port of entry. Officials believe the plant will become the major driver of economic development on both sides of the border. The plant is currently employing approximately 200 workers however; when the facility is fully completed, the three million square feet of industrial space will to employ and support 20,000 workers.

On the surface this may seem as an innocuous event in an area where very little appears to be happening nevertheless, this is a solid indication of the anticipated potential of future trade prospects in the region.

Sister Blogs

As noted in my previous post, this blog will also work in concert with sister blogs each relating to each other in some capacity.
With this in mind, I have created the following:
1) http://ecotourismmexico.blogspot.com/ This will cover Eco-Tourism in Mexico
2) http://theseaofcortez.blogspot.com/ This blog will address Tourism specific to the Sea of Cortez and the surrounding region including all of Baja.
There are two others however, I want to begin my focus within the issues of the aforementioned blogs for the time being and suspect I will add one or two more blogs. Please feel free to offer any information or links in support of the topic(s) at hand; dialog is the key here.

More later.

Punta Colonet Mega Port

There is still no clear groundbreaking date for the Punta Colonet Mega Port project. The subject of developing such a project on the western Baja peninsula is broad and one that has and will continue to draw the opinions of industrial, ecological, social and political concerns throughout Mexico and the United States. Baja California remains for the most part a wide-open venue and as such subject to the benefits and pit-falls that come with that distinction. Baja California is home to Tijuana on the Mexican side and San Diego on the U.S. side of the busiest border in the world and a significant maquiladora industry.

Tijuana is said to be the largest manufacture of televisions in the world and contrasts Baja California Sur’s most southern cities of Los Cabos and Cabo San Lucas; one of Mexico’s tourism jewels and gateway to the Sea of Cortez, the body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. Bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa, the name "Gulf of California" predominates on most maps today. The narrow sea is home to a unique and rich ecosystem. In addition to a wide range of endemic creatures, it hosts many migratory species. In between, Baja California is also home to the largest solar Sea Salt operation in the world and a burgeoning wine industry.

This blog will serve to explore and bring to light the many facets of the Punta Colonet Mega Port and will be in concert with sister blogs, to be named very soon. These will include blogs on Mexico’s Eco-Tourism, The Sea of Cortez, Mexico and so forth. I will be contacting various sources for information as it relates to the broad range of industries including, commercial development, tourism, logistics, NAFTA, security, shipping, state agencies, chambers of commerce etc. I welcome all input and points of view in an effort to better understand the potential impact of such a development.