Welcome to Mexico, one of the largest markets in Latin America.

Mexico’s GDP per head is larger than the rest of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.
Its market is about the same size as the whole of Western Europe with a population over 120 million with 10% in Mexico City.

Mexico’s economy grew by 2.5% in 2016 and a 2.4% growth is expected in 2017. This is better than the rest of Latin America where the region is expected to contract by 0.4%. In 2016 trade between the UK and Mexico was worth USD$35 billion.

Like the USA Mexico is divided into federal states (32) of which 31 are states and one, Mexico City, is a federal district. One of its richest states is Jalisco, with Guadalajara as its capital, with 6% of Mexico’s GDP.

Thanks to Trump’s ideologies, Mexico is looking into Europe, UK mainly, for education resources and solutions. Guadalajara has signed up many MoU with a vast number of UK universities such as Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Warwick, Southampton, UCL, Edinburgh, Durham, Kings College, Birmingham and many more.

The present Government has cracked down on the teachers Union in Mexico which by history, people could inherit the teaching job, where they were trained or not, in some cases the inherit vacancy could be sold to a non-family member. Now the Government has introduced a teacher training program open to anyone with a vocation to the profession. The education reform has been welcomed by Mexico but not by the Teachers Association, however, after many teacher strikes, it seems that it has been accepted.

Mexico Mission

After the tragic earthquake in the south of Mexico City in the State of Puebla, the mission was nearly cancelled. However, on the advice of the British Embassy, the mission went ahead and this was well received by the local government and delegates.

We were honoured to have Baroness Hooper leading the Mission whom gave a high profile to our visit and attracted media attention.

The mission started in Guadalajara, Capital of the state of Jalisco, one of the richest states in Mexico.
The Government of Jalisco has its priority to investment into education. They want to implement Education reforms to all state schools so they can deliver a good level of education and get teachers to use technology in all aspects of education. This is their vision of the local government, however, the view from the other side “teachers”, is vastly different with some schools not having furniture and even electricity, moreover, connectivity in Mexico is very poor. Nevertheless, the state is ready to invest and looking for education solutions for the region.

The second day of the mission was in Mexico City where the delegation met with delegates from Secretary of Public Education (SEP) and decision makers from International Schools who gave the delegation a view of Mexico education market. The mission also met potential partners (agents/distributors).

The final day of the Mission crossed with the first date of BET LatAm, were half of the companies were exhibiting and the others were having pre-arranged meetings with Government officials, potential agents and distributors.

BETT LatAm

The exhibition was a success despite being a small event. The quality of visitors was very high and delegates were not only from Mexico but also from USA, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina among others. The content part of the exhibition was also of high calibre and was well attended.

Mexico is a large market with great opportunities for the UK market. British products have a significant presence in Mexico, although the UK’s market share in goods imports into Mexico has decreased overall in recent years. However, latest data shows UK exports in services have been gaining importance, with an increase of 21% in 2016.

If you are thinking of exporting to Mexico, as with most markets, you will need to get an agent or a distributor.

The most common forms of operation in Mexico are:

 supply chain operations
 representative offices
 joint ventures
 shelter operations
 subcontracted manufacturing

A full list of contacts from the Mission /Exhibition is available from William.