In an exclusive interview with fDi Magazine, during the annual IMF summit held in Washington, DC, Gerardo Rodriguez Regordosa, Mexico's deputy finance minister, outlined the main strengths of the country, and explained how it is looking to expand both the number and size of its FDI projects and as it looks to speed up its post-crisis recovery.

Mr Rodriguez Regordosa said: “Mexico has a very flexible financial market, [compared] to other financial markets.” For that reason, while other locations can provide cheap labour, Mexico can still keep its competitive edge as it offers more options for securing additional funding for any new ventures.

According to Mr Rodriguez Regordosa, this can be a real magnet for investors, as it was in the case of Volkswagen a couple of years ago. The German car manufacturer was considering building a factory either in China or in Mexico. “It decided to go for Mexico, presicely because it could reach resources locally,” says Mr Rodriguez Regordosa. He adds that thanks to issuing bonds in the local market, Volkswagen gained extra capital for the investment in Mexico.

“While we talk about manufacturing, Mexico, even in the context of relatively slow pace of global [economic] growth, should do reasonably well,” says Mr Rodriguez Regordosa. Such a statement is confirmed by data from fDi Markets. The number of projects in the country in 2011 so far is nearing the number for the whole of 2010. Additionally, the number of manufacturing projects in automotives (components and original equipment manufacturing) is higher than for any period between 2003 and 2010.

Although economic growth is still sluggish in the US, the growth of its manufacturing sector is the main contributor to its recovery. “Because we have very close links with the US, we are being pulled by this dynamic,” says Mr Rodriguez Regordosa. He points out that the proportion of US imports coming from Mexico had risen to an all-time high of 13%, while the proportion of non-oil exports coming from Mexico grew 17.5% in the first six months of 2011.

NEWS STORY (paste through and then delete this)

The deputy finance minister of Mexico has told fDi Magazine that the country's manufacturing strength will see it through the current global economic stagnation.

Speaking at the annual IMF Summit in Washington, DC, Gerardo Rodriguez Regordosa said: “Mexico has a very flexible financial market, [compared] to other financial markets.” He went on to stress that while other locations can provide cheap labour, Mexico can still keep its competitive edge as it offers more options for securing additional funding for any new ventures.

Citing the example of German car giant Volkswagen, which was choosing between China and Mexico as a location for a new factory, Mr Rodriguez Regordosa said: “It decided to go for Mexico, presicely because it could reach resources locally."

He added: “While we talk about manufacturing, Mexico, even in the context of relatively slow pace of global [economic] growth, should do reasonably well.” This statement is confirmed by data from fDi Markets, which shows that the number of projects in the country in 2011 so far is already nearing the number for the whole of 2010.