The recent labour and investment reforms implemented in Mexico affect, in different ways, the scenario for companies doing business in the country.
Once perceived as a land of corruption and violence, Mexico has transformed its reputation to become a land of opportunities. To make the country attractive to investors, the Mexican government has made improvements on infrastructure and has also fostered competence in areas such as transportation, energy and telecommunications.
With such purpose, many structural reforms have been developed and implemented in the last two to three years. In a way or another, those changes impact and influence the way of doing business in the country.
The importance of the new reforms
During the last years, Mexico has multiplied the efforts made towards the globalization of the country on areas such as energy, telecommunications, transportation, education and financial competence, among others. The clearest example is the amount of international free trade agreements that have been established with the purpose of revamping the national environment of business.
One of the main points to consider, relevant to both the companies involved directly in these industries and the ones that are not, is that the implementation of these reforms will have an impact on the country growth. This will significantly be reflected in the GDP, although not in the immediate future.
Nonetheless, it must be noted that many reforms have not been totally implemented. On this regard, reforms can either be delayed or not fulfilled at all.
It is much recommended to elaborate an analysis of the way the reforms impact positively or negatively in different areas of the business and how they respond to particular necessities. For such purpose, it is necessary to understand which local or international events affect the implementation of the reforms as, for example, the particular situation of the tax income in the country or the failures in productivity of certain related activities and areas. These events, combined with structural issues such as the corruption and violence that affect the country, are just a few reasons why the progress is slow on some reforms.
What are the reforms about?
In order to achieve greater integration with the world and higher and better investments that contribute to the growth of the country, the Mexican government has implemented many reforms, such as:
- Energy reform – To guarantee the supply with competitive prices of oil, electricity and natural gas; promote healthy competition to eliminate the state monopoly, and encourage technological modernization and development in the country
- Telecommunications reform – To boost the effective competence on television, radio, telephony and Internet
- Economic competence reform – To regulate the relationship between companies and to reassure a fair competence
- Labour reform – To increase flexibility of the labour market and provide the necessary tools for professional development
- Education reform – To guarantee the exercise of the right to have a complete education
Join our webinar
Our webinar - Are you interested in doing business in Mexico? will take place on June 23, 2015 at 9:00am CDT / 10:00am EST.
During the webinar, TMF Group Managing Director Fernando Garrido will discuss some of the local reforms, its influence on other areas which were reformed as well and the opportunities that may arise for companies which are interested in doing business in Mexico.
Monica Schiaffino, partner at Littler Global in Mexico, will discuss, among other topics, the labour reform and the changes that it has suffered since its implementation in 2012. This will include topics such as changes in law suits processes and the compliance with rules that protect people with disabilities.