Notimex reports that in the next decade, about 280,000 new jobs will be created in the first four Special Economic Zones (ZEE, for its acronym in Spanish) to be located in the south-southeast of the country, according to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP, for its acronym in Spanish).
These places represent 60 percent of all formal employment that has been generated in the states of Chiapas, Michoacán, Veracruz and Oaxaca during the last 15 years, the federal agency said in a statement.
At present, in the states eligible to host one of the EEZs, six out of 10 people are in poverty, two out of every 10 in extreme poverty, 65 percent work in the informal sector and only one in each 10 employed workers are employed in highly productive activities, such as manufacturing.
ZEEs seek to address this situation through a structural shift from economies to activities of greater productive sophistication. Yucatan and Campeche are among the target states for ZEEs.
President Enrique Peña Nieto has predicted ‘reactivation and regeneration’ for Campeche and Tabasco. (PHOTO: gob.mx)
Therefore, one of the main objectives of the ZEEs is the generation of formal and quality jobs, which allow workers and their families to enjoy social security coverage, including health services and savings for retirement.
On average, almost eight out of every 10 people in Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacan, Guerrero and Veracruz, for example, lack social security, which in turn represents six out of ten at the national level, the agency added.
The attractiveness of ZEEs is based on taking advantage of the country’s strengths and the comprehensive approach that characterizes the implementation of this instrument of regional development.
For example, the extensive network of free trade agreements with Mexico, which represents access to a market of over 1.2 billion consumers, will be complemented by the special customs regime of the ZEEs, it said.
The SHCP noted that as of December 15, eight states have already signed Letters of Intent to host ZEEs in their respective territories.
This is the first step to formally declare the establishment of Zones in Progreso, Yucatan; La Union and Zihuatanejo, Guerrero; Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán; Tapachula, Chiapas; Salina Cruz, Oaxaca; Carmen and Champotón, Campeche; Cárdenas, Centla and Paraíso, Tabasco, and Coatzacoalcos, Nanchital and Ixhuatlán del Sureste, Veracruz.
In addition, on December 20, the Congress of Guerrero approved its Law on Economic Zones, the Congresses of Oaxaca and Chiapas accepted initiatives of State Laws of Special Economic Zones; In addition, the process progresses significantly in Yucatan, Tabasco and Michoacán.
Source: www.notimex.gob.mx
