Raúl Godoy Montañez, head of the Secretariat of Research, Innovation and Higher Education informed that the “Special Economic Zone” project is already in progress, and the first nine companies in the field of innovation, information and communication technologies have expressed their interest in joining the process.
One of the objectives is to increase the participation of the science and technology sector within the local domestic product from 4% to 28%.
As for the physical facilities of the SEZ, Godoy Montañez said that a complex is under construction in the area between Progreso and the Yucatan Science Park, which includes the rehabilitation of the Sierra Papacal-Chuburná Puerto highway.
Yucatan has a relevant number of researchers, as it is the fifth most important state in the country, concentrating the largest number of mathematicians in Mexico.
“In terms of college education, 26% of students in Yucatan are pursuing a career related to the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while 19% of the state population has already a higher education diploma, a figure above the average of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development”, Godoy Montañez added.
The declaration was signed in December and the SEZ is expected to be in full operation before the end of 2019.
Among those countries who already requested information with interest to settle in the Yucatan SEZ, there is India, which explores economic, technological, commercial and educational exchange opportunities, as well as cultural ties, in a historical effort to link to Yucatan. This was confirmed by the Indian ambassador in Mexico, Muktesh K. Pardeshi, the general director of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR, for its acronym in English), Riva Ganguly Das, and the director of the Cultural Center of India in Mexico, Mohd R. Qureshi.
One of the advances made in Yucatan is the installation of the Governing Board of the Agency for the Development of Yucatan (ADY), which will integrate independent financial experts.
The projects followed by this Agency, headed by Juan Carlos García Barcalá, head of special projects of the Government of Yucatán, are among others linked to the SEZ, the Center for Technological Innovation and Heuristic Development, the International Congress Center, the reactivation of the Chichén Itzá Airport and the Valladolid Cargo Center, the Electronic Protocol, the México Conectado program and the Latteria del Molise factory.
Source: milenio.com
