Phoenix Establishes Trade Office in Mexico City to Bolster Business Ties

Phoenix has set up a trade office in Mexico City, as the American city steps up efforts to bolster its business relations with Mexico.
The move comes barely weeks after Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton revealed that Arizona wants to double its export to Mexico over the next four years. Stanton arrived in Mexico, accompanied by dozens of business and community leaders from Arizona, to inaugurate the office.
Reports say the mayor has conducted more than a dozen business trips to Mexico in the past four years.
Phoenix has had a representative in Mexico City since 2014. Now the brick-and-mortar office will strengthen the relationship further smoothing Mexico’s business dealings with the American city.
The mayor also met Mexican business leaders and members of the Mexican Senate to discuss ways to widen business connections between Mexico and Arizona.
Mexico is the largest export market for Arizona. According to Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center, nearly 90,000 jobs in Arizona are dependent on the state’s trade and foreign direct investment from Mexico.
Last year, exports to Mexico totaled $9.2 billion, with the country accounting for 41% of Arizona’s exports worldwide.
Stanton said he’s working to expand Phoenix’s relationship with Mexico, including changing a law to extend border crossing cards from 75 to 250 miles so Mexican citizens can visit Phoenix more easily.
Thanks to Stanton’s relentless effort to improve relations with his neighbor nation, ProMexico, the Mexican agency that promotes trade and foreign investment, opened an office in Phoenix last year.