General Information about Mexico
Mexico city is the capital with around 120 million people. Spanish is the primary language, but most of the business community will speak English.
Mexico's main trading partners are the USA, Canada, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea. It most important industries are food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables and tourism.
Mexico was the country in Latin America that was the hardest hit by the global financial crisis due to its strong dependence on the United States. Its negative -6.5 GDP in 2009 gave a big blow to its economy. Thankfully, they are steadily recovering and is predicted to show positive growth rates for 2010.
Even though Mexico has been experiencing strong security problems, it remains a solid manufacturing country in the Latin America region thanks to low taxes, less expensive labor and overall cheaper operating costs.
In order to do business successfully in Mexico, you will need to adapt to the local customs.
For meetings, you need to arrive on time. Mexicans are used to dealing with foreigners and will be on time as well. Always be ready to continue discussing business into lunch so do not plan too many meetings in a day.
Doing business in Mexico in focused around building a relationship of trust. Once you have managed that, never change your team member as you will need to start all over again. Keep in mind that you will probably need to make several trips before concluding a deal.
Your potential business partner will not expect a gift from you. You can give valuable gifts once the relationship becomes more serious.
As you can see, doing business in Mexico presents endless opportunities for international companies looking to expand to new markets. Be careful to respect the etiquette of the country and you will be off to a very good start.
How To Do Business In Mexico