Business Leaders in Utah and Mexico Foster a More Collaborative Relationship

Pete CodellaNews

The year 2014 is proving to be a successful one for the Utah-Mexico relationship. Mexico’s GDP in 2013 was $1.327 trillion and Utah has recognized that this is not only promising for the Mexican marketplace, but promising for increased opportunities in business relations between Utah and Mexico.

In April, Governor Gary R. Herbert—with the help of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development’s International Trade and Diplomacy Office—led a trade mission to Mexico where Utah businesses networked with key government officials and business experts. Some of the companies that accompanied Governor Herbert to Mexico are Wells Fargo (who sponsored the trade mission), doTERRA, Space Monkey and 25 other Utah companies.

During the trade mission, doTERRA International partnered with firms in Mexico to expand to the Mexican marketplace, to obtain product registrations and other necessary licenses and agreements to distribute their product line to the Mexican market.

The trade mission also proved successful for Space Monkey. They announced it would move the manufacturing of its 1TB cloud storage device from Shanghai, China to Guadalajara, Mexico, for more efficient communication, travel and shipping for the company.

The promotion of the Utah-Mexico relationship did not stop there. In September, Governor Herbert presented the first-of-its-kind Utah Global Forum (UGF), where business leaders learned from and networked with experts in geographical markets on a personal level—including experts in the Mexican marketplace. Experts with Mexico business relations that spoke at the forum were Natalie Kaddas of Kaddas Enterprises and Cristina Hernandez of Managed Strategies. (Read a story here about the coverage of Hernandez’s UGF presentation in Mexico’s news outlet MundoTec.)

Utah exports to Mexico in 2013 were nearly $550 million, and with the successes of the trade mission and the Utah Global Forum, Utah businesses are even better-positioned to reach Mexican customers.