Public and private business promotion groups are cognizant of the benefits of dedicating resources aimed at expanding the already well-developed medical device manufacturing sector in Tijuana and Baja California.

Working together

Recently three organizations that form “Team Med,” coordinated their efforts to field a strong presence at one of the most prestigious and widely-attended medical device industry events in the United States. The MD&M West Trade Show and Conference 2016 took place at the beginning of February at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Each year MD&M West brings together thousands of industry suppliers for the purpose of exhibiting the latest in medical device and related product technologies. In attendance to promote medical device manufacturing sector in Tijuana and Baja California, were representatives of the economic development organizations of both the State of Baja California and the City of Tijuana, as well as of DEITAC, Tijuana’s privately funded economic and industrial development advocacy group.

As the result of a joint effort, Team Med was successful in arranging and conducting meetings with representatives of twenty-five companies that demonstrated an interest in becoming a part of the medical device manufacturing sector in Tijuana and the State of Baja California. The economic developers concentrated their attention on firms that have a profile that consists of a minimum of two hundred and fifty employees, as well as a minimum base sales figure of US $10 million. When totaled the companies identified by the State and City economic development organizations and DEITAC represented a potential investment pool of US $75 million, as well as a possible total of five thousand jobs. Of the twenty-five companies with whom meetings were conducted, it is projected that two medical device manufacturers will locate operations in medical device manufacturing sector in Tijuana and Baja California. The expectation is that both will be operational at some time during the first six months of 2016.

Building upon a strong base

The medical device manufacturing sector in Tijuana and the State of Baja California leads the nation. In Tijuana alone, the foreign direct investment from medical device manufacturers has generated a total of 41,500 jobs that are spread out among forty-four different companies. Although seventy-five percent of investors have their origin in the United States, medical device companies from places such as the UK, New Zealand, Switzerland, France and Germany have also invested sizable amounts of capital.

Given the sophisticated level of development in the medical device manufacturing sector in Tijuana and Baja California, items produced there include advanced products such as components for pacemakers and heart valves. While production takes place in Mexico, on the other side of the border, in San Diego, the industry receives fundamentally important support in the critical area of R&D.