Chinese capital to finance strengthening of Mexico-US rail ties

On July 31, the governor of the State of Chihuahua, Cesar Duarte Jacquez, was in Beijing, where he signed an agreement which will put into motion a construction project that will result in the creation of a major Mexico-US rail link. China Highway, a company owned by the Development Bank of China, as well as there other Chinese national firms, Quantum, Q Triad and Sinosure will combine resources in order to begin construction at the end of the present calendar year.

The rail line will begin in the connect the State of Nayarit to the United States by passing through the State of Chihuahua, and will have its terminus at the San Jeronimo – Santa Teresa, New Mexico Port of Entry. Nayarit’s chief executive, governor present in Beijing to finalize the accord.

Duarte Jacquez announced that the construction project to create the Mexico-US rail link from Nayarit, through Chihuahua to the border at San Jeronimo and Santa Teresa will generate approximately two thousand jobs. Once the line is in place in functioning the long-term effect of its existence will be the creation of five hundred direcct and permanent positions. It is anticipated that this economic activity will have a multiplier that will generate twenty five hundred additonal indirect sources of employment for Mexican workers.

The general director of China Highway Group, Ltd. , Liu Daiwan pointed out the value of the future Mexico-US rail link in terms of its role in connecting Mexico’s interior states with the Mexico’s neighbor to the North, thereby opening up greater opportunities for areas that are distant from the border.

Also present at the Beijing meeting that resulted in the signing of the accord were Ms. Huang Shan and Mr. Deng Xim. The former the representative of the Development Bank of China, and was in charge of conducting the economic analysis to finance the Mexico-US rail link project, while the latter represented the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation. The China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation is providing the funding for the project.

The governor of the State of Chihuahua, Duarte Jacquez, announced that within a month’s time the mechanical soil studies needed to begin construction of the Mexico-US rail link project will be complete. It is his expectation that this project will have significant positive repercussions for the San Jeronimo – Santa Teresa area, as well as for Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.

Read the primary source for this post in its original Spanish at El Diario de Chihuahua.