IMMEX maquiladora contribution to Mexico’s overall economy and labor market is sizeable.

Since appearing on the US-Mexico border in the middle 1960s, maquiladoras, today’s IMMEX maquiladoras, have made a growing contribution to the expansion and competitiveness of the overall Mexican economy. According to Mexico’s National Maquiladora Association, widely known by the Spanish acronym, INDEX, as of 2013, the industry:

  • accounted for sixty-five percent of the nation’s quantifiable exports;
  • employed eighty percent of Mexican labor that is engaged in manufacturing activities;
  • accounted for fourteen percent of the workers registered with IMSS, or the Mexican Social Security Institute;
  • generated over one hundred and seventy eight billion dollars in national export sales revenue;

When considering the aforementioned information in more detail, it can also be correctly stated that the IMMEX maquiladora is responsible for, in addition to sixty-five percent of the nation’s total exports, forty-four percent of their aggregate value. This represents an overall annual contribution to Mexico’s GDP of 1.8%

What is the road to incorporation as an IMMEX maquiladora in Mexico for most foreign firms?

From the perspective of quantifiable fact, the IMMEX maquiladora sector today is composed of approximately 3,000 foreign-based manufacturing firms. Contrary to what was the state of affairs prior to the passing of the NAFTA, and the revamping of Mexican investment laws in 1994, foreign parties may now own one hundred percent of the stock of any entity operating in Mexico under the IMMEX program. Companies that wish to establish an IMMEX maquiladora in Mexico, in many instances do so by incorporating as one of two defined business entities. Many companies choose to establish themselves as an IMMEX maquiladora by setting up as a Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, or a S.A. de C.V., or as a Sociedad de Responsibilidad Limitada de Capital Variable or as a S. de R.L. de C.V.

Although the S.A. de C.V. is the most common form of incorporation, and is similar to the S. de R.L. in some respects, among a few of the basic differences between these two forms of Mexican business entities are:

  • the fact that the S. de R.L. is a non-stock corporation. Ownership is not defined by the holding of stock certificates; the sole manner of recognition of in this regard is the naming of individual owners in a “shareholders’ register.”
  • S. de R.L.’s can have only up to fifty shareholders, while a S.A. de C.V. must have at least two, but may have an unlimited number of shareholders;
  • rules governing the capital contribution requirements are low for the establishment for a S. de R.L., just under US $200.00, while for the establishment of a S.A. de C.V. the threshold is over US $3000.00.
  • that the requirements and form of the S. de R.L. have been purposely simplified in order to accommodate the formation of smaller and “family” businesses, while incorporation as a S.A. de C.V. is the more appropriate choice in most other instances.

What does the Mexican government require in order to establish an IMMEX maquiladora?

There are six areas in which information must be provided to Mexico’s Economic Secretariat in order to register a company as an IMMEX maquiladora in Mexico:

They are:

1. The provision of a description of the businesses activities and other organizational details;
2. The enumeration of the raw materials and a description of the production processes to be used and followed in the elaboration the manufactured good or goods to be produced;
3. The disclosure of the levels of production capacity to be installed, and an estimation of what portion of that capacity is expected to be used according to production plans;
4. The tariff classifications of all items to be temporarily imported. This includes components, raw materials, machinery and parts, as well as containers used for shipping;
5. The provision of a written commitment to transact a minimum value of five hundred thousand dollars in export sales annually;
6. The provision or disclosure of any other miscellaneous information that may be required by Mexico’s Economic Secretariat.

Mexico Shelter companies offer a different and more convenient path down which companies can travel

Since shelter companies in Mexico already have established, incorporated Mexican entities, firms that wish to avoid the effort, the expense and the responsibilities that accompany doing so own their own can contract with an experienced and responsible partner in order to set up and maintain low-cost, low risk operations in Mexico.   These parties can enter the country, and can function as an IMMEX maquiladora under the “shelter” provided by a service provider such as the Tecma Group of Companies. Once a firm has decided to utilize this means by which to accomplish their goal of setting up a nearshore operation, many, if not most, of the requirements that exist for establishing a S.A. de C.V. or a S. de R.L. no longer apply.

As regards the six areas of information that must be addressed for Mexico’s Economic Secretariat that are listed above is concerned, part of the process of starting up an export manufacturing plant under the IMMEX maquiladora program under the auspices of a Mexican shelter provider is greatly facilitated by the shelter service provider’s initial work in gathering all necessary data and information, and submitting it to the Economic Secretariat for the benefit of its new client.

The Tecma Group of experts can be contacted directly in order to find out how to set up in an IMMEX maquiladora under the company’s Mexico Shelter Manufacturing Partnership.