(Bloomberg) — Companies including Amazon.com Inc. and Woodside Energy Group Ltd. have announced projects in Mexico totaling some $20 billion, a victory for President Claudia Sheinbaum in her efforts to attract investment from wary business leaders.
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Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Woodside plans to invest $10.4 billion to develop a deepwater project with state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos in the Gulf of Mexico. Amazon will spend $6 billion through 2026 to strengthen its network and digital capacity in the country, he said.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is planning a $1.5 billion tourism project in Quintana Roo state, Ebrard said Tuesday at a press conference after a meeting of the US-Mexico CEO Dialogue.
Addressing the leaders of about 240 Mexican and foreign companies, Sheinbaum sought to downplay concerns that a series of constitutional reforms will erode democracy and judicial independence in the country, the U.S.’s largest trading partner.
Those reforms include a judicial overhaul approved in Congress last month to elect federal judges by popular vote, and an energy law that gives state-owned companies priority over private companies in power generation and transmission. Critics say the legal changes make investments in Mexico riskier because control of the courts is likely to go to Sheinbaum’s popular Morena party.
“The president does not want to control the judiciary,” Sheinbaum said. “What we want is a judiciary that is free of corruption.”
Sheinbaum also said that while the government wants to control 54% of energy generation and transmission in Mexico, there will be clear rules for private investment in the remaining 46%. During the CEO meeting, the government set up working groups with companies to tackle energy projects.
The government will have its energy plan ready by the end of the year, Sheinbaum said. A set of rules, known as secondary laws, will define the participation process of private companies in energy projects.
After listening to companies’ concerns, the government will establish a digital transformation agency to cut red tape and help companies with investment projects, Sheinbaum said.
The North American Free Trade Pact, known as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, should be strengthened so that the three countries complement rather than compete with each other, she said.
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