A Mexican Technology Park in Monterrey
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The mix of tenants may seem curious. A new research building for PepsiCo (PEP) stands next door to future R&D centers for Motorola (MOT), Mexican cement giant Cemex (CX), and a Mexican auto-parts maker. But for Mexico, this hodgepodge is the nation's hope to turn industrial Monterrey into an "international city of knowledge."
Mexico has made huge gains in export manufacturing in the 15 years since the North America Free Trade Agreement was signed with the U.S. and Canada. But it has not kept up with Asian dynamos like China in terms of physical infrastructure and training of skilled workers. Mexico also lacks the up-to-date, efficiently run science parks that are popping up around Chinese cities like Beijing, Dalian, and Shanghai.