Quintana Roo is the entity that gained the most positions and Yucatán the one that fell the most in the IMCO’s 2023 Competitiveness Index.
In measuring the ability of entities to generate, attract and retain talent and investment through the State Competitiveness Index (ICE) 2023, there were more states that fell places in contrast to those that improved and remained.
The ICE 2023 carried out by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), points out that 10 states improved their position, 13 fell back and 9 remained the same.
The IMCO index evaluates the structural and conjunctural capacities of the 32 entities through 72 indicators, categorized into 10 sub-indices: law, environment, society, political system, governments, factor markets, economy, precursors, international relations and innovation.
In these changes, it stands out that Quintana Roo is the state that rose the most positions, going from 19th to 13th place, while Yucatán is the one that lost the most places (5 steps) in the ICE, since in the last edition it was ranked 10th. And now it’s at 15.
What happened in Quintana Roo is explained by the fact that it advanced in 6 of the 10 sub-indices, “it improved in economic and innovation issues: the increase in the total factor productivity rate and the proportion of people with incomes higher than the state average,” it points out the ICE of the IMCO.
In the case of Yucatán, it points out that despite the fact that it remains the safest entity in the country, it fell in 5 of 10 sub-indices, in which it stands out that the income gap by gender went from 12.8% to 19.5% and the perception of state corruption.
At the top of ICE 2023, Mexico City, Querétaro and Nuevo León are the 3 best evaluated states, while Guerrero remains the entity with the lowest competitiveness.
INNOVATION, A FACTOR FOR GREATER ATTRACTION OF NEARSHORING
The ICE 2023 edition includes the topic of nearshoring (company relocation), where the IMCO considers that states must improve several factors to be more competitive and attract more investment: innovation, talent, infrastructure, energy, connectivity, services, and education.
“Innovation is needed because most of the processes associated with nearshoring are in certain sectors that are mainly defined by North American industrial policy,” says the director of sustainable economy at IMCO, Jesús Carrillo.
He states that if there is no innovation development process, Mexico will not be a competitive country that can bring some sectors that could be very important.
“The number of patents for years, he tells us, was growing. In 2018 we had a maximum of 1,555 patent applications made by Mexicans and from there has been a decrease, right now we are practically at the level of 2010. So, we are not innovating, there is no more research and development”, says Carrillo during his participation in the presentation of ICE 2023.
On the subject of innovation, the most prepared entities are: Nuevo León, Querétaro, Baja California, Chihuahua and Coahuila.
Source: Forbes
