With the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT), a project under construction, Mexico will offer a new route between Asia and the East Coast of the United States.
Mexico aims to create a sustainable, competitive and multimodal transportation system to lower costs and provide more and better connectivity to production and consumption centers.
According to the Mexican federal government, this is intended to reactivate local economies and integrate economically and socially isolated and marginalized communities and areas.
One of the main projects in this sector is the creation of a multimodal interoceanic corridor in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
This project involves several works to rehabilitate, modernize, and expand the rail and road networks and ports in the region, including the development of specialized container terminals.
It is also planned to establish industrial parks («development poles«), which will have incentives to attract investment projects in logistics and activities related to agribusiness, manufacturing, energy, and services, with the aim of turning the area into a delivery hub for the domestic market and re-exports.
CIIT
With this project, Mexico seeks to position itself as a new competitor in the region, taking advantage of the Isthmus’ position to offer a new route between Asia and the East Coast of the United States.
According to the authorities, 51% of the project’s cost was financed with public funds.
In Mexico, road transport is the most used mode for exporting and importing.
Before the pandemic, in 2019, roads carried 62%, in value terms, of Mexico’s exported cargo and 48% of the value of imports.
However, the competitiveness of road transport has been undermined by the state of the network and road safety, the price of fuel and poor connectivity with other types of transport.
This is compounded by the condition of freight vehicles, which has an impact on costs and travel time.
With the coordination of the Inter-Oceanic Corridor, the railroad of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the ports of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz and Salina Cruz in Oaxaca will be modernized, the highway and rural road infrastructure will be strengthened, as well as the port network, and a gas pipeline will be built to supply companies and domestic consumers.
The company will also create polygons along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec that will have incentives to attract investment that will stimulate the economic and social development of the region, based on the productive vocations with the greatest potential.
