Mexico's Emerging Middle Class Can Benefit Southern Arizona

AZPM

In a recent poll by the Pew Center, 2000 Americans were given a word association test. The word? Mexico. Almost 90 percent of those interviewed said “illegal immigration."

Nancy Montoya reports a growing number of business leaders in Southern Arizona are pushing to change that perception, calling Mexico our biggest ally for economic growth.

Last year Mexico was Arizona’s largest trading partner. That translates into $16 billion in goods and services.

Under former Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat and former Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, our relationship with Mexico soured.

Mexico Trade experts say Napolitano took the relationship for granted and Brewer’s anti-immigration positions created a negative business climate. With Doug Ducey in office, the tide is beginning to change says Bruce Wright, the VP of Arizona Tech Park.

“ I think it is very heartening that Gov. Ducey seems to have made Mexico a high priority at the beginning of his administration,” Wright said.

Wright is a member of several Southern Arizona business collaborations that have recommitted to strengthening ties with Mexico. It is a matter, say business leaders, of economic survival for Tucson and our surrounding communities.

“The Mexican economy has been relatively strong over the past few years and it’s growing," Wright said. "Mexico has a huge consumer class of almost 40 million people in the Mexican middle class. That can be enormously impactful for the economy of Southern Arizona."

Wright says unless Arizona changes its relationship with Mexico, it will be California and Texas that will benefit from Mexico’s emerging middle class.