The deterioration of local finances and Foreign Direct Investment affects most of the country’s cities, which have lost strength, says the IMCO
MÉRIDA, Yucatán, (November 29, 2021) .- The competitiveness of the country’s cities has been diminished. Despite this, five cities, with more than one million inhabitants, stood out by achieving adequate competitiveness: the Valley of Mexico, which includes Mexico City and the metropolitan area, ranked first, followed by Guadalajara, Querétaro , Monterrey and Mérida .
And it is that the deterioration of local finances and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) are the main causes that prevented the 69 cities evaluated from obtaining a high level in the Urban Competitiveness Index (ICU) 2021 prepared by the Mexican Institute of Competitiveness (IMCO).
The index measures the capacity of Mexican cities to generate, attract and retain talent and investments.
Thus, 12 cities have low or very low competitiveness, 17 medium low, 28 medium high, 12 adequate and none, including Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara, reach a high ranking.
Overall, the percentage of city-owned revenue dropped from the previous edition to this year’s from 28 to 26 percent of total public revenue.
Meanwhile, net FDI decreased 18 percent on average, from 429 million dollars weighted by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 352 million dollars.
The cities evaluated by the Imco in the ICU concentrate 86 percent of the national GDP, 63 percent of the country’s population, 84 percent of the talent, considered as the population with technical and higher education, and 88 percent of the Fixed Investment Gross.
The ICU analyzes 69 indicators grouped into 10 sub-indices: government management; democracy; technology; economy; working market; security; connectivity; sightseeing; use of natural resources; inclusion, health and education.
In the general results and in the ranking of cities with more than one million inhabitants, the Valley of Mexico ranked first, followed by Guadalajara, Querétaro, Monterrey and Mérida, which had adequate competitiveness.
Guadalajara stands out in this ranking, which rose four positions (from six to two), explained Valeria Moy, general director of IMCO.
In contrast, León and Celaya, cities of Guanajuato, had declines in the positions they occupied in their rankings, due to double-digit increases in their homicide rates, he highlighted.
León went from 11th to 14th and Celaya dropped five places to 23rd.
“If there is one area we have been inconsistent, it is in security; A government arrives and changes a policy, removes the police and institutions, ” lamented Enrique de la Madrid, director of the Center for the Future of Cities at Tec de Monterrey.
Cárdenas, Tabasco municipality; Salamanca, Guanajuato; and Cuautla, Morelos, have very low competitiveness.
Source: Sipse
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