Professional Report - 4th Quarter 2011

No Expat Exodus

In decades past, when Mexico’s economy was less certain and less stable, foreign expats would often flee home in the event of a peso crisis. Today, even with the drug-related violence playing out, no such exodus is taking place and, furthermore, interest in relocations to Mexico is rising. Mexico’s government is fully expecting its expat communities to grow over the coming decade and beyond, and has been working to facilitate this process, as the financial and cultural benefits it brings are significant. (Mexico Insight) If Mexico is a wholly dangerous place to be, why are existing expats staying put and inquiries for relocations to Mexico increasing?

Most People Remain Unaffected by the
Drug Related Violence
Recent figures published by the Mexican government
showed that most of the homicides in the country over
the last few years have comprised of gang members
killing other gang members. Tourists, business visi-
tors, and foreign expats are not being affected by the
drug-gangs, and statistics show that the overwhelming
majority of visits to Mexico pass by trouble-free.

Mexico Matters

The neighbor to the south of the U.S. is one of the world’s most important nations—poised to play a major role in world affairs during the 21st century. Its shared-land border with the States is a primary reason why drug lords want control of the overland trade routes into seemingly insatiable U.S. narcotic markets, where the illegal substances they peddle are readily available to those who seek them (Mexico Insight) . For these reasons and others, the matter will not be resolved by Mexico alone, but by Mexico and the U.S. working in partnership.

Mexico's Underlying Story is Strong and
Getting Stronger
Notwithstanding the current drug-related violence,
the country’s macro economics are in good shape. To
date, Mexico is the second largest market in the world
for U.S. exports. Additionally, as the world’s larg-
est Spanish speaking country, Mexico has among the
highest GDP’s in Latin America, and based on pur-
chasing power, it has the highest GDP among all the
Spanish speaking countries of the western hemisphere.
Mexico has substantial oil and gas reserves, as well
as considerable mineral and precious metal wealth.
And despite all the unsavory press, foreign visitors
keep coming back to visit, and expats living here are
going about their lives normally. Statistics continue to
show that Mexico’s levels of general crime and vio-
lence continue to be lower than those of most large
U.S. cities. From a personal perspective, after speak-
ing with foreign expats, they say that they feel safer
here in Mexico than they do in their home country.
(Mexico Insight)