AMLO inspects port projects in Tehuantepec isthmus plan

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (pictured) visited Salina Cruz port, in the Pacific southern state of Oaxaca, on Sunday to inspect works being carried out there under the project to create a trade corridor in the Tehuantepec isthmus region.

The works inspected by the president, or AMLO as he is known, included the construction of a multipurpose pier and the rehabilitation of port facilities, the government said in a release.

Transport and communications minister Javier Jiménez Espriú joined AMLO on the site visit.

The program for the development of the Tehuantepec Isthmus (PDIT) is aimed at boosting the economic potential of the region and attracting private sector investment.

Under that objective, the government will improve links between Salina Cruz, and Coatzacoalcos, a major port in the Gulf state of Veracruz. This means improving the rail and road infrastructure that connects the two ports.

Airport infrastructure in the area will also be modernized and fiber optic lines installed. A gas pipeline will be built in the region and the oil refineries in Salina Cruz and Minatitlán, west of Coatzacoalcos, will also receive an upgrade.

Once the infrastructure is complete, the government is planning to cut VAT by half and reduce income tax in the area to create a "free economic zone."

Speaking at an event that also took place on Sunday in Juchitán, AMLO said that the PDIT will be carried out mostly with public funds, and that in the event of any private investment, this will be from domestic investors only.

The 91mn-peso (US$4.7mn) contract for the construction of the pier was awarded earlier this month to a consortium comprising Infraestructura Marítima y Portuaria, Infraestructura Marítima y Portuaria del Sureste, and Infraestructura y Edificación del Sureste.

The pier is expected to be completed by December 31.