With five major economic clusters well-established and un-rivaled access to Southern California, Tijuana is ready for industrial growth.

            “It’s always good to represent Tijuana on the road,” says Rafael Trujillo Altamirano, director of the city’s economic development office. “We have so many people (in the industry) with good skills.”

            Tijuana is a hard working industrial community with over 40 years of experience in international production sharing activities. With more than 570 maquiladoras, and more than 157,000 workers Tijuana has more manufacturing facilities than any other city in Mexico. The electronics sector represents approximately 30 percent of the manufacturing industry in Tijuana.

            Companies with maquila plants in Tijuana are mainly U.S. corporations, but also include firms from Southeast Asia and Europe. Among them are Sony, Samsung, Sanyo, Hitachi, Mattel, Sharp, Phillips, and others.

            Tijuana has a large Asian representation in its maquila industry. The city has strong sectors in software, medical appliances, automotive, plastics and electronics. Its automotive sector is beginning to emerge as Toyota expands its presence.

            Trujillo points to Tijuana plants that assemble seatbelts, carpets, windshields and electronics for automotive as evidence that the automotive sector is taking hold. With major automotive assemblers Kenworth in Mexicali and Toyota in Tecate, Tijuana and Mexicali both are likely destinations for auto suppliers. And while the supplier industry currently is dominated by U.S. and Asian firms, among Tijuana’s goals is to develop a local supplier base. Trujillo says Mexican companies have decades of experience in the auto industry.

            “We’re trying to get more Mexican companies involved as suppliers,” he says. “Mexico has been involved in the auto industry for more than 50 years. We’re trying to get them all (suppliers) together and...

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