Maquilas Symptom of Mexico’s Dependent Development – IRC Americas Program From: americas.irc-online.org

There’s nothing wrong with seeking to spur national development through increased integration with the global economy. More than most developing countries, Mexico has had plenty of time to develop a strategy to take advantage of the opportunities of globalization.

More than four decades after the maquiladora sector started in Mexico with the Twin Plant program in Juárez-El Paso in 1965, maquilas remain mostly an enclave industry with few productive ties to the national economy. Rather than shaping the maquila sector with forward-looking development policy that would increase industry inputs and use the offshore assembly plants as a base for a less dependent industrial sector, Mexico has been satisfied with the low-wage employment provided by the maquilas.”*

Leave a Reply