Mexican border state Chihuahua looks to attract Intel investment

The Mexican state of Chihuahua is looking to attract investment by chipmaker Intel Corp. and other semiconductor companies as it seeks to move up the manufacturing value chain and benefit from proximity to the US.

Governor Maru Campos is in Washington this week meeting with Intel and other companies as part of a push to lure $8 billion in foreign direct investment to the state over five years.

Intel has its largest engineering center in Latin America about 900 miles south of the border in the central state of Jalisco. Closer to Chihuahua’s manufacturing powerhouse city of Ciudad Juarez is Chandler, Arizona, where Intel is investing $20 billion to build two new computer-chip factories to bring total investment in the state to $50 billion.

Besides semiconductors, Campos is eying industries including electro-mobility and aerospace as she looks to scale up from the state’s traditional strength in auto parts and electronics, she said in an interview in Washington on Monday.

“I want to be the spark plug of the US-Mexico border,” Campos said in an interview in Washington on Monday. “We’re looking for Intel and we’re interested.” 

A spokesperson for Intel declined to comment.

The US in September asked Mexico to find ways of offering incentives to bring chipmakers to North America from Asia as both nations try to lure companies that are crucial to the world’s electronics.

The US is implementing the CHIPS and Science Act, which includes more than $50 billion to boost domestic semiconductor production and research as President Joe Biden’s administration looks to address supply-chain vulnerability laid bare by the Covid-19 pandemic and China’s lockdowns. 

Bloomberg News reported in July that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., the world’s biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles, is considering Ciudad Juarez for an investment of as much $5 billion.