Sinaloa, Sonora and Arizona can be twinned in a commercial and cultural way. Photo: Maritza L. Félix
The intention to build and strengthen a mega region between the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa with Arizona, United States is not a new issue; With the different administrations that have existed in both countries, little by little the political, social and economic narratives have changed, with which the economy on the border can flow.
To expand on this topic, in the radio program Coffee Timeof Connect ArizonaGonzalo Rodríguez Villanueva, executive director of Cerinnova, spoke about the Regional Integration Workshop. He noted that there are many commercial projects that are beginning to be put on the map, mentioning as the main one the empowerment of the southern region of Sonora with Sinaloa to establish a bicultural relationship between Mexico and the United States.
🎙️ Tell us a little bit, why and where does motivation come from? Where are you from or what is your personal connection to this effort to strengthen the mega region?
Look, the truth is that I had the opportunity to be in Arizona, at an event on June 28, and in that conference I mentioned that my first contact there was a trip I took to Oregon, and I traveled from Phoenix to San Francisco, to 10 years, in 1967.
Since then, I realized the relevance of this relationship, but at the same time I realized how at that time the differences between Arizona and Sonora were practically insignificant. However, over time, they grew larger.
But, on the other hand, I also realized that these historical, cultural, and economic relationships have continued to strengthen.
Art: Daniel Robles
Then, in that process, in 1992, he was invited to Arizona State University to give a conference with the Agribusiness Council of Arizona, about what the future of the relationship between Arizona, Puerto Peñasco and Guaymas was. Since then, they began to work until Governor Yaneth Napolitano arrived in 2007. It was when Gonzalo Rodríguez was given the opportunity to be rector of the Technological Institute of Sonora.
It was Napolitano’s turn to inaugurate the Sonora Technology Park. So, already in 2018, we proposed to the governments of Arizona and Sonora to be recipients of the Roger Kaufman award for the mega region for the positive impacts they were making on both sides of the border, by the international society to performance improvement. And they were awarded the prize to the governments of the two states at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.
So, with this what I want to tell you is that it is an effort that comes from many years, that has a lot of conviction and we are getting closer to making it a reality.
🎙️ And how do we make it happen? Because we have been talking a lot, there are these meetings that become international quite frequently, at least twice with the Arizona-Mexico Commission. What are those projects that really unite us and how do we make them so that they really flourish, that they become something tangible for our communities?
Yes, look, it’s good that you ask that question because at this moment we are already disconnecting from the generic part to enter the specific part.
Entering the specific part is identifying specific actors through innovation ecosystems. So what we are doing is working on six business units and these business units that are both in the south of Sonora and in the north of Sinaloa are going to be triggered by certain projects that we are going to try to connect due to the complementarity that exists. between Arizona and Sonora. Let me explain, if we as a mega region compete with the world, why are we going to be more competitive? And we are going to be more competitive because we combine abundant resources from both sides of the border. I’ll give an example: we have an abundance of land, we have an abundance of well-qualified people and we have everything that is related to the added value of raw materials such as food and tourism.
So these three elements are combined with elements that Arizona has. And what are the elements that Arizona has? Arizona has technology, it has marketing and it has financing. If we combine those six aspects that are directly related to two sectors that can increase their capacity to attract tourism, because you already know that in Mexico right now tourism has exploded very very strongly. Right now we are already in seventh place nationally in visitors.
And on the other hand, food. Between Fuerte and Yaqui there are 350 thousand irrigated hectares. With that alone I give you an idea to see the potential we have to transform raw materials into finished products and sell them to the world.
🎙️ What are the main topics on the agenda? Is it the water supply? Is it the business aspect? Are new technologies sustainable? What are the main points on this agenda?
Look, we have six business units. That is, six through which we are going to generate an offer. We are already in contact with organizations in Arizona, specifically our leader, Brianda Mancillas, and the six projects are as follows.
The first project is called the Business Training and Innovation Center for Food Development; The second project is called the International District for the Marketing and Development of Suppliers for the Food Sector; The third project is called Tripolis Complex, Masocarit Island.
🎙️”If as a mega-region we compete with the world, we will be more competitive because we combine resources from both sides of the border,” said Gonzalo Rodríguez (photo), from the Regional Integration Workshop, an initiative in Mexico that seeks to strengthen relations between Arizona and Sonora. pic.twitter.com/b5RsLo4JIO
— Conecta Arizona (@ConectaArizona) September 25, 2024
What does the Tripolis Complex mean? It is a project, it is a high-end resort, and this high-end resort has the perspective that it will build 5,700 housing units in Agiabampo, which is within the municipality of Huatabampo, and will generate 30,000 direct jobs and a supporting city of 90 thousand people.
We have the fourth project, which is the project we call the Holistic, Ecotourism and Cultural Community of the Mayo Region. We have the fifth project, which is the mobility project in the cities of southern Sonora, and the last project that has to do with the Smart and Sustainable City. Those are the six business units, and in each business unit we have specific projects.
Art: Daniel Robles