The Mexican Federal Government has rolled out 'Plan México,' an administrative simplification strategy designed to accelerate productive investment by digitizing processes and reducing regulatory timelines, according to elfinanciero.com.mx.
The initiative aims to eliminate the bottlenecks currently hindering economic development. Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard noted that the priority is to unblock projects in the short term to meet the demands of the private sector.
“This is an event to present immediate actions to support investment in our country,” said Ebrard, who emphasized that the measures are the result of direct consultations with business leaders and state governments.
The plan includes a decree that will allow for the expedited authorization of strategic investments within a maximum of 30 days. José Antonio Peña Merino, Secretary of the Agency for Digital Transformation and Telecommunications, detailed that projects meeting specific criteria will be able to begin operations once official certification is obtained.
For all other federal procedures, a 90-day resolution deadline has been established. If this deadline is not met, the principle of 'affirmative fiction' (deemed approval) will apply, meaning the application will be automatically considered authorized.
Streamlining Energy and Healthcare
The strategy includes the creation of the National Digital Investment Window and a single window for foreign trade that will consolidate 132 procedures into a single platform. The new system will utilize a unified file to prevent the duplication of requirements.
In the energy sector, Secretary Luz Elena González announced that processing times for generation permits will be reduced by up to 60 percent, moving away from processes that previously took 2.5 years toward much more agile frameworks.
Similarly, the head of Cofepris, Víctor Hugo Borja Aburto, assured that simplification within the health authority will achieve reductions of up to 76 percent in resolution times. “This means less uncertainty, lower costs, less downtime, and increased capacity to invest,” he stated.
However, experts point to significant implementation challenges. Pedro Canabal, a partner at Baker Tilly, warned that the new environment demands strict compliance and responsible tax planning from companies.
Brenda Ángeles, legal manager at CASADUANA, noted that the new foreign trade window could be an evolution of the VUCEM system, as the Federal Government indicated it will be available within 15 days.
Finally, Óscar Ocampo, Director of Economic Development at IMCO, linked the measures to a sense of urgency regarding the current political cycle. “If execution does not begin right now... it will be much more complicated to reap results toward the end of the administration,” he concluded.
