Magna International, a Canadian auto parts manufacturer and one of the largest in North America, will invest US $166 million to build its 11th factory in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. The plant will manufacture electrical and structural parts, such as chassis and platforms, and will create 700 jobs.

Magna International executives said the expansion plans confirm their faith in Coahuila as a sound location for investment, praising the state’s security situation, its skilled labor force, and its proximity to the U.S. market.

Governor Manolo Jiménez said Magna’s venture demonstrates that Coahuila is open to any company that wishes to invest, and added that his administration takes seriously its duty to create the conditions for job creation. 

“We all work to ensure that any business that sets up in Coahuila prospers, and security is a fundamental priority in achieving this,” he said, in a Milenio newspaper report on March 13. “We also prioritize dual education … which produces skilled labor while also promoting dialogue between management and labor unions.”

Dual education is a system that combines apprenticeship and vocational education in a single course of study.

Once in operation, the new Magna plant — to be located in the city of Ramos Arizpe, just 14 kilometers north of the state capital Saltillo  — will boost the company’s position as one of the state’s top employers as more than 15,000 people work at its other 10 facilities in Coahuila.

Coahuila, Mexico’s third-largest state, sits across the Rio Bravo from the U.S. state of Texas. In a recent Industrial Development Index produced by Finsa, a Mexican industrial park developer, Coahuila ranked as the third-leading destination for industrial investment in Mexico. The Finsa study highlighted the productive participation in the industrial real estate market these three states have established, their export-oriented manufacturing sectors and their capacity to attract foreign investment.

A self-proclaimed leader in mobility technology, Magna has 32 manufacturing plants and employs more than 30,000 people across Mexico. Fernando Moreno, Magna’s vice president of legal services in Mexico, underscored the leading role Magna plays in the global automotive industry as a major auto parts supplier.

With reports from Milenio and Cluster Industrial