Authorities in Guanajuato have announced the construction of a World Trade Center (WTC) campus in San Miguel de Allende, a development that will include business, tourism, retail, educational and health care facilities as well as more than 600 homes.
Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo and San Miguel de Allende Mayor Mauricio Trejo announced the US $350 million facility at an event on Wednesday at which they highlighted the economic and employment benefits its construction and operation will generate.
Touted as the world’s first WTC campus, the development will include offices, a business center, academic facilities, a convention center, a hotel, a hospital, a sports complex, shops, a park, a “native forest” and 640 homes in a private residential area. It will be built on a 90-hectare site located next to the San Miguel de Allende-Dolores Hidalgo highway.
Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2023 and conclude three years later, although some facilities will be completed earlier. Rodríguez said on Twitter that the announcement of the WTC campus was a “watershed in the history of our state.”
He described the development as a “first world project that will be an asset as a business center and for tourism promotion” and thanked WTC executives and other “businesspeople and investors who believe in the economic potential of Guanajuato.”
Mayor Trejo, who recently met with WTC executives in New York, also highlighted the announcement on Twitter, declaring that San Miguel de Allende will be a world class business destination.
The Guanajuato government said in a statement that the arrival of the WTC will boost business tourism in San Miguel de Allende and allow the city to consolidate itself as a preferred destination for the development of “international economic links,” especially between Mexican and United States companies.
“Guanajuato is a state that has a great opportunity to show the world the greatness of Mexico,” Rodríguez said at Wednesday’s event, attended by WTC’s executive director of business development, Robin van Puyenbroeck, WTC México director Jorge Acevedo, investors and other government officials.
Trejo said that the project requires “vision, courage and economic resources” and will allow San Miguel de Allende to be a world class business and medical destination in addition to a cultural destination “par excellence.”
The World Trade Centers Association — established in the United States in 1970 — says on its website that it “stimulates trade and investment opportunities for commercial property developers, economic development agencies, and international businesses looking to connect globally and prosper locally.”
“Our association,” it adds, “serves as an ‘international ecosystem’ of global connections, iconic properties, and integrated trade services under the umbrella of a prestigious brand.”
There are already WTCs in several Mexican cities including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Veracruz, Querétaro and Nuevo Laredo.
With reports from Milenio, AM, News San Miguel, Periódico Correo and Lider Empresarial
