Prosperity Atlas: North America's Negotiation and Integration Roadmap

Mexico's greatness rests on a millennial consensus that transcends generations. Historically, our country has advanced when the public sphere has defended the proposition that true prosperity lies beyond the accumulation of material wealth, recognizing the foundational importance of common welfare and shared justice. Prosperity ultimately depends on the opportunities available to the population to achieve happiness with equity and to fully develop their capacities.

The Prosperity Atlas traces its origins to my appointment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where I redesigned the investment promotion system. I am grateful for the opportunity I was given, as well as to the extraordinary team that accompanied me on this project, with whom I built Mexico's COVID-19 vaccine portfolio. This Atlas compiles my reflections from doctoral research on the Mexican economy, social justice, and our geopolitical position. Those reflections reaffirm our country's strategic role on the world stage as a guide for new pathways in the socioeconomic evolution of nations.

The conceptualization was made possible by an approach that goes beyond neoclassical economic frameworks, grounding the analysis in principles of justice and equity. Sourcing resources, coordinating teams, and keeping the Atlas from becoming merely an extension of conventional international trade practices required close collaboration. I am particularly grateful to my team, especially Íker Jimenez, and to the Mexico-based teams at UN-Habitat (Eduardo López Moreno) and UNIDO (Ramiro Magaña), for maintaining course and holding firm to the social dimension of the work in a world dominated by economic orthodoxy. Within this framework, an innovative urban-regional and territorial-industrial approach was developed in collaboration with the aforementioned UN offices, yielding a methodology for analyzing more than 20 national sectors across their regional and global value chain components. The result: identification of five strategic sectors and five prosperity corridors, detailed throughout this Atlas.

The current geoeconomic context and the tensions between North America's trade bloc and the rest of the world make this publication an essential foundation for renegotiating the free trade agreement with the United States and Canada. The Atlas reaffirms the symbiosis among our three nations and identifies areas where we must act in a coordinated, unified manner. Revitalizing economically and socially depressed urban areas across North America through job creation and industrial development requires that we see ourselves as a single entity. By identifying pathways for balanced development across complementary North American regions, we can reframe free trade negotiations to prioritize those who most need guidance and support.

The incoming administration of Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (2024-2030) brings clear vision through its infrastructure, energy, and water plans. By leveraging those plans with a regional lens grounded in the Prosperity Atlas, we can aim for even greater impact across all of Mexico. The vision extends well beyond individual investments and businesses: it is fundamentally human, centered on creating regional synapses, opening channels, connections, and bridges between areas that previously had no meaningful interaction. These benefits flow to those who need them most, linking Mexico's regional needs to those of the broader North American region. Operationalizing and scaling this Atlas to the regional level is an effort that could set the roadmap for raising living standards among the most vulnerable.

The potential of this strategy is incalculable: it will open pathways to prosperity and social justice that we cannot yet fully envision. Greater development, along with more and better public services, are only some of the gains that can flow from adding value to these investment poles. Providing Mexico's youth with opportunities for prosperity means building skilled human capital and opening wider doors for their professional growth. The Atlas is not merely a map of opportunities. It is a comprehensive guide for inclusive and resilient development. It seeks to integrate Mexico into the new dynamics of the global economy, strengthening its competitiveness through the promotion of strategic sectors and the activation of prosperity corridors, in alignment with the Sheinbaum administration's state policy. By improving the social, urban, and economic conditions of its population, Mexico can meet the challenges of the twenty-first century and build a solid foundation for sustained future growth.

https://onu-habitat.org/index.php/atlas-prospectivo-territorial-industrial-de-mexico

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the five strategic sectors identified in the Prosperity Atlas?

The Atlas identifies five strategic sectors and five prosperity corridors, derived from the analysis of more than 20 national sectors. The methodology was developed in collaboration with UN-Habitat and UNIDO and incorporates regional and global value chain components. The full breakdown is detailed within the publication.

How does the Prosperity Atlas relate to USMCA renegotiation?

The Atlas provides a strategic framework for renegotiating the free trade agreement among Mexico, the United States, and Canada. It reframes negotiations around regional complementarity and the rehabilitation of economically depressed urban areas, prioritizing the populations most in need of support across North America.

How does the Prosperity Atlas align with the Sheinbaum administration's agenda?

The Atlas is designed to complement Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo's infrastructure, energy, and water plans (2024-2030). Applied with a regional lens, it can amplify the impact of those plans and serve as the guiding framework for a state policy oriented toward inclusive, resilient development.