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By KELIN DILLON

On Thursday, Feb. 6, Mexico’s federal government announced it will develop infrastructure for designing and manufacturing chips and semiconductors on Mexican soil as part of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s (CSP) “Plan Mexico.”

The move comes as Mexico seeks to strengthen its internal industries and disrupt its reliance on Asian imports, as the nation currently imports some $20 billion in chips annually.

“We want to begin the substitution of imports of high intellectual and commercial value,” said Edmundo Gutiérrez Domínguez, national coordinator of the Semiconductor Project and general director of Innovación Bienestar de México.

“We have established the mission of consolidating semiconductor development capabilities in Mexico by creating a design center with immediate commercial viability and, in the medium term, a manufacturing center with a strategic vision,” he continued.

Gutiérrez Domínguez said the public semiconductor design center project will begin in 2025, though the official noted its development “takes time, because we are talking about a globally competitive technology.”

Mexico’s semiconductor manufacturing reportedly could be live as soon as mid-2026, which could launch as either a public, private or mixed-use company.

Gutiérrez Domínguez noted that the semiconductor supply chain requires a three-step approach, which consists of design, followed by manufacturing and assembly, and ending with testing and encapsulation.

“The design center will focus initially on providing solutions for the local market in the traditional sector, but also for the global market. And when the manufacturing center is in Mexico, it will then make designs that will be made in Mexico focused on meeting the needs of the local market, to cover all three steps at a national level by 2030,” he added.

For her part, Sheinbaum highlighted the initiative as an opportunity for Mexico to establish its own and promote scientific and technological development across the country.