Economy Is Tough on Juarez’ Expo Maquila

This year’s Expo Maquila, a tradeshow held annually in Juarez, Mexico, for the maquila industry – companies from the U.S. and elsewhere that establish manufacturing facilities in Mexico using local labor and suppliers – was forced to effectively cancel the exhibition portion of the Nov. 11-13 event.

Show management blamed the recession and said the recent spate of violence in Juarez and some other cities near the U.S. border was not a factor.

Felipe Galan Uribe, director general of show organizer Desarollo Economico de Ciudad Juarez – a private firm that receives support for the show from Mexican municipalities, states and the federal government, as well as from El Paso, Texas, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and private organizations – said the economy forced this year’s Expo Maquila to shift its focus to the conference portion.

Expo Maquila is a 22-year-old show that normally attracts more than 100 exhibiting companies and 3,000 attendees, but Uribe said for most participants this year, the $1,734 price for an exhibit booth proved to be prohibitive.

“It was primarily because of the financial downturn,” he added. “We didn’t have many takers, so we couldn’t afford to book the local convention center, which would have cost over $100,000, so we concentrated on the conference, which was cheaper to produce and cheaper for suppliers and buyers to attend as well.”

The event was moved to the campus of Tecnologico de Monterrey, a local Juarez college, and featured mostly conference sessions, as well as invitation-only one-on-one meetings between 17 invited maquila operators and about 75 invited suppliers from Mexico and the U.S. Business still was conducted and orders were placed, and show management is tracking those activities, Uribe said.

The recent well-publicized violence in the region was not a factor in the exhibition’s cancellation, he added. Uribe cited the downsizing of the similar Borderland Tradeshow in El Paso last March, which he said was the smallest in its history, as evidence the economy was to blame. He added a similar show in Mexico, farther from the border, also was suspended.

In fact, Uribe said, when the decision was made to downsize Expo Maquila, the plan was to hold one day of the event in El Paso, but participants insisted on having the entire event in Juarez. “There is a problem with violence, but we are operating normally,” he added. “For instance, more than 4,000 people come here to work every day from the U.S.”

Uribe said he expected the show to be back to normal next year. “This industry is strongly tied to the U.S. economy because it produces consumer goods for the U.S. market, and the U.S. economy is improving,” he added. “We expect that to help our show. In addition, construction on a new convention center in Juarez is beginning and that will help us, too.”

However, despite the contraction of Expo Maquila and other industry shows, Paul St. Amour, vice president of Latin America at E.J. Krause & Associates, is moving ahead full force on EJK’s next Expo Manufactura in March at Cintermex in Monterrey, Mexico.

St. Amour said violence certainly is an issue in border cities in general and in Juarez in particular. “I believe that Expo Maquila has always focused on U.S. suppliers to maquilas, so it makes even more sense for them to have had problems as very few Americans want to go to Juarez,” he added. “From my recollection, even the managers and directors of most maquilas live in El Paso and work in Juarez.”

St. Amour said Manufactura is aimed at the same market as Expo Maquila, but at the entire manufacturing base, not only maquilas.

The Manufactura show has been held since 1996 and was very successful in early 2009, selling much of its space prior to the recession hitting, but 2008 also was a great year for the show, he added. Things are looking good for 2010 as well, St. Amour said. EJK works on Expo Manufactura with The Assn. of Manufacturing Technology, producer of the Intl. Manufacturing Technology Show, Caintra and the Tec de Monterrey, groups that are active and well connected in Monterrey, he added.