By Ana Gomez Salcido 
Members of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce welcomed the newly appointed Mexican customs administrator in Tijuana Jorge Fernando Boy Espinoza with a reception that included tacos and drinks at the Outlets at the Border this Wednesday, August 3.
“I arrived on June 1, I have been on the job for two months and Tijuana is where 6,000 trucks cross daily. It’s the most important crossing for vehicles and pedestrians of all 49 customs checkpoints in Mexico,” Boy Espinoza explained. “The Tijuana customs station is very important and it represents a lot of commercial enterprises. We need to have ease of travel so commerce can be fluid.”
Boy Espinoza briefly addressed the members as a whole, but was available throughout the reception to meet one on one with the people present.
“What I have seen is that the San Diego-Tijuana region is a community, and they know that what happens in Tijuana ripples in San Diego and vice versa,” Boy Espinoza said. “The decisions that need to be taken at the three levels of government need to be agreed on by the private and commercial sector.”
Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Eduardo Acosta also addressed the reception guests saying that Boy Espinoza has helped speed up the crossing traffic for trucks going south of the border in his first two months as the Mexican customs administrator in Tijuana.
“Up to now, the new administrator has been good with communication and access to any issue, and there are always issues that come up,” said Executive Director of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Alejandra Mier y Teran. “We are all very interested in the expansion and modernization of the import facility on the Mexican side in Otay.”
The two-year project that is expected to conclude at the end of 2016 will increase the area of the import area on the Mexican side at the Otay Mesa Commercial Port of Entry by 6.1 hectares.
“It’s a very important project for us, for Otay Mesa, and for international commerce. We expect that it will be finished on time,” said Mier y Teran. “We know there is an impact for current importers when there is construction, but when [the project] is ready, we hope there is enough personnel to speed up the crossing. In the end, that’s what we want, an expedited commercial crossing.”
Boy Espinoza, who was the Mexican customs administrator in Piedras Negras, Coahuila before arriving to Tijuana, said there will be state-of-the-art technology and a modern facility on the Mexican side at the Otay Mesa Commercial Port of Entry, that will help with inspections.
“When the project is finished we hope it accelerates the commercial flow,” Mier y Teran added. “The higher speed will benefit trucks crossing from north to south.”