Border Wall not a Worry in Tijuana

It was a somber day for Mexicans on Wednesday when U.S. President Donald J. Trump, through executive orders, began a crackdown on immigration with a 2,000-mile border wall and threats to pull federal grant money for sanctuary cities in the country. 
But across the U.S. border, Tijuana business leaders were not too rattled by the news, which was based on a campaign promise many Mexican officials brushed off as a mere threat from an all talk, no action candidate. 
The news that the border wall would be constructed “immediately” broke at the time of the monthly meeting of Coparmex Tijuana, an association of local business leaders, with about 400 people in attendance. 
Coparmex Tijuana President Gilberto Fimbres Hernandez in essence laughed off the possibility of Trump’s wall having a negative economic impact on the region. “[The wall] has been there for 20 years, why would we worry?” he said. 
Meanwhile, Mexican economist and political analyst Macario Schettino was the guest speaker at the Coparmex meeting and offered an optimistic perspective to Mexico’s economic future despite Trump’s divisive attitude that threatens trade deals and diplomacy relations with Mexico. 
Schettino predicts that Mexico will be the seventh strongest economy in the world by the year 2030. “Whether you like it or not,” he quipped after his assertion. 
Currently, Mexico is ranked as the eleventh strongest global economy and is largely dependent on the U.S. for exports. But Schettino says Mexico could be potentially catapulted to a higher place because Mexico is not too dependent on commodity exports like other countries such as Russia, Indonesia and India, which he predicts will take a hit to their economy in upcoming years. 
With looming negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Schettino says that “not much would happen” if Trump decides to pull out of the agreement with Mexico. 
One thing that Schettino did worry about was Trump’s cabinet selection. He said he did not trust a cabinet comprised of “old billionaires.” 
While Schettino’s view on Mexico’s economy was mostly an optimistic one, some business leaders were more weary, specifically policies that could keep jobs away from Baja California’s manufacturing industry, according to Sergio Gonzalez, business developer for real estate agency Probien. Manufacturing in Baja could take a hit if Trump gets tough on keeping jobs in the U.S. 
As of now, there’s no evidence of an economic impact, Gonzalez says. 
Anna Melissa Penunuri, a commercial assessor for Gonzalez’s real estate agency, says there continues to be a lot of interest in buying properties in Tijuana. 
“So far there continues to be a lot of interest in our properties and there are a lot of offers being made,” Penunuri said. “In Tijuana right now there seems to be no shortage of interest.” 
While Coparmex leaders did not seem shaken by the economic impact of a border wall, some questioned the impact of an abundant number of migrants trying to enter the U.S. who may never get to cross the border. Or a flood of deportees coming back into Mexico as a result of Trump’s new aggressive effort to find and deport undocumented immigrants. 
Humberto Jaramillo Ramirez, president of the business advocacy group Consejo Coordinador Empresarial, said it could be a positive change to the economy as the city of Tijuana has always seen an influx of migrants and foreigners and eventually they become assimilated into the way of life and boost the economy in the region. 
“The migratory community has enriched our region’s labor and we have also been dependent on foreign investments in the region,” Jaramillo Ramirez said. “Locals need to start getting excited about the available opportunities here, just like foreigners do.”