By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. companies plan to invest $40 billion in Mexico between now and 2024, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a meeting of U.S. and Mexican executives on Wednesday, according to Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
Lopez Obrador and Ebrard are in Washington after a meeting between the Mexican president and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden, as well as other officials, on Tuesday.
Calling it “great news for Mexico”, Ebrard revealed the prospective investments on Twitter as Mexican officials met the executives for a business breakfast in the U.S. capital.
Mexican officials said the talks could deliver progress on a raft of pending investments in Mexico by U.S. energy companies.
Billions of dollars in foreign investment in Mexico have been held up by disputes between companies and the government as Lopez Obrador tightens state control of the energy market.
Still, Lopez Obrador on Tuesday told Biden that Mexico was ready to work with the United States to help secure energy supplies, and promote the economic integration of North America.
Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier, who was also at the business breakfast, said on Twitter that Lopez Obrador noted he had come to listen to energy companies, including Sempra Energy.
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said in June that Mexico and the United States are working through disputes involving U.S. companies worth some $30 billion.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Daina Beth Solomon and Dave Graham in Mexico City; Writing by Kylie Madry, editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Marguerita Choy)
