Bayer will invest 350 million euros in Mexico but asks for better regulation

According to its global executive director, the German company Bayer will invest 7,500 million pesos or 361 million dollars in Mexico within the next three years, a commitment to the country that “could improve” its investment environment, Werner Baumann.

“We continue to follow our path of making significant investments in Mexico, and this is based on the fact that Mexico is one of not many countries that have the complete value chain of what we are doing,” said Baumann during his visit to the Mexican capital.

According to Baumann, the vision for 2025 is to invest in manufacturing and innovation in Mexico, where the company already has eight manufacturing centers and ten more research and development centers.

The company’s executive director highlighted that Bayer in Mexico, where this 2022 celebrates 100 years of being present, is a “mighty “tireless” organization with more than 500 employees.

He also boasted that the company is number one in the country in crop science and is within the national top 5 in the pharmaceutical sector.

“(Given) the company’s growth prospects, the great technologies that are being developed in Mexico for Mexico, but also beyond, for the world, there is a mandate for us to invest significantly,” he said.

The visit of Bayer’s CEO, motivated by his 100th anniversary in the country, occurs after controversies with the Government, such as the reform that the company challenged in 2021 that allowed Mexico to buy medicines abroad with tenders from the United Nations Office.

United Nations Project Services (UNOPS).

Baumann met on Tuesday with President López Obrador, who highlighted “this company’s desire to continue investing in Mexico, both in the pharmaceutical branch and in food supplies,” for which “they have a lot of confidence” in Mexico.

The businessman considered that the investment and business environment in the country “in general is good, but it could be better.”

“The business environment would significantly improve with faster regulatory approvals, just as in many other countries frankly, with less administrative burden, and with a purely and exclusively science and fact-based approach,” he stressed.

“In addition to the things we are doing in consumer, pharmacy, and agriculture, we also have work to do to decarbonize the world as a relevant player in the system,” he said.

He also announced the arrival of drugs to combat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, which are very prevalent in Mexico, and cancer treatments, Parkinson’s disease, and family planning.

And he highlighted the potential of Mexico not only to be a center of manufacturing but also of innovation.

“Mexico has everything to be; it just needs to allow itself,” he stressed.