Tijuana, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO. Over the last few weeks, events in San Diego and in Mexicali have highlighted industrial supply chain opportunities throughout Baja California's various manufacturing industries, says Co-Production International (CPI). The administrative and shelter services provider based out of San Diego notes regional growth underscored by the recent events targeting supply chain opportunities in Mexico.

"Opportunities in the supply chain in Mexico are endless. Manufacturing is booming and therefore supply demand is booming. Tijuana alone has grown to represent $11 billion dollars in industrial supply demand each year"

highlights CPI CEO Enrique Esparza. Esparza is also president of the Tijuana Economic Development Corporation (Tijuana EDC), putting him at the center of Mexico's northern border city manufacturing success story. "From automotive and aerospace to electronics and medical devices, doing business in Mexico has never been easier nor more fruitful," Esparza adds.

Of the two major events that took place recently, the Mexicali Suppliers Expo is now in its fourth year and occurred just this February 27th in the northern Mexico border city just south of El Centro, California. Featuring over 150 exhibitors, the event was attended by over 3,000 people and aimed to connect buyers face to face with potential suppliers. The increase in supply chain demand in the region presented industrial parts and components suppliers with new lucrative opportunities south of the border. Mexicali lies just east of Tijuana and is home to over 500 international companies that represent over $350 million dollars in component supply for the region.

"Our goal is to enhance the supply chain for foreign manufacturers with operations in Mexico. The manufacturers which include multi-national companies such as Gulfstream, Honeywell, Skyworks and Triumph among others, have told us they are actively seeking to increase their list of suppliers"

remarked Alfredo Garcia, president of the Mexicali Supply Expo committee.

Additionally, just last week the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego Center for International Trade Development hosted a supplier forum for the $16 billion medical device technology company, Medtronic. More than 40 companies interested in supplying to Medtronic attended the event that held lingering conversations hours after its close. This forum was also partially sponsored by the US Small Business Administration which seeks to increase export promotional activities in California. Past forums have featured international manufacturers such as DJO Global, Kyocera, Nypro and GreatBatch Medical. These smaller events are all regional lead ups to the Mexport annual trade show that promotes regional export sourcing opportunities in Baja California.

"Are these events successful? Just look at DJO Global who has been operating in the region for decades. CPI helped establish DJO in Tijuana and since then the medical device manufacturing giant has attracted many of their major suppliers to the region to keep up with their demand. DJO is one of over 67 medical device manufacturers in Tijuana and is a contributor to the city's annual medical device exports to the United States valued at $5.89 billion dollars in 2012," Esparza also noted.