Governor of Colima, Fernando Morena Peña Courtesy State of Colima

The Singapore of America -- this is one of the slogans the State of Colima uses to promote its image in Mexico and to the rest of the world. Located 400 miles due west of Mexico City on the Pacific Coast, Colima is one of the country's smallest states and its population of 540,000 represents only 0.5 percent of Mexico's total population. And yet, its port, Manzanillo, is the largest Pacific port in the country.

“When we start looking into Asia, we will realize the potential for investment capital, tourism potential, and competition in the short and long run, and thus, the existing commercial trade that we have with many of the Asian countries,” says Miguel de la Madrid Andrade, Secretary of Tourism of Colima state.

Colima's ambition to imitate the city-state of Singapore, however, rests on its plans for economic development. The state has targeted a number of high value-added industries for development in the hopes that its geographic position and transportation infrastructure will attract investment from Mexico and abroad.

"It is a virgin place for investors," says Carlos Guillermo Aguirre Ceballos, the state's Secretary for Economic Promotion.

Aside from geography and transportation, the state considers its human capital one of its main selling points. More than half the population is under 25 and benefits from educational opportunities at eight universities.

So, while much of the economic promotion targets development of the port and its support services, the state also aims to become a center for software development and a supplier of components to manufacturers of electronics and electrical goods. Automotive and textile industries are also on the state's wish list for investment. There are plans for two industrial parks--one in Manzanillo and the other near Colima, the capital city, for geographic equilibrium.

Though the state already has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, it created 5,000 new jobs last year and plans to match that number in each of the coming years. Its relatively small size makes it more manageable than Mexico City, or even major industrial centers like Guadalajara, in the neighboring state of Jalisco, or Monterrey, 600 miles to the northeast.

The governor of Colima, Fernando Moreno Peña, gives a personal pledge "to maintain a direct line of communication between business and the government," not something to be taken for granted in a country traditionally known for its crushing bureaucracy.

All of this represents a departure for a state that has traditionally relied on agriculture. The state sells 92 percent of the production of its 1,900-megawatt thermo-electric plant in Manzanillo, to clients outside the state (while providing a relatively high 97 percent electrification for its own state).

The implementation of NAFTA and the ongoing work of APEC have opened up new opportunities to Colima, with its port and easy access to the western coasts of the United States and Canada as well as the other countries along the Pacific Rim.

As APEC realizes its goals of reducing trade barriers among its member economies, Colima wants to position its port and terrestrial transportation network to profit from increased Pacific trade.