Economy
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Mexicali's economy has been historically based on agricultural products, and they remain a large sector of the economy. However, its economy has gradually gone from being agricultural to include industry, mainly maquiladoras—duty-free factories in which parts from the United States are imported, assembled, and then returned to the United States as finished products. Currently, the Mexicali Valley still is one of Mexico's most productive agricultural regions, mostly producing wheat, cotton and vegetables. The city is one of Mexico's most important exporters of asparagus, broccoli, carrots, green onions, lettuce, peas, peppers, radishes and tomatoes to the world.
The historic Cervecería Mexicali
In its beginnings Mexicali was an important center for cotton production for export, until synthetic fabrics reduced the worldwide demand for the fiber. Currently, horticulture is the most successful agricultural activity with scallion (green onion), and asparagus being among the most important crops. Cotton and wheat are still grown, but low government price guarantees and subsidies make wheat farmer protests an annual event. There is an annual agri-business fair, which if unfunded by the government, would have been dead a decade ago, named AGROBAJA, Agrobaja in March of every year, drawing people by the thousands, from all over Mexico and before the crisis, from the United States.
The current prospects for economic growth in Mexicali rely on in-bond and assembly plants (maquiladoras), which come due to low wages and loose worker right laws, include companies like, Selther, Daewoo Electronics, Mitsubishi, Honeywell, Paccar, Vitro, Skyworks Solutions, CareFusion, Bosch, Price Pfister, Gulfstream, United Technologies Corporation, Kenworth, Kwikset and Collins Aerospace. Mexicali is also home to many food processing plants such as Nestlé, Jumex, Bimbo, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, and Sabritas. In December 2018 there were 180 in all, employing 70,000 people.
Mexicali became the national center for the aerospace industry in Mexico when Rockwell Collins established an operation there in 1966. Rockwell Collins is the oldest company under the maquiladora program nationwide.
Silicon Border[edit]
Main article: Silicon Border
Development in Punta Este
Silicon Border is an empty 40-square-kilometer (9,900-acre) development supposedly tailored to the specific needs of high-technology manufacturing and is situated in the outskirts of Mexicali, along the western border of the U.S. and Mexico. The aim of the empty manufacturing park, which began in 2004, was to transform Mexicali into the world's next semiconductor manufacturing center, if the world economy was fine. The Mexican federal and Baja California state governments have given away $2 million of public money to private hands, without a referendum for the design of the project and the laying of a few streets and lamp posts that can be seen on the premises as the only work done. Neither authorities nor the private frontmen of the project have given the public any account on what the public money was spent on. Former president Vicente Fox offered ten years of a tax rate as low as 3% to foreign-owned factories.
The premises sit empty as of October 2022.
Tourism[edit]
Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, seat of the Catholic Diocese of Mexicali
Mexicali also relies on tourism as a medium to generate revenue, and visitors cross by foot or by car from Calexico, United States, every day. Tourists are mainly attracted to local taco stands, restaurants, pharmacies, bars and dance clubs. Near the border, in walking distance, there are many shops and stalls selling Mexican curios and souvenirs. Arizona and Nevada residents look for medical and dental services in Mexicali, since they tend to be less expensive than in the United States. Pharmacies sell some drugs without a prescription and at much lower cost than in the US, but some medications still require a doctor's prescription, although several accessible doctor offices are located near the border as well.
Mexico's drinking age is 18 years old (versus 21 in the United States) which makes it a common weekend destination for many high school and college students from Southern California.
Mexicali hosts four main shopping malls, the most visited being Plaza La Cachanilla, located a mile away from the US border. The mall hosts a variety of shops, which sell a wide array of items, ranging from cheap Mexican curios to expensive imports. The Plaza La Cachanilla also represents a common place for people to socialize, especially during summer days when the weather reaches high temperatures, many families come and spend the day inside the air-conditioned mall.
For recreation, Mexicali has bath halls, bowling alleys, traditional cantinas, car clubs, strip clubs, movie theaters, museums, a zoo, a convention center, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants for every choice of food.
Galerias del Valle, holds a WalMart Supercenter, a twelve-screen Cinepolis movie theater, two casinos, a food court, and a large array of stores that sell many items needed for daily living. It is located on Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas at Calle 11.
