Enabling Trade Unlocking the Potential of Mexico and Vietnam

The report examines how Mexico and Vietnam can improve their global competitiveness by reducing trade barriers. For Mexico, it focuses on the medical devices industry, identifying regulatory complexity, lack of local certified suppliers, and inefficient border administration as key hurdles. For Vietnam, it highlights the need for integrated improvements in infrastructure, border administration, and market access to sustain economic growth.

• Mexico's trade is heavily concentrated, with over 80% of exports going to the USA, primarily in the automotive and electronics sectors, despite having 13 free trade agreements.
• In Mexico, supply-chain barriers are estimated to erode more than half of the country's labour-cost advantage relative to the USA.
• The medical devices industry in Mexico faces significant regulatory hurdles; specifically, it takes 1.7 times longer for new products to reach the majority of the Mexican population compared to the global average.
• Mexico's border administration is inefficient, with clearance costs per container ranging between $200 and $300, significantly higher than the under $100 cost seen in best-practice countries.
• Vietnam's border administration is slower than global best practices, with exporting goods taking an average of 16-21 days compared to the global best practice of six days.
• Vietnam faces critical infrastructure bottlenecks, including the underutilization of the Cai Mep-Thi Vai deep-sea port, which operates at less than 30% capacity due to poor accessibility to factories and industrial parks.
• Vietnam's market access is hindered by burdensome licensing and regulatory requirements, such as requiring pharmaceutical companies to conduct local trials even if they have approvals from the USA's FDA or the European Medicines Agency.

APA

World Economic Forum (2016). Enabling Trade Unlocking the Potential of Mexico and Vietnam. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Enabling_Trade_2016.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Enabling Trade Unlocking the Potential of Mexico and Vietnam. 2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Enabling_Trade_2016.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Enabling Trade Unlocking the Potential of Mexico and Vietnam |date=June 2016 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Enabling_Trade_2016.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2016enabling, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Enabling Trade Unlocking the Potential of Mexico and Vietnam}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2016}, month = jun, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Enabling_Trade_2016.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }