Borderlands Mexico: Nuevo León governor pitches border boom as Texas-Mexico freight surges

Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week in Borderlands Mexico: Nuevo León governor pitches border boom as Texas-Mexico freight surges; NADBank plans nearly $164M in water projects; and Otay Business Park completes first phase near US-Mexico border.

Nuevo León governor pitches border boom as Texas-Mexico freight surges 

Nuevo León Gov. Samuel García is betting billions of dollars in infrastructure, industrial development and security investments can help transform the Mexican state into an increasingly important gateway for U.S.-Mexico freight.

Speaking Thursday at the 2026 North American Development Bank (NADBank) Summit in San Antonio, García laid out an ambitious vision for tightening Nuevo León’s economic ties with Texas, particularly along a trade corridor connecting Monterrey with Laredo, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas.

García said Nuevo León wants to further integrate what he called the “Gold Triangle” between Monterrey, Houston and Dallas as the state seeks to capitalize on growing nearshoring and cross-border trade.

“That is the goal,” García said.

NADBank’s two-day annual summit held Thursday and Friday in San Antonio included federal, state and municipal authorities, along with business organizations, academia, financial institutions, investors, project developers and experts, from both the U.S. and Mexico. The theme for this year’s summit was “Strengthening Cooperation to Deliver the Infrastructure of Tomorrow.”

García pointed to Nuevo León’s relatively small border with Texas as one of the state’s biggest opportunities for future trade growth.

García said commercial traffic through the state’s Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge has surged from roughly 800 freight movements per day in 2022 to more than 10,000 daily.

“Imagine the amount of commerce, revenue, money,” García said.

He said plans for two additional border crossings — including a freight crossing and the proposed Green Corridors project — could further expand capacity between Nuevo León and Texas. García described the projects as representing $17 billion in investment.

The infrastructure push comes as Nuevo León increasingly positions itself as a manufacturing and logistics hub serving North American supply chains.

García said the state accounts for about 14% of Mexico’s imports and exports and highlighted advanced manufacturing, automotive and logistics as three of Nuevo León’s most important industries.

The state has added seven highways and expanded airport infrastructure, García said, while increasing direct flights to the United States by about 40.

“We’re trying to have more business in logistics,” García said.

Nuevo León Gov. Samuel García says the state is investing in additional border infrastructure, highways and industrial development to increase cross-border trade with Texas. (Photo: NADBank)

Security becomes part of the nearshoring pitch

García also emphasized security as a critical component of Nuevo León’s strategy for attracting foreign manufacturers and logistics companies.

“Every company we invite to Nuevo León, the first thing they ask is, what about safety?” García said.

The state has expanded its police capabilities with an aviation division containing 10 helicopters and a heavy-duty division with 100 trucks, according to García. He said Nuevo León also stations law enforcement personnel near border crossings and deploys roughly 200 to 300 officers to patrol major highways.

The strategy is intended not only to combat crime but also to reassure manufacturers, carriers and investors that freight can move safely between industrial areas around Monterrey and the Texas border.

“With the border and the new highways, you can go directly to Laredo and you don’t have to leave Nuevo León to go to the U.S.,” García said.

The governor acknowledged that Nuevo León’s rapid economic expansion has created its own infrastructure challenges.

The Monterrey metropolitan area’s population has reached roughly 6 million, García said, while the number of vehicles has grown from about 2 million to 3.5 million over the past decade.

Nuevo León is responding with highway construction and public transportation investments aimed at easing congestion and connecting Monterrey more efficiently with the U.S. and other Mexican states.

Nuevo León targets logistics investment at the border

One of the most freight-focused initiatives García outlined Thursday involves a new industrial development zone near the Colombia border crossing.

The project is part of the Mexican federal government’s Plan México industrial development initiative, which García said offers significant tax incentives for companies establishing operations in designated industrial zones.

Nuevo León plans to open a roughly 40-hectare industrial zone near the Colombia crossing and new highway infrastructure.

García pitched the location directly to U.S. manufacturers and logistics companies whose primary business involves assembling products in Mexico and shipping them back across the border.

“If any Texan, if any U.S. or any of you want to invest, but your main purpose is to assemble and return to the U.S., it does not make sense to go all the way up to Monterrey,” García said.

Warehousing development is already increasing around the border, he said.

“If you are in any import-export company, logistics, freight, transport, it makes a lot of sense for you to invest in the border of Nuevo León,” García said.

Nuevo León is also developing a larger, roughly 988-acre industrial zone in Pesquería, near automotive manufacturing operations including Kia and Ternium.

García said approximately 400 Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers from the U.S. and Asia are already clustered around the area’s automotive industry.

Nuevo León touts $135 billion investment boom

García framed the infrastructure push against what he described as an unprecedented wave of investment into Nuevo León.

The governor said the state has attracted $135 billion in foreign direct investment during roughly four years of his administration, compared with $11 billion during the previous governor’s six-year term.

Nuevo León is attempting to evolve from one of Mexico’s traditional industrial centers into a hub for electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, data centers, cybersecurity and other advanced technologies, he said.

García said the state’s economic relationship with Texas illustrates how integrated manufacturing has become across the border.

He cited Tesla as an example, saying that although geopolitical uncertainty paused the company’s proposed Monterrey factory, roughly 200 Tier 2 suppliers arrived in the region following Tesla’s original announcement.

García said about 65% of the components used in Tesla’s Model Y produced in Austin come from Monterrey-area suppliers.

“That’s how deep we are connected with Texas,” García said. “If both winners share technology, share companies, share this cooperation, I think that the best is yet to come.”

NADBank plans nearly $164M in water projects for Texas-Mexico border 

The North American Development Bank recently announced $164 million in water conservation investments in Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley, while advancing additional water reliability projects across northern Mexico.

The investments, announced Thursday during the NADBank Summit 2026 in San Antonio, are part of the bank’s Water Resiliency Fund, which aims to improve water conservation, efficiency and supply reliability in drought-stricken communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

NADBank Managing Director John Beckham said the bank intends, subject to board approval, to provide $76 million in financing for projects involving 12 irrigation districts in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

The projects are expected to conserve nearly 44,000 acre-feet of water annually through improvements including canal lining, co