By Lucero Almanza Escalante
The administration of Mayor Mauricio Trejo has promoted measures in the areas of public safety, services, and government transparency that have generated an environment that attracts investment and financial growth for the municipality.
Recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its architecture and cultural background, San Miguel de Allende seeks to further diversify its activity and strengthen its economic development to emerge as one of the main attractors of investment in Guanajuato.
The state of Guanajuato is admired, among other things, for the iconic neo-Gothic Parroquia of San Miguel Arcángel, a must-see for visitors; however, in recent years, Guanajuato has made further inroads into sectors such as tourism, manufacturing, and, recently, the medical and health industry.
Mauricio Trejo is currently municipal president of San Miguel for the second time. The first time was in the 2012–2015 administration, and he is currently serving from 2021–2024. He is a businessman with more than 25 years in the hotel, real estate, telecommunications, and farming industries.
With the participation of national and foreign companies, San Miguel has placed itself at the top of municipalities in the state in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), Mayor Trejo said in an interview. «We have become the number one municipality for foreign investment in Guanajuato, and even though our strength is cultural, today we are the only municipality in the state that exceeds $800 million of foreign and national investment,» he said.
The current municipal administration, which began in October 2021, has undertaken various actions that have generated a climate of security, trust, and government transparency, and have allowed the establishment of companies in the Municipality
San Miguel is the municipality with the healthiest finances in Guanajuato, with the highest per capita surplus in the state, despite having been left a debt of 180 million pesos from the previous administration.
In a talk with the mayors of Mexico, Trejo highlighted the investment of the Le Bélier company—of more than $120 million—as well as the project of a yacht builder and the expansion of different companies that already operate in the municipality. The attraction of such capital has allowed the generation of jobs and economic development for the benefit of residents.
“These companies employ people who live in the communities. And as we have mentioned, the best social development program is a formal, well-paid job, and these investments give the people of San Miguel the opportunity to have a well-paid job,” he said.
In 2023, the construction of the World Trade Center (WTC) will be carried out with a national investment that includes the installation of a hospital by a private firm that will support both the health sector in the municipality and the business tourism and medical tourism sector.
For this type of investment to benefit the community, the mayor said, there is an agreement between the different unions of San Miguel to support the internal economy in such a way that products and services are purchased from local suppliers.
“We have a moral agreement that is the union of all the sectors working with the municipality so that the unions themselves are their main buyers, so that the exchange of products in the local market is carried out, and employment is provided—first, to the people of the municipality, with optimal conditions,” he said. «Although we are open, we are a municipality that demands a lot of labor, but the main objective is to employ the locals; that is the agreement between unions.»
Consolidation of tourist activity
On the subject of tourism, Trejo highlighted the consolidation San Miguel has achieved as a cultural destination and its progress in the wedding tourism segment. In the latter, it ranks as one of the leading destinations nationwide.
«We must continue to strengthen actions so that tourism continues to flow and continues to have us as “the jewel in the crown” and an “oasis” in Mexico. We must strengthen security strategies and our entire C4 department to allow us to have effective surveillance and strategies to prevent crime,” he said.
Also, he said, wine tourism and business tourism must continue to be promoted. «We have to continue strengthening cultural tourism but not lose sight of the potential we have in the different aspects of the sector.»
According to the mayor, wine tourism in San Miguel is in its infancy, and the visitor has much to discover and enjoy. “As a wine destination, San Miguel de Allende is barely getting started, and it will be a great wine region of Mexico, but also its countryside, with churches and haciendas, which will be unveiled in 2023 for tourists to visit,” he said.
Another of the achievements in the current administration’s activity is overcoming the average sales in food and beverages, as well as the rates of stay per night in most of the hotels in the town. The signing of two twinning agreements with the cities of Woodlands and Aspen are also significant.
«In just 11 months of government, this is what has been achieved with the actions of this new administration,» he said.
Citizen trust, key to income
Trejo affirmed that San Miguel de Allende is a «very healthy» municipality in economic and financial matters. «Even though we received the administration with 180 million pesos in debt, we currently have a surplus of 500 million pesos against the Revenue Law that was presented to the State Congress in 2022.»
“Today we are the municipality with the healthiest finances in Guanajuato, with the highest per capita surplus in the state, and in addition to this, the rating agencies have raised our investment grade rating, making us a municipality that generates trust credit, and that reflects the financial order,” he said.
In this way, the mayor highlighted the surplus that has been achieved although there has been investment in more than 120 high-impact works.
In terms of income from taxation, the mayor assured that the best strategy for any municipality is to have citizens who trust their government since if they consider authorities not very transparent, there will not be a good taxas paying disposition.
«The main strategy is to be a 100% transparent government and public works that have a great impact with social benefit, and keep all citizens well informed of the cost of the same,» he said.
And in the fight against corruption, the municipality’s policy is one of «zero tolerance» behavior at all levels of government, in all public instances. He indicated that no official is allowed any fault that puts the image of the entire administration at risk, and the Comptroller’s Office works independently and is endowed with all the human capital to constantly generate audits.
Security, services, and technology
Trejo mentioned that, in terms of public safety, all high-impact crime rates have been reduced by 50%. Meanwhile, in water management, the deficit of five million cubic meters per year that had been registered has been recovered.
