Mayor Emanuel, World Business Chicago (WBC), Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Choose Chicago welcomed a group of nearly 50 business and government leaders from Mexico City as part of the Global Cities Economic Partnership signed by Mayor Emanuel and Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera in November 2013. The delegation, led by the Secretary of Economic Development of Mexico City, will use the visit to share economic development best practices and learn about the development and implementation of the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs.

The Global Cities Economic Partnership is designed to foster trade, an exchange of ideas, and sharing of business best practices, while also helping to develop new global trade and investment strategies. During the visit, the group, including Secretary of Economic Development Salomón Chertorivski Woldenberg, Vice Secretary of Economic Development Ricardo Becerra Laguna, Secretary of Tourism Miguel Torruco Marqués, business chambers representatives and industry executives from the pharma/bioscience, restaurant and digital start-up/restaurant sectors will meet with economic development and business leaders from across Chicago and learn about the role of World Business Chicago in implementing Mayor Emanuel’s Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs.

With more than 1.5 million residents of Mexican descent, Chicago is the fifth largest Mexican city in the world and the second largest in the United States. In 2013, total trade between Mexico and the Chicago region amounted to $18.9 billion. Currently, more than 120 Chicago and Chicago-area companies have a presence in Mexico including Baxter, Groupon, Hyatt, Illinois Tool Works, Ingredion, McDonald’s, Motorola Solutions, Underwriters Laboratories and United Continental. Mexican companies in Chicago include Amtex Chemical, Cemex, Bimbo Bakeries and Famsa.