• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.143-162
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• 2021

This study reviews the progress of maquiladora industry in Mexico and the development of the IMMEX program. The maquiladora program allows foreign-invested factories in Mexico to import raw materials and components duty free and to export the finished products to the U.S. It contributed to the increase in employment and population of border cities. Low wage level of Mexico induced not only standardized labor-intensive industries but also the high-tech automated industries requiring assembly process. In 2006, the Mexican government merged the maquiladora program and PITEX for Mexican export-oriented firms into a single new program, the IMMEX program, in order to promote exports more efficiently. This study presents the distributions of the IMMEX firms by industrial sector and by region. It is revealed that transport equipment sector leads the export industries in Mexico, and Tijuana and Juárez accommodate largest agglomerations of the IMMEX firms.