Mexico is rapidly becoming one of Latin America's economic success stories. With a thriving manufacturing hub and a fast-growing IT industry, Mexico is clearly a significant economy in Latin America and an economic lighthouse for the region.

At Cisco, we're proud to play a role in helping drive Mexico's continued economic transformation. We started operations in Mexico in 1993, and employ more than 1,000 employees throughout the country. We also have a long history of developing Mexico's growing pool of skilled IT workers through Cisco Networking Academies. The Networking Academy program in Mexico is one of our largest worldwide, with more than 50,000 students enrolled in 300 academies around the country. Building off of our ongoing investment in the country's IT talent, we announced a new Global Service Center in Mexico City last year, our fifth in the world.

Today I met with President Enrique Pe?a Nieto to reaffirm Cisco's long-term commitment to Mexico, a strategic center of country digitization and innovation. Our commitment is two-fold, supplementing our existing IT manufacturing footprint, and initiating a new partnership with the government to accelerate its digital economy.

Establishing an IT Manufacturing Powerhouse

Mexico is in the midst of a manufacturing boom. The country leads manufacturing growth in Latin America and continues to gain momentum in a wide range of industries, including electronics, consumer goods and automobiles. This has helped bolster Mexico's rising middle class, which now represents about 40 percent of Mexico's total population, or some 44 million people.

Cisco is working with Mexico to propel this trend by strengthening its global leadership position in advanced technology manufacturing. We plan to increase our existing production at manufacturing facilities in the country, developed through our contract manufacturers. These facilities are expected to supply products to more than 110 countries, and directly complement our manufacturing efforts in the U.S. and around the world.

Wakening Latin America's Silicon Valley

Mexico has poured more than$1 billion in investments last year and more than 500,000 IT professionals nationwide into Mexico's tech industry, which is quickly rising to global prominence. The Financial Times even recently referred to Guadalajara as the "Latin Silicon Valley."

The investments we are building upon today are designed to help the Mexican government accelerate digitization while boosting its economic trajectory, with investment in areas such as education, healthcare, security, infrastructure and the Internet of Things. We've already seen the profound economic, social and political benefits of Cisco's similar partnerships with France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, India, and Israel. Likewise in Mexico, we expect the partnership to increase GDP, create new jobs, and increase innovation. Technology has the capability to fundamentally enable access to better, more high-quality employment opportunities and services, and we believe that our investments are poised to help improve quality of life for citizens in Mexico, as well.

I am excited about our ongoing partnership with Mexico as secure digital technology continues to create new opportunities for business and for its citizens. I believe that at Cisco, we are at our best when we combine our business strength with our ability to do great things around the world. With our focus on innovation and IT education in Mexico, Cisco continues to deliver on that promise. We are honored to work with the people of Mexico to accelerate their digital economy, and help further their economic and societal success.