Mexico is emerging as a new center of growth in the global economy. Some have taken to calling the country the “Aztec Tiger,” an analogy reminiscent of the “Asian Tigers” that led the economic miracle of East Asia. Mexico can attribute its recent economic surge to two drivers. First would be the nation’s swift growth into a global production base, backed by the enhanced competitiveness of its manufacturing industry. Improved competitiveness thanks to moderate wage increases, enhanced manufacturing productivity, a stable exchange rate, China’s ongoing loss of competitiveness due to rising wages, the US manufacturing renaissance, an extensive FTA network with 45 countries, and better business environments; these are the foundations upon which Mexico has been able to make the swift transformation into a global production base targeting not only North America, but also the South American and EU markets. The second driver would be the successful reform measures rolled out by the Peña Nieto government. Seen as the largest reform in terms of scale since the launch of NAFTA in 1994, Peña Nieto’s reforms have an extremely broad scope, from industrial structure reform in the energy, telecommunications, and financial sectors to institutional reform in education, tax and labor. These structural reform policies have been garnering special attention due to hopes that they may serve as a tipping point in the development of the Mexican economy. As it is, the reform measures are expected to propel the Mexican economy toward additional growth by up to 2 percentage points, maximum. Another reason Nieto’s policies are in the spotlight is because the formerly closed energy and telecommunications markets have opened up, possibly revealing huge business opportunities. There are even some observations that say the direct and indirect investment effect of opening up Mexico’s oil market will reach USD 1 trillion, and that it will have a more powerful economic impact than the US shale gas revolution.
Against this backdrop, the main purpose of this study is to provide comprehensive and strategic suggestions in order to enhance economic cooperation with Mexico given the recent dynamic changes in Mexico, including its emergence as a manufacturing powerhouse and successful structural reforms of the Peña Nieto government.
To this end, this study consists of six chapters. First chapter contains the purpose of this study, methodology, and literature review. The second chapter concerns Mexico's recent manufacturing surge, how it was possible and how it can be taken further. Also, in order to see whether Mexico's recent changes in manufacturing sector is sustainable or not, total factor productivity was measured at the industry level. Lastly, based on all these analysis, this study evaluates the substantiality of the manufacturing sector growth and the probability of economic development of Mexico.
In chapter three, major reforms that the Peña Nieto government has pushed forward are analyzed and evaluated in depth for policy implications: the background of these reforms and how these reforms were planned and implemented were considered in the first part. This study categorized all eleven reforms that the Mexican government is implementing, into two main ‘pillars’: structural reforms in industrial sectors and institutional reforms. For the structural reforms in the industrial sector, reforms in telecommunications, energy, and finance are discussed in depth; while for the institutional reforms, education, tax and labor reforms are scrutinized. On the basis of this analysis, implications of these reforms and how they could affect the Mexican economy in the near future are introduced.
In chapter four, the current state of economic cooperation between Mexico and Korea is evaluated. Divided into three sub categories, i.e. trade, investment, and institutions; economic cooperation is assessed comprehensively. In addition, the difficulties and obstacles facing Korean enterprises investing in Mexico were surveyed in order to elicit measures for improvement.
In chapter five, policy suggestions are specified to enhance economic cooperation with Mexico. Along with the surveys conducted on the difficulties experienced by Korean companies investing in Mexico, SWOT analysis is used in order to analyze the economic cooperation environment between Korea and Mexico. On the basis of the analysis, this study suggests four strategies for the Korean government i.e. converged cooperation strategy, win-win cooperation strategy, SME cooperation strategy and institutional cooperation strategy.
The four strategies to enhance economic cooperation with Mexico are listed below. The first would be a “converged cooperation strategy,” which creates the most powerful model for cooperation by merging the strengths that each country possesses in different areas. From the perspective of Korean companies, Mexico offers the advantage of being a forwarding base for manufacturing, and having a broad FTA network, that would serve as the basis for strategies targeting not only the North American but also the South American market. On the opposite side, Mexican companies can devise strategies to enter Asian markets, for instance China, by using Korea’s strength as a “gateway to Asia” on account of it being a logistics and FTA hub. The two countries could also draw from Mexico’s powerful political and economic influence over the Central American and Caribbean region and its experiences in development cooperation, and combine this with Korea’s experiences and know-how in successful economic development to formulate a triangular cooperation strategy providing joint assistance to neighboring countries.
Next would be a “win-win cooperation strategy” that utilizes Korea’s comparative advantage in technology and successful industrialization experiences to help solve the problems in the Mexican economy. Policies and projects that support insertion of Mexican components and materials industries into the global supply chain by transferring Korea’s economic development experiences and technologies will simultaneously resolve challenges facing Mexico’s manufacturing sector and create a friendly environment for Korean businesses seeking to enter the market. There should also be a cooperation program in education, along with science and technology sectors, which calls for swift improvements in order to support Mexico’s economic development. To this end, it will be necessary to host a “Korea-Mexico Education and Innovation Summit” attended by presidents of prestigious universities and research institute CEOs from both countries, as a channel to enhance mutual understanding and identify cooperation demand in the education and science and technology sectors. Another measure that may be necessary is the establishment of a joint job training institute run by the Korean government and companies in collaboration with the Mexican government, to help solve labor shortages in Korean companies operating in Mexico and to support the Mexican government in education of skilled manpower.
Third is an SME cooperation strategy. Enterprises will play a key role as an agent of cooperation in the expansion of economic cooperation between Korea and Mexico. SMEs, in particular, will play as much an important role as large conglomerates. This is because Mexico is a Latin American country with the highest number of Korean SMEs operating within its borders. As a demonstration of its strong interest in fostering SMEs, in 2014 the Mexican government founded INADEM (National Entrepreneur’s Institute). Priority measures to consider in expanding cooperation between Korean and Mexican SMEs are the establishment of a Korea-Mexico Technology Innovation Center, to support SME technology cooperation and exports, and the creation of a Korea-Mexico SME Forum to serve as a network for SME cooperation.
The fourth and final strategy would be to form a basis for institutional cooperation. The best institutional infrastructure for expanding economic cooperation with Mexico is an FTA. Since 2008, Korea-Mexico FTA negotiations have been stalled following Mexico’s decision to halt discussions, and have yet to be resumed. The grounds for this decision were that an FTA with Korea would bring more harm than good, due to the unfavorable balance in trade from Mexico’s viewpoint. Fortunately, the Korean government’s announcement to join the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) has rekindled the possibility of concluding an FTA with Mexico. As important as an FTA is, so is opening a direct flight route between the two nations. Not only would this save travel time and airfare, but it would also be a meaningful step that narrows the psychological distance between the people of Korea and Mexico.
In the concluding chapter, the summary of the results, limitations of this study and possible future research are proposed.

서언
 
국문요약 

제1장 서론 
1. 연구의 필요성 및 목적 
2. 연구의 내용 및 방법 
   가. 연구의 내용 
   나. 연구방법 
   다. 국내외 주요 선행연구
 
제2장 멕시코 제조업의 부상과 경쟁력 변화 
1. 제조업의 부상과 배경 
   가. 제조업 부상의 주요 특징 
   나. 제조업 부상의 배경 
2. 제조업 경쟁력 변화와 원인: 제조업 생산성 분석  
  가. 총요소생산성 추정 
  나. 총요소생산성 변화의 요인 
3. 멕시코 제조업의 발전 전망 및 과제
 
제3장 신정부 개혁정책의 주요 내용과 특징 
1. 개혁 추진의 배경 
2. 산업구조개혁 
   가. 에너지산업 개혁 
   나. 방송통신산업 개혁 
   다. 금융산업 개혁 
3. 제도개혁 
   가. 교육개혁 
   나. 세제 개혁 
   다. 노동개혁 
4. 개혁정책에 대한 평가 및 시사점 

제4장 한ㆍ멕시코 경제협력 현황 및 평가 
1. 교역 
   가. 교역 현황 및 추이 
   나. 교역의 주요 특징 
2. 투자 
   가. 투자 위상 및 추이 
   나. 투자의 주요 특징 
   다. 대멕시코 투자 실태 조사 
   라. 멕시코의 대한(對韓) 투자 
3. 제도협력 
   가. 정부간 협정 
   나. 민관협력채널 
4. 경제협력 평가 
   가. 무역 
   나. 투자 
   다. 제도협력
 
제5장 한ㆍ멕시코 경제협력 확대방안 
1. 멕시코 경제환경 변화에 대한 평가와 한ㆍ멕시코  경제협력 전략 
   가. 외부환경 분석: 멕시코 시장의 기회요인과 위협요인 
   나. 내부환경 분석: 한국(정부 및 기업)의 강점과 약점 
   다. 한국ㆍ멕시코 경제협력 전략 
2. 한ㆍ멕시코 경제협력 확대방안 
   가. 융합협력 방안 
   나. 상생협력 방안 
   다. 중소기업 진출 역량 제고방안 
   라. 제도적 협력기반 구축방안
 
제6장 결론 
 
참고문헌
 
부록
 
Executive Summary