Evolution of Maquila grows Mexico Economy Salomon Juan Marcos Villarreal For Salomon Juan Marcos Villarreal one

of the leader of the textile industry, the expansion of the maquiladora industry has generated a substantial part of the industrial growth in northern Mexico during the last 25 years. Initially, these plants carried out laborintensive activities using rudimentary technology under precarious conditions. However, since the mideighties, many plants introduced stateoftheart technologies, modern organization and a well trained workforce; also, more strategic functions were delegated to local plants. The main findings of recent studies concerning the evolution and consequences of the maquiladorabased model of industrialization, emphasizing the technological learning process associated with the industrial trajectory of the region. Salomon commented the conclusion is that the industrialization strategy based on labor costs has been exhausted. Today, the option is to move toward specialization in knowledgesupported and valueadded industrial segments. ------