Greater Phoenix is now responsible for 68.3 percent of the state’s exports – up from 65.4 percent in 2014, according to Community and Economic Development Director Christine Mackay. Citing growing trade with Mexico, exports in the Phoenix metro area and the rest of Arizona are up sharply – more than 12 percent — while exports are declining throughout the rest of the country, Mackay said. .
The news comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that ProMexico, the Mexican government’s global economic development agency, will open a trade office in Phoenix. Phoenix has opened a trade office in Mexico City.
Mackay noted that Arizona is home to nearly 7,500 companies in the export marking creating 93,000 “traditionally pretty high-wage jobs.”