Quintana Roo Business Leaders Demand Certainty After Sheinbaum Questions Cancún Financial District

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Business leaders in Quintana Roo are demanding clarity from Mexico’s federal government after President Claudia Sheinbaum questioned the planned site of the Cancún Financial and Technology District, warning that the uncertainty is already putting advanced investment talks at risk.

Speaking at her Monday morning press conference, Sheinbaum said Governor Mara Lezama “wants to build a financial center in Cancún and is applying for the various permits,” adding that “several investors want to take part.” But she cautioned that “the location has not been approved” and that it “could be in an impacted area.”

“It can hardly be authorized in a place where there is jungle, because that jungle has to be protected,” she said, while describing the project as a positive step toward diversifying the region’s economy.

Miguel Ángel Lemus, president of the Quintana Roo Association of Real Estate Developers (Adiqroo), said those remarks jeopardize investments and financing that were already in advanced stages of negotiation. During a meeting of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), industry leaders said the federal government’s shift in tone on a project the state has officially promoted before federal lawmakers and the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry (Semarnat) has left them without legal certainty.

Lemus said the group had been working to attract investment funds specializing in hospitals and technology, sectors that had formally expressed interest in setting up in the district. The investments have not been cancelled, he said, but they now sit in a critically vulnerable position.

“As businesspeople, we are the ones who create jobs and pay taxes; we need certainty that this money will translate into real infrastructure,” he said, adding that the sector will send an official letter to the federal government demanding to know whether the investment still stands.

What the project entails

The Cancún Financial and Technology District is planned to include corporate offices, research centers, high-specialty hospitals and hotels aimed at the meetings and conventions market, on land near Cancún International Airport and a Maya Train station.

The development covers 60.76 hectares across four parcels known collectively as Kulkaná. It holds a federal declaration published on Aug. 7 and environmental clearance granted by Semarnat in March, under an urban reserve land-use designation. During the country’s Banking Convention, officials projected investment of between $1.3 billion and $2.1 billion, along with more than 9,000 direct jobs and 22,000 indirect positions.