No tenants have been named for the science park, and those involved would not confirm the names of any of the companies with which they are negotiating. But Solis said the Mexican government is in talks with several companies about locating in Silicon Border. Mexicali was chosen for the site, officials said, because unlike many other cities along the U.S. border, it has a ready water supply and is relatively close to Silicon Valley, 500 miles to the north, where many U.S. semiconductor and technology companies are headquartered.
Solis said he expected that in the initial phases, many U.S. engineers would come to train Mexican engineers. One key advantage Silicon Border would have over similar plants in Taiwan, he said, is that U.S. engineers could work in Silicon Border and "go home to California for dinner."
Mexico has long suffered a "brain drain" as many of its top scientists and engineers leave here to work in U.S. laboratories or elsewhere around the world. Mexican officials said this project offers those professionals a reason to stay home.
Hill, a veteran of the U.S. semiconductor industry who is based in San Diego, said that since Silicon Border was announced last summer, the momentum has been building and key land deals have been signed. Also, he said, the Mexican government this week added more grant money. "So many forces are in our favor. It is becoming a sure thing," Hill said.
Sergio Tagliapietra, head of economic development for the Mexican state of Baja California, where Silicon Border is to be located, said the project was not just good news for Mexicali. "It's a big opportunity for the country," he said.
He said that he expected groundbreaking in 2005 and that the spinoff effect for the local economy would be huge, including construction for upscale housing and shopping malls, transforming that western stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border. "It brings the type of industry we are pursuing," he said.
Tagliapietra said that Tijuana-Mexicali region of Baja, where millions of television sets are assembled, has been leading this shift to higher-skilled work.
Risto Puhakka, vice president of VLSI Research Inc., an independent marketing research firm in California specializing in semiconductors, said Silicon Border offers good news for Mexico. "It would create high-quality jobs," he said.
Washington Post staff writer Mike Musgrove contributed to this report.
