INDEX Nuevo Laredo Signs MOU with SAMA to Connect Manufacturers

The INDEX Nuevo Laredo president sees the MOU with SAMA as a starting point for stronger supplier relationships and shared industrial growth.

SAN ANTONIO — For Enrique Morán, president of INDEX Nuevo Laredo, strengthening manufacturing ties between Texas and Mexico begins with understanding what companies on each side can offer, and connecting those capabilities with business needs across the border.

Speaking with Pro Texas Industry following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between INDEX Nuevo Laredo and the San Antonio Manufacturers Association (SAMA), Morán outlined a practical objective: expand supplier connections and help manufacturers benefit from the industrial strengths of both regions.

The agreement, signed October 14 by Morán and SAMA President and CEO Dan Yoxall, establishes a foundation for closer cooperation between the two manufacturing organizations. 

“We signed an agreement with the San Antonio Manufacturers Association, together with INDEX Nuevo Laredo, to reinforce the strengths we have on both sides, primarily suppliers from both Mexico and the United States,” Morán said.

His comments underscored the importance of moving from introductions to coordinated action. Identifying companies’ products, processes, and capabilities would help the organizations determine where new commercial relationships could develop.

“Part of the plan we discussed is getting to know one another, the capabilities we have in Mexico and the capabilities they have here in San Antonio, and trying to develop a joint work plan,” Morán explained. He said he and Yoxall would work on that plan in the weeks following the meeting.

For manufacturers in South Texas, that approach creates a way to explore potential suppliers and customers through an organization connected to Nuevo Laredo’s industrial community. For Mexican companies, it offers closer contact with the businesses and manufacturing sectors operating in Texas.

Asked about the relationship between the two economies, Morán’s response was direct: “They are intertwined.”

He pointed to aerospace, automotive, and heavy metalworking as examples of Texas industries with connections to manufacturing capabilities in Mexico. Those similarities, he explained, create opportunities for companies to learn about one another and identify areas of mutual benefit.

“There are companies in Nuevo Laredo that make the same products, and we can benefit from one another,” he said.

Morán also highlighted the opportunity to exchange organizational experience. He said he was surprised to learn that SAMA’s history extends back to 1914, and viewed its longevity as a valuable source of insight for manufacturing organizations in Mexico.

“I think that experience can be very useful to us in Mexico, how they do things and how they have managed to remain in this market for more than 100 years,” he said.

For Morán, the meeting revealed a shared direction. Both organizations want their members to grow, strengthen their relationships, and find opportunities within a closely connected industrial region.

“At the end of the day, we are looking for the same thing. We are all heading in the same direction,” he said.

That common purpose gives the MOU its practical value. By helping manufacturers understand the capabilities available across the border, SAMA and INDEX Nuevo Laredo can support stronger business relationships and broader opportunities for South Texas and northern Mexico. As Morán put it: “I think we can learn a great deal from one another.”