Information technology services provider UST Global Inc. has signed a partnership with former Mexico President Vicente Fox that promises to deepen the Aliso Viejo-based company’s business and political ties as it expands throughout Latin America.
UST will build and service a presidential library and economic development center for Fox’s nonprofit think tank, Centro Fox, in his home state of Guanajuato in central Mexico.
UST, in a related move, will establish its Latin American headquarters in Leon, Guanajuato, where it plans to employ thousands of engineers over the next three years and train thousands more.
“We believe the right strategy is going to Mexico,” said UST Chief Executive Sajan Pillai, who will join the board at Centro Fox. “There’s an opportunity for Mexico to combine the service industry, the technology industry and its excellence in the manufacturing industry.”
The agreement was announced last week at UST’s headquarters during a gathering of chief executives, diplomats and company employees.
Strong Portfolio
UST provides a variety of IT, consulting and outsourcing services for large corporations, with about half of its customers Fortune 100 companies. It has built a strong portfolio of clients by developing custom software for large companies in several markets, including the healthcare, insurance, finance and media sectors.
UST has roughly 65 customers and $650 million in annual revenue, with domestic operating centers in Philadelphia; Dallas and Austin, Texas; and Bentonville, Ark. It also operates centers in the U.K., India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
The company plans to announce another major expansion in the Dallas area in the following weeks, according to Pillai. It employs 160 in Aliso Viejo and 10,000 people companywide.
IT, Training
UST will provide information technology services for the center, train engineers in Mexico, and serve as a liaison to U.S. companies and others operating in the region seeking to establish business or expand in Latin America, according to Pillai.
“We are finding that operations around the world, particularly Latin American corporations, need the technology that has long been used by U.S. corporations,” he said.
Mexico has struggled to diversify its economy and attract global investment and business beyond manufacturing amid a backdrop of rising crime tied to drug cartels, widespread poverty and undereducation.
Centro Fox aims to alleviate some of these challenges with the first presidential library outside the U.S., along with an economic development center. UST is involved in both projects.
“This will represent an opportunity for us in Mexico as well as all of Latin America to work with the leading partner in the field of information technology,” Fox said. “Latin America is ready to take this challenge. It is our turn to rule in human and economic development.”
Centro Fox will serve as a bridge linking North America to Central and South America, Fox said. The region has 500 million people and untapped economic potential, he said.
“We’re losing jobs in the United States, Canada and Mexico,” said Fox, who recently took a 10-day trip to China and plans to visit India to gain a better perspective of the emerging nation’s growth surge.
“Threat” From East
“Being competitive, efficient and talented will save our jobs and build high-quality jobs,” Fox said. “That way, we can meet the threat of the East.”
The partnership is expected to reduce operational costs for clients of both organizations while boosting innovation, with a particular focus on the retail, banking, telecommunications, oil and gas sectors.
UST, which was founded in 1999, will likely follow a similar blueprint it has used in the Philippines and India to grow its employment and customer base in those regions.
The company is constructing a 36-acre campus in Trivandrum, Kerala, on the southwest coast of India that will house some 30,000 people at build-out.
It’s slated to feature five buildings spanning 3.6 million square feet. Three buildings will house software development operations while the other two will consist of a hospitality block and sports and cultural center.
2nd Foray
The expansion into Latin America is UST’s second foray in the region. It moved into Chile a few years ago in a pilot test but failed to gain much footing.
“But we didn’t really have somebody like President Fox who can take that forward,” Pillai said.
