Hence the idea of creating, in the entire zone known as “LATAM,” including Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, independent companies capable of responding to the desire for growth in Latin America Latina as it struggles to make its mark on the world. With Mexico, the tiger of South America, at the center of the project: “It is a difficult and extremely competitive market, involving low prices, very particular construction methods, the risk of earthquakes and a mostly tropical climate,” says Rolf Manser, a Colombian of Swiss origin who guides the activities of the group in LATAM.
“Therefore we offer many products for waterproofing and we develop complete solutions for repairs and prevention of the passage of water in underground structures or structural enclosures. We have created an entire range of innovative solutions; just consider the fact that this year we will launch from 70 to 100 new products, including some for the installation of tiles, which in Mexico amounts to a market of 220 million square meters per year.”
The latter items join the various offerings that are already established bestsellers on the local market: like the cementitious adhesives for ceramic tile of the Ultraflex line, also ideal for the installation of natural stone. For the protection of concrete, the cementitious membranes of the Mapelastic line and the Aquaflex liquid membranes, free of cement and ready to use, represent the ideal solution for the long-term protection and maintenance of concrete structures.
All this represents an offering sustained by a research & development division that has already been created locally, constantly working to adapt the products to particular needs: “Our challenge is to be Italians in Italy and Mexicans in Mexico,” says Squinzi. “Just consider the fact that in Mexico there is practically no use of roofing tiles; the roofs are flat and thus vulnerable to atmospheric agents: for Mapei, the development of waterproof technologies has become a fundamental priority.”
A spectrum of expertise Mapei offers for everything that can be assembled and constructed, from commercial to residential projects, social housing (it is estimated that Mexico still lacks between five and seven million housing units in spite of the government program launched 20 years ago), all the way to very large infrastructures capable of altering the entire future of a country.
In the latter area, the Italian company is supplying know-how to help make some of the most important works for the future in Mexico, from airports to bridges to gigantic structures excavated in the earth, capable of bringing growth and modernity. The Tunel Emisor Oriente (TEO), 62 kilometers from Mexico City at Atotonilco, for the drainage of rain water, has been dug and built using Mapei products. A giant excavation using foams and polymers developed by the Italian company that lubricate the action of the immense drills, reducing heat-building friction with the earth.