Job Description

1. About the Global Gateway Investment Climate Reform Facility

The General Gateway Investment Climate Reform (GG ICR) Facility contributes to the development of a conducive, inclusive and sustainable investment climate for the implementation of the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy in INTPA partner countries. Through targeted advisory services, it enables partner countries to attract investments, while enabling local and European businesses to grow and invest with confidence. The Facility places strong emphasis on women’s economic empowerment, promoting equal rights, access to opportunities, and green, sustainable growth for all.

The GG ICR Facility is co-funded by the European Union (EU), together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Étrangères (MEAE). It is implemented by GIZ, Expertise France and SNV.

Global Gateway aims at mobilising investments of up to €300 billion between 2021 and 2027. It does so by taking a Team Europe approach
- bringing together resources of the EU, Member States, European financial institutions and national development finance institutions.

The Global Gateway strategy of the European Union covers five areas: Digital, Climate and Energy, Transport, Health and Education and Research. It allows EU partners to develop their societies and economies and create opportunities for the EU Member States’ private sector to invest and remain competitive. The GG ICR Facility is part of the ‘soft’ measures to materialise the Global Gateway strategy. Through this programme and across all its results, the EU aims at supporting green investments and a transition towards low-carbon circular economies,



in line with the ambition of the European Green Deal and with the Paris agreement objectives. It is integrated into the European Consensus on Development ‘our world, our dignity, our future’, specifically with its priorities of promoting inclusive and sustainable growth and jobs. Lastly, it reinforces the EU’s leadership in promoting gender equality and social inclusion, in full alignment with the transformative approach of the Gender Action Plan III, while contributing to the 2030 Agenda’s SDG 5 (gender equality).

The GG ICR Facility provides technical assistance to public and private organisations in INTPA partner countries to develop actions to improve the business environment and investment climate.

In the context of its mandate, the GG ICR Facility provides technical assistance to the Natural Rubber National Business Association (Cámara Nacional de la Industria Hulera -CNIH) to complete an assessment of the natural rubber sector’s competitiveness, sustainability and investment-readiness constraints in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, and include recommendations to achieve the sustainable upgrading and better economic integration of the sector to the Mexican and regional economy.

2. Context and objectives of the intervention

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec has become one of the main strategic development corridors in Mexico and an important priority under the EU Global Gateway strategy.



The region connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through a multimodal logistics corridor centred around the modernization of ports, rail connectivity and industrial development zones. At the same time, the Isthmus remains one of the historically least developed and economically lagging regions of the country, making it a priority territory for both economic integration and inclusive regional development efforts.

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec natural rubber sector remains largely disconnected from higher-value industrial value chains despite the region’s strong agro-climatic potential and strategic location within this emerging logistics and industrial corridor linked to Global Gateway priorities.

Production systems remain fragmented, quality standards are inconsistent, and sustainability, social and traceability practices remain limited. As a result, local production is currently unable to integrate into the more demanding sourcing requirements of the European tire industry, particularly regarding quality consistency, traceability, deforestation-free sourcing linked to the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), and broader environmental and social standards increasingly required by international markets and European companies operating in Mexico.

The objective of the technical assistance is to complete an assessment of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec natural rubber sector’s competitiveness, sustainability and investment-readiness constraints, and include recommendations to achieve the sustainable upgrading and better economic integration of the sector to the Mexican and regional economy.

The assessment will identify the main competitiveness and sustainability bottlenecks limiting access to higher-va

📌 Terms of Reference: Sustainable Upgrading of the Natural Rubber Sector in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (México)
🏢 Snv
📍 México