US-Mexico Relations: Cross-border economic ties a top priority for incoming Mexican president

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The migrant issue is just one of the many challenges facing Mexico's incoming president. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, better known as "Amlo" takes office on Saturday, and the country's economy will ALSO be top priority. Mexico depends heavily on the United States for trade, and nowhere is that reliance more apparent than at the border. CGTN's Alasdair Baverstock reports.

It's a weekday morning in Tijuana, Mexico, and the locals are on their way to work.

Yet, this is an international highway where Tijuana residents cross into the United States to start their commute. Isela Ricario lives in Tijuana, but works in a jewellery shop in Chula Vista, California.

ISELA RICARIO CROSS-BORDER COMMUTER "I've been crossing the border for six years, every day, even on the weekends. There's a lot of traffic, I have to get up three hours earlier to get to work, because I don't know how busy the border will be."

She's one of tens of thousands of Tijuana residents who live in Mexico, but work in California.

ALASDAIR BAVERSTOCK TIJUANA, MEXICO "Tijuana's economy depends heavily on its proximity to the United States. Here at the San Ysidro border, the world's busiest international frontier, around 120,000 commuter vehicles and over 60,000 pedestrians, move back and forth between the two countries every day."

Yet as president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador prepares to take office, he has stated that one of his goals is to encourage Mexicans to stop leaving the country to seek work in America, and contribute instead to their local economies.

Rogelio Varela is a professor of international economics, and says a wider international economic strategy would be more beneficial.

ROGELIO VARELA, PROF. OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF BAJA CALIFORNIA "Tijuana has strong ties to the United States, that's the reality. But one of the things the new administration will have to actively strengthen is the growth of the formal economy, which will, in turn, make migration drop."

Yet some international commuters have ideas of their own to make Mexico more attractive to the workforce.

EDGAR ESCAMILLA CROSS-BORDER COMMUTER "In Mexico, they don't pay too much because they pay per day, and over there they pay per hour. So it would be good if right here in Mexico they changed it and paid per hour."

As President-elect Lopez Obrador begins with Mexico's economy on his agenda, Tijuana, it seems, will continue to look north for its stability. Alasdair Baverstock, CGTN, Tijuana, Mexico.