MEXICO CITY, May 8 (Reuters) – Solar International Core Canada signed an agreement with the central Mexican state of Hidalgo ‌to invest $2 billion in building a factory for active pharmaceutical ‌ingredients, Mexican and Canadian authorities said on Friday.

The announcement came as Mexican Economy Minister ​Marcelo Ebrard visited Canada on a two-day trade mission alongside hundreds of Mexican business representatives, during which Canada said over 10 memorandums of understanding were signed.

According to Mexican authorities:

• As part of the MOU ‌signed between SICC’s CEO ⁠Babak Arefpour and Hidalgo State Secretary for Economic Development Carlos Henkel, SICC said it would set aside $70 million ⁠to buy a plot of land in Zapotlan, where it plans to build the plant.

• Process Research Ortech Inc also agreed to consider ​investing $380 million ​in a battery materials processing ​plant in Puebla state.

• Separately, ‌INTE Modular said it was considering investing up to $360 million in a modular housing plant in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state.

• Sustainable Agave Holdings Ltd also said it was considering investing $100 million in an agave pulp plant in Jalisco state.

• “We ended the day with a $2 billion ‌investment for Hidalgo. That alone made ​the entire mission worthwhile, although we are ​seeing many more results,” ​Ebrard said in a statement.

Canada’s government added that:

• Mexico’s ‌Grupo Bimbo, one of the ​world’s top producers ​of baked goods, agreed to spend around $146 million to modernize its Canadian facilities.

• During the mission, Ebrard and Canada’s minister in ​charge of U.S. ‌trade, Dominic LeBlanc, discussed strengthening the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which ​is currently undergoing a review.

($1 = 1.3676 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by ​Sarah Morland; Editing by Tom Hogue)