Mexico's Grupo Modelo brewery on Monday inaugurated a $443.7 million plant in southeastern Yucatan state, a move that Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto called a "turning point" in transforming the country into a "trustworthy destination" for investment.

 At the inaugural event, held in the town of Hunucma, in Yucatan, the president noted that Grupo Modelo, which is owned by Belgian multinational Anheuser-Busch InBev, allocated 8.5 billion pesos ($443.7 million) to establish the plant.

The move represents "the commitment of a world class beer company that saw Mexico as a trustworthy destination for expanding its operations and continuing the production of beer."

 Peña Nieto said that Mexico has become a "more attractive country" and is ready to attract investments thanks to the structural reforms pushed through during his administration.

To that must be added the country's "human capital," he said, given that the average age of the population is 27-28 and Mexico has "a great opportunity starting with the youth of its population."

For Yucatan, the plant is a "turning point and of great relevance for the industrial sector," the president said.

Companies, Peña Nieto went on to say, are seeing the Hunucma industrial park as "a great place to invest" thanks to its strategic geographic location, which facilitates connections with Mexico's southeast and with other parts of Latin America and the world.

All that constitutes a "new push that will explode in the coming years," the president said.

Currently, Mexico is the world's fourth-largest beer producer and the No. 1 exporter of the product.

According to figures compiled by the Beer Brewers of Mexico, beer production grew last year by 8 percent over 2015 to 105 million hectoliters (2.77 billion gallons) and beer exports in 2016 totaled 32 million hectoliters, 13 percent more than during the previous year.