Phoenix, Arizona - Interstate 11 is getting another boost with execution of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Arizona and Mexico.

One of the four international cooperation agreements to be signed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jose Antonio Meade extends I-11 from Nogales into Mexico to Hermosillo and Mexico City.

The international commerce corridor MOU grew out of a conversation between Arizona business leaders, Ducey and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim at the Phoenix Business Journal's Global Market Discovery series earlier this year.

Efforts by local supporters and the Arizona Congressional delegation, along with Arizona Republican Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, and California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, got I-11 assigned to a route that runs from the Mexican to Canadian borders.

One segment of I-11 in Nevada is already under construction northward from Hoover Dam to Henderson. Arizona is in the process of planning I-11's route from Las Vegas through Phoenix to Tucson and Nogales.

Ending an international commerce corridor at the Mexican border makes no sense, so when Slim was in town, I-11 leaders talked with the telecommunications executive about the benefits of connecting U.S. I-11 to Mexico Route 15.

The MOU, once executed, puts Arizona's southern neighbor to work identifying the route M-15 will follow through the heart of Mexico's industries.

More than 45 percent of Arizona's exports now go to Mexico. Many are held up by long lines at clogged border crossings.