Business and government leaders from Arizona and the neighboring state of Sonora will discuss ways to increase trade across the border in small-group meetings in Sonora on Friday.

The meetings, organized by Arizona Town Hall, will focus on questions such as the prospects of joint economic development in both states and how the region can help drive the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico.

After a similar meeting in Tucson in 2016, participants made recommendations including that governments on both sides complete port-of-entry improvements and better staff those ports, and that the Mexican government make improvements to important trade routes.

The roughly 45 participants registered for the Arizona-Mexico Town Hall in Hermosillo on Friday include Juan Carlos Campoy, partner and plant manager in Hermosillo for Pennsylvania-based New Concept Technologies.

The company, which has more than 300 employees in Hermosillo, makes parts for industries including automotive, aeronautical and medical, Campoy said. The company exports through the Arizona border to states including California, Indiana and Pennsylvania. The company doesn’t do business directly in Arizona but Campoy said he hopes the town hall will help change that.

"This could be just an opportunity to get to know some of the key people that can guide us through that process," Campoy said.

Speakers at the event include Elia Tello, the U.S. Consul General in Hermosillo.