Latin America Investing $245,000 Million in Infrastructure

The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – Latin American countries will undertake  infrastructure improvements in the next 18 months with an investment of $245,000 million, according to a study by the American Federation of Construction Industry (ISEF).

According to the agency, all Latin American countries will grow this year by an average of 2.8%, a rate similar to that of 2012 due to the slowdown in Mexico and Brazil, and to a lesser extent Chile, Panama and Peru.

The FIIC explained that the works are in the process of approval include infrastructure projects such as airports, ports, railways, highways, power grids, dams and hydropower, among others.

Of the total list, which includes some 100 works, Mexico and Brazil together account for investments of about 91,000 million, which means 62% of the total.

Projects in Brazil include high-speed trains, among them the Rio-Sao Paulo-Campinas and Galeao Airport, the Port of Itaqui and grid north-east, among many others.

In Mexico, projects include the new airport of Mexico City, lines 2 and 3 of the suburban train, the expansion of the port of Veracruz and the passenger train-Queretaro Mexico, among others.

The study highlights that these projects will transform the infrastructure of each country and are very attractive to large international contractors.

The agency stated that the factors that could undermine prospects for the construction of these works are the strong dependence on exports to Europe and China.

The countries that are part of the FIIC are Panama, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay and Venezuela.

In 2012, the nominal GDP of the construction industry in the countries of the FIIC amounted to 321 650 million, representing about 13% of the sector worldwide.

The Costa Rica News (TCRN)

San Jose Costa Rica