Transports and Telecommunications
Due to high rates of growth from developing countries, telecommunications and transports are experiencing an increase demand for investment. In mid-2007 the Mexican Government launched the National Infrastructure Programme (NIP) for 2007-12. This programme identifies over 300 infrastructure projects in multiple sectors to be financed using public-private partnerships, with significant Mexican public sector investment:
This programme targets include in:
Transports
- The modernisation or construction of almost 20,000 km of highways and rural roads.
- To improve the highway maintenance, to bring the percentage of roads considered of good operating conditions (in line with international standards) from 72% to 90%;
- The expansion of the railway system by almost 1,500 km; development of suburban railway projects, in particular near Mexico City;
- The expansions of Pacific and Caribbean ports, including Manzanillo, Lázaro Cárdenas, Veracruz and Tuxpan; the construction of at least three new airports and expansion of existing facilities;
Telecommunications
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To increase the telephone (land lines and mobile), the broadband and Internet coverage. In particular, the Government would like to raise the number of Internet users from 20 million to 70 million.
Overview of Mexico
Some especialist predict that Mexico’s total value of the transport and communications sector within the GDP will rise to US$123.2bn in nominal terms by 2011, representing 11.5% of Mexico’s GDP. The transport and communications sector employed 1.89mn people, or 4.6% of the labour force, in 2006.
Mexico’s transport infrastructure is one of the most extensive in America with 356.945 Km of Rodaways, 17.665 Km of railways, 1.834 airports, 2.900Km of waterways and 7 high capacity ports and one big project for 2014 (Port of punta Colonet).
AIRPORTS
Mexico’s strategies for the future regarding the development of the air market is to expand and modernise its infrastructure by putting more emphasis in the development of regional of hubs to promote tourism and air cargo. Mexico’s Government has clearly define specific goals for 2012 (i.e. building new airports and expanding the infrastructure and services of the existing ones) and will allocate for projects for 2007-2012 around US$ 2.9 Billion.
HIGHWAYS
As for the highways the Goverment of Mexico strategies comtemplates the modernisation of national corridors, the creation and development of inter-regional roads as to improve tourism, communication among regions and improve conditions to reduce accidents on the road. All this will be done by 2012 by building and modernising Mexico’s highways and rural roads as part of 100 projects.
RAILWAYS AND MULTIMODAL STRUCTURE
The strategies for this infrastructure is to expand the railway system and develop the use of Urbain trains. The objectives are optimise the efficient of the transportation of merchandise giving special attention to the corridor Pacific-Atlantic as well as to the borders and to commence the integration of the Punta Colonet project.
PORTS
The Mexican Government has decided to invest heavily on this point by building 5 new ports (with Punta Colonet project been the largest infrastructure project in the nation’s history) and to modernise the existing ones to increase its management capacity (from 4 to 7 million TEUS ) and reduce costs. Also there is project for the building of cruise-ship docks. This will bring Mexico to become the leader in Latin America.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Mexico’s Government goal for until 2012 in the telecommunication sector is to further reduce prices and improve the quality of services. This will be achieved by increasing trough investment (at least 23.7 billion dollars from the private between 2007 and 2012 ) coverage of fixed and mobile lines, broadband (Internet) the number of users.