Mexico's private sector set to finally see Sheinbaum’s infra plan

Mexico’s infrastructure, communications and transport minister Jesús Esteva is expected to present the 2024-30 national infrastructure plan to the private sector.

Luis Méndez Jaled, president of construction chamber CMIC, told reporters on Tuesday that “we will meet with the minister [and discuss] two topics: updated data [on priority infrastructure] and to have him present the president’s infrastructure plan.”

A date for the meeting is yet to be scheduled, however.

Claudia Sheinbaum promised the plan during her presidential campaign, and Esteva announced it would be ready before the president would be sworn in. But even after Sheinbaum took office on October 1, the plan has not been released.

Also read: Which projects could be part of Sheinbaum’s infra plan?

Méndez Jaled added that changes are needed to allow private companies to compete on equal grounds and build the projects the country needs. 

“Some things need to be updated in the PPP law. We need more transparency, less opacity, clearer rules, and to have equal grounds [in tenders] for all participants and continuously monitor the evolution of infrastructure works,” he said.

Despite the army building the first infrastructure projects presented by Sheinbaum, like the AIFA-Pachuca rail line and the Mexico City-Querétaro passenger rail link, CMIC remains optimistic that private players will be able to participate in works that are part of the plan. 

“We need the national development plan to start in 2025, and we have had some good signs so far because some maintenance and some CFE works are being tendered,” CMIC statistics director Alfonso Carrillo said.