Spanish companies receive support for infrastructure projects in Latin America

CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, presented the 2013 IDeAL report at Casa de America in Madrid, regarding infrastructure in the Latin American region, a study which arose the interest of Spanish enterprises to participate in the new engineering and construction projects that should start in Latin America in coming years. 

This publication regarding infrastructures was presented during the cycle "Strategic Issues of Latin America", carried out in collaboration with Casa de America. The cycle of conferences included the participation of Guillermo Fernandez de Soto, CAF's Director for Europe, who prepared the study, and Tomas Poveda, General Director of Casa de America, which co-organized the cycle. 

For Fernandez de Soto "Latin America faces a great and unique opportunity to achieve comprehensive development in coming decades, and it is counting on having the accumulated experience of Spain in the region to facilitate this advance". At CAF, there is a total conviction that Spain and Latin American countries have great possibilities of collaborating in this sphere, both in economic and commercial aspects. 

"The strategic agenda proposed in the document formulates several action axis aimed at the medium and long term, and underlined the need to significantly increase investment in infrastructure", states Antonio Juan Sosa, who highlighhts the opportunity of making well managed investments between the public and private sector. The 2013 IDeAL reveals that the advances have been modest in the past few years; in 2010, the level of investment in Latin America reached close to 3 percent of its GDP, and the data available for 2011 and 2012 suggest that investments have remained at approximately the same levels, considering that in these years GDP has grown in the region. However, estimates show that there will be an increase in the demand for infrastructure projects. 

As an example, the report shows the increased commercial openness that is being adopted by several Latin American countries, advancing in free trade agreements. Sosa states that "this has significantly impacted and will impact the demands for infrastructure", while warning about the need for the region to accelerate the pace of the selection, formulation, and evaluation of investment projects so that they are ready to start construction within a few years. 

The session included a round table about "The experience of the large infrastructure companies in Latin America", moderated by Luis Esteban Manrique, journalist, writer, and collaborator of esglobal, with the participation of Jose Manuel Moran, member of the Advisory Council of Abertis, Miguel Jurado, General Director of Railroad Construction, and Salvador Myro, Development Director of Iridium Concesiones, who presented their experiences in the different infrastructure works that they have developed in  Latin America. 

IDeAL Results 

The conclusions of the report emerge from the analysis of the results of the different infrastructure sectors (transportation, electric energy, gas transportation, telecommunications, comprehensive water management, and financing). In short, they point out that the countries of Latin America have progressed in an exemplary manner in their investments in energy and telecommunications, they have achieved an intermediate advance in their port and airport projects, and they are lagging with respect to their highway and maintenance investments, potable water, sanitation and railroads. 

The study seeks to build a common vision regarding the state of Latin American infrastructures, analyze the impact of infrastructure on domestic development, as well as its impact on the international insertion of their economies. It also presents a section that quantifies public and private investment in infrastructure for each country, with field data for the past three years.