Mexico has the second largest economy in Latin America and is expected to become the seventh largest economy in the world by 2050. Construction is an important sector in the Mexican market, representing 6.8% of the country’s GDP.

Market overview

Under President Felipe Calderon’s National Infrastructure Programme, the government plans to spend US$226 billion on infrastructure between 2007 and 2012. Of which, US$26 billion will be devoted to highways and an additional US$200-250 million to housing.

Key opportunities

Opportunity areas that have been identified include:

Housing

With a growing population, there is currently a shortfall of about 4 million homes in Mexico. Much of the demand is for low income housing with proper physical, social and commercial infrastructure. This will call for qualified and experienced urban, regional and transportation planners.

There are projects for the development of 20 new satellite cities to house communities of between 500,000 and one million. Among these are the developments of Valle de las Palmas in Tijuana (165,000 units for 800,000 people) and Zumpango, located north of Mexico City (100,000 units for 500,000 people).

Sustainable construction has also acquired increasing importance in Mexico over the past few years. The National Housing Commission has placed sustainability as a fundamental issue in its agenda. The objective, by 2012, is for all new housing to include water and energy-saving devices.

Tourism

President Calderon declared 2011 Mexico’s “Year of Tourism”. With the objective of placing Mexico among the top 5 tourist destinations in the world within the next five years. Plans have been announced to build new resorts and expand existing ones.

Highways

An estimated US$26 billion is expected to be allocated towards building or improving 17,598 kilometres of highways and rural roads. Another objective is to increase the percentage of the Federal highways network that is in good condition from 72% to 90%.

Projects that will soon be launched for tender and are worth approximately US$1.35 billion include:

Project	PPP model	Tender	Kms.
Atizapán-Atlacomulco Atizapán-Atlacomulco Atizapán-Atlacomulco Atizapán-Atlacomulco	Concession Concession Concession Concession	First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013	80 80 80 80
Cabo San Lucas – San José del Cabo Cabo San Lucas – San José del Cabo Cabo San Lucas – San José del Cabo Cabo San Lucas – San José del Cabo	FONADIN FONADIN FONADIN FONADIN	First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013	44 44 44 44
Jala-Las Varas Jala-Las Varas Jala-Las Varas Jala-Las Varas	FONADIN FONADIN FONADIN FONADIN	First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013	96 96 96 96
Campeche package Campeche package Campeche package Campeche package	Asset Utilisation Asset Utilisation Asset Utilisation Asset Utilisation	First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013	36 36 36 36
Querétaro package Querétaro package Querétaro package Querétaro package	Asset Utilisation Asset Utilisation Asset Utilisation Asset Utilisation	First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013 First half of 2013	80 80 80 80

With a wide range of projects, the construction sector in Mexico offers numerous opportunities to UK companies and specialists. In particularly, consultants, project managers, urban planners, civil engineers, architects and suppliers of resource-saving/green technology.

Latest export opportunities in the Construction sector

Latest export opportunities in Mexico

Getting into the market

We encourage British companies to approach the local authorities that are in charge of projects, well in advance. Very frequently the time between a tender’s launch and the required proposal submission date is extremely short. Approaching them beforehand is desirable to have an insight of what they need and ask for. It is important to build relationships in the market, so that key local players and decision makers will be aware of your expertise and keep you in mind when forming bidding consortia. In many instances, UK companies choose to partner with local counterparts, benefiting from their business know-how.

More about doing business in Mexico

Contacts

Market intelligence is critical when doing business overseas, and UKTI can provide bespoke market research and support during overseas visits though our chargeable Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS).

To commission research or for general advice about the market, get in touch with our specialists in country – or contact your local international trade team.

• Miguel Angel Medina, British Embassy Mexico. +52 (55) 1670 3280 or email: Miguel.medina@fco.gov.uk

• Diana Leon, British Embassy Mexico. +52 (55)1670 3302 or email: Diana.leon@fco.gov.uk

Contact your local international trade team

UKTI Events

UKTI runs a range of events for exporters, including seminars in the UK, trade missions to overseas markets and support for attendance at overseas trade shows.

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Useful links

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