With its $1.3 trillion nominal GDP, Mexico is the second-largest economy in Latin America and the 15th largest in the world. But you would not know that from the state of its infrastructure. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2015–2016, Mexico’s infrastructure ranks 59th out of 140 countries.

These shortcomings have not gone unnoticed. Since taking office in 2012, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto has made the upgrading and development of the country’s infrastructure one of his top priorities. Enter Mexico’s newest infrastructure plan, the National Infrastructure Program 2014–2018 (NIP), which aims to bring Mexico’s infrastructure into the 21st century and beyond. The 743 projects, requiring approximately $596 billion, are focused on seven broad infrastructure sectors — energy, transport, communications, health, water, urban development and tourism. Four of these sectors — energy, urban development, communicatio