While infrastructure spending has increased in recent years in countries that have established mechanisms to attract resources and the expertise of the private sector — such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile — there are still significant shortfalls.

Public investment is key, but even more so is the success of the institutional reforms being undertaken by some governments to perfect public-private partnership (PPP) models. In Latin America, projects increasingly depend on private investment and operations.

Last year was particularly difficult in Latin America, with sluggish growth and political scandal impacting governments throughout the region. In Brazil, economic contraction, corruption scandals and problems in the supply of water and energy mean expectations have hit rock bottom. Despite this, the South American giant intends to invest some $64 billion in the construction and development of transportation infrastructure and urban mobility by 2018.