Public infrastructure is a common good that can be harnessed for multiple benefits, including sustained, inclusive, and green growth; productivity and competitiveness; and greater equality through better access to public services. In the pursuit of post-COVID economic recovery, OECD countries are heavily relying on infrastructure investments. In fact, as highlighted in the OECD Government at a Glance 2021, although the latest data were collected while the pandemic was still unfolding in January 2021, 21 OECD countries (70% of the 30 surveyed) had already adopted an economic stimulus or recovery package. Of these, over three-quarters considered that infrastructure would play an important role in the recovery. For instance, in Chile, Costa Rica, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and Slovenia, 30% or more of the economic stimulus packages was allocated to investments in infrastructure.
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on Mexico’s growth outlook. The economy is projected to expand by 2.5% in 2023, after growing by 5.9% in 2021. Medium-term growth prospects have weakened and growth over the past two decades has been low (OECD Economic Surveys: Mexico 2022). Furthermore, the G20 Global Infrastructure Hub estimates that Mexico’s infrastructure gap is much higher than in other Latin American countries or in countries of similar size and degree of development. In this context, infrastructure becomes a powerful tool for strengthening growth and reversing the negative impacts of the pandemic. However, good governance of infrastructure is crucial to ensure projects are delivered in time and on budget, are of the quality required, and achieve value for money.
Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) are ideally placed to ensure integrity, efficiency, and value for money in infrastructure investments. Recognising this, Mexico’s Superior Audit of the Federation (Auditoría Superior de la Federación, ASF) asked the OECD to share experiences from other countries that would help ASF broaden its approach to auditing public works, including strengthening infrastructure governance to maximise the success of infrastructure investments.
The report analyses good practices in other OECD countries’ SAIs, such as the UK National Audit Office, and in Latin America, such as Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (TCU). It assesses different strategic considerations for the new unit for infrastructure audits to be established in ASF’s Special Audit for Financial Compliance (Auditoría Especial de Cumplimiento Financiero, AECF), including objectives and resources. Finally, it analyses infrastructure auditing practices in the context of emergencies.
ASF’s engagement in infrastructure governance provides an opportunity for an objective and independent assessment to help ensure the success of major projects and investments, as well as of the policies deployed to ensure integrity in infrastructure management. Furthermore, ASF could contribute to improving value for money, resilience, and emergency preparedness, considering Mexico is highly exposed to risks related to, for example, natural disasters.
This report was produced under the leadership of Elsa Pilichowski, Director, OECD Directorate for Public Governance (GOV), János Bertók, Deputy Director for Public Governance, and Julio Bacio Terracino, Head of the Public Sector Integrity Division (PSI). The report was drafted by Jacobo Pastor Garcia Villarreal, Senior Policy Analyst in PSI, with important contributions from Gavin Ugale. Meral Gedik supported editing and formatting, and Charles Victor and Aman Johal provided administrative assistance.
The report builds on nearly a decade of collaboration between the OECD and the ASF. The OECD expresses its gratitude to ASF for its fruitful co‑operation and leadership. In particular, the OECD would like to thank David Colmenares Páramo, Supreme Auditor; Eber Betanzos, Technical Secretariat; and Claudia María Bazúa, Financial Compliance Special Auditor; as well as their teams. Soo Jung Koh Yoo, Director for Multilateral Relations, in the ASF Technical Secretariat Office, served as the contact point for the project.
The OECD is also grateful to the peer experts who participated in a workshop on auditing the governance of infrastructure, jointly organised with ASF and held on 2-4 June 2021, including Suzana Pramanik, Project Initiation Capability, International Lead, and Karineh Grigorian, Commercial Manager, International Unit, Infrastructure and Projects Authority, United Kingdom; Jemma Dunne, Manager, Major Project Delivery Hub, UK National Audit Office (NAO); André Delgado, Auditor; Rafael C. Di Bello, and Víctor Hugo M. Ribeiro, Department of Special Operations in Infrastructure, Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (TCU).
Ambassador Sybel Galván, from the Permanent Delegation of Mexico to the OECD, was instrumental in supporting the OECD in this project. The OECD Mexico Centre, under the leadership of Mario López, and the staff in charge of publications, notably Alejandro Camacho, also provided valuable support in co‑ordinating the editorial process for the Spanish publication.
The report was reviewed by the OECD Working Party of Senior Public Integrity Officials (SPIO) on 13 April 2022 and approved by the Public Governance Committee on 13 May 2022. The Secretariat prepared the report for publication.