U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Chinese-American Elaine Chao as the secretary of transportation, who is set to play a key role in fulfilling Trump's election promise of overhauling U.S. transportation infrastructure.

"Secretary Chao's extensive record of strong leadership and her expertise are invaluable assets in our mission to rebuild our infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner," Trump said in a statement.

"The president-elect has outlined a clear vision to transform our country's infrastructure, accelerate economic growth and productivity, and create good paying jobs across the country," Chao said.

According to Trump's transition website, he plans to invest 550 billion U.S. dollars to "build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways of tomorrow."

The transportation secretary is a member of the president's cabinet and the nomination needs to be passed by Congress.

Chao, who served as the deputy secretary of transportation under former President George Bush from 1989 to 1991 and secretary of labor under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, is the first Asian-American woman to be appointed to cabinet roles.

Chao moved to the United Statesfrom Taiwan with her family when she was eight years old. She has since acquired an MBA degree from Harvard University and worked in the banking sector before entering politics in the 1980s.

She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.