The ACP has approved the documents to tender in ten days a concession to one of the prequalified companies; PSA International Ltd, Terminal Link, Terminal Investments Limited and APM Terminals.
From a statement issued by the Panama Canal Authority:
The Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) approved the request for proposal documents and authorized the admininstrators to continue with the approval process, prior to tendering the concession of the Port of Corozal with the shortlisted companies.
Local and international companies will be meeting on August 23 to explore business and investment opportunities in the Caribbean.
The event"Invest in Limon 2016"will be held at the Costa Rica Marriott hotel in Belen, Heredia, from 8 am. Taking part in the event will be entrepreneurs, developers and local and international investors who are interested investing in the province of Limón.
The terminal which is being built by APM Terminals in the Costa Rican Caribbean will be able to receive vessels containing refrigerated cargo containers of a larger capacity than those currently arriving at the port.
Fresh fruits and meat exporters are some of the productive sectors that will benefit the most once the mega port being built in Limon, Costa Rica comes into operation.
The construction of the new container terminal in Moin has rekindled business hotels, corporate machinery, transportation and others, in an area deprived of development factors.
Renting working machinery, hiring companies for events and renting hotel rooms are just some of the new business deals being generated in Limon, since construction of mega-port project at Moin started.
APM Terminals has signed a concession contract for 32 years to build and operate a container terminal with an investment of $900 million.
The start of construction is scheduled for September. This first stage, at a cost of $300 million, should be completed in 2015.
"The company said, through a statement, that they have signed a concession for 32 years with the Port Authority of Lazaro Cardenas (APILAC) for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a new and specialized terminal", reported Americaeconomia.com.
The combined concession of the La Unión and Acajutla ports is said to interest the Dutch company.
"El Salvador is not a very big country, these ports are not very big either. As such I think it makes sense for them to managed under one administration in order to make them more efficient," APM Terminals' Latin America manager, Henrik Pedersen, told BNamericas.
Four port operators that are interested in the port, met at forum organized by the CND and expressed their concern about the uncertainty surrounding the operation of the terminal.
They all agree that the window of opportunity which El Salvador has by having already built the port will not last much longer: Guatemala, Costa Rica and Mexico are also very attractive.
APM Terminals of the Moller Maersk Group, in greatly interested in the concession for ports on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast.
Eric Gutierrez, legal counsel, commented that by getting the concession they would be able to converted the installations into their Central American port.
This way they would establish a route from the the US east coast to Limon and the Panama Canal which which they hope to move most of the cargo from Central America and directly compete with the port in Manzanillo, Panama, which is its rival in this zone.