The government will send the bill to the Legislative Assembly with a proposal for 90% of the shares to be owned by foreign investors and 10% by the State.
According to elsalvador.com: "The completed La Union Port will be turned over to President Elias Saca next Wednesday. That same day he will send the draft legislation for the concession of the port to the Legislative Assembly.
For vice president Ana Vilma de Escobar, it will be difficult to consider the port concession again due to the political situation.
"I think we are at the point where recognize that international operators are willing to do business with the country, however we are in the middle of an electoral season and this makes its harder to discuss the project," Escobar said.
Everything appears to indicate that the port system will be granted in a public/private concession, said Ana Vilma de Escobar, Vice-president of the Republic.
"The idea is to seek a public/private association, where the State will provide the least possible amount, since we are talking about $1 billion in investment over 25 years... as we do not have to capacity to provide this amount," she added.
The Government is evaluating a public-private design for the operation of the country's port system.
"What is clear is that there must be a concession, although at the moment a master concession is not supported," Ana Vilma de Escobar, vice-president of the Republic, admitted. She has been in charge of promoting the concession of the La Union port and the Acajutla port to international companies.
Yesterday the Vice-president of the Republic headed the first meeting of the committee established to analyze the future concession process for the Salvadoran port system.
The schedule established by the Autonomous Executive Port Commission to grant concessions for the ports of Acajutla and La Union is being delayed due to the refusal of some lawmakers to approve the Government’s proposal.
El Salvador will earn US$8 million a year over the next 25 years from a concession to operate the port of La Unión, predicted Albino Román, president of the Autonomous Port Authority (CEPA).
Román said the projection was based on the minimum forecast for the volume of cargo. The 178,000 square-meter cargo terminal will have a 350,000 TEU (20ft equivalent) container handling capacity.
El Salvador is reaping results from the promotion of its ports system through the Investment Promotion Agency.
More companies are interested in the possibility of operating the nation's port system, including maritime terminals at Acajutla and the still-under-construction port at La Unión, says Vice President Ana Vilma de Escobar.
The vice president was participaing in the TOC Europe Events in Holland, a meeting of the world's leading port operators and shipowners.