The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) has selected the company Nathan Associates to develop, within three months, a business model to develop the port.
The project will include analysis and identification of the potential to attract investors to the market.
According to Prensa.com, "... this development plan ... seeks to identify viable options for creating business opportunities and alternatives for intermodal transport and logistics systems ...
The steady increase in the volume of cargo transiting the Canal country, leads to more investment in its ports.
The Panama Canal Authority is carrying out studies on developing a port terminal in the Corozal area. Another project will be developed in Margarita Island with an estimated cost of $600 million, according to Willys Delvalle, president of the Maritime Chamber of Panama.
Of the $80 million funding for the ‘Ciudad-Puerto‘ (Port City) project at Limon, Costa Rica, only 3.3% has been spent in the past three years.
The effect of the $80 million investment spent on public infrastructure such as sewers, street furniture, pedestrian crossings and flood controls, should be extraordinary in Limon, the port city of Costa Rica, which is characterized by its poverty and lack of opportunities for its inhabitants.
In January 2013 the United Nations Program for Development will launch tenders for 78 projects on ports and airports in El Salvador.
The President of the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) Alberto Arene and the Resident Coordinator of the UN System in El Salvador and Resident Representative of the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) Roberto Valent, signed this Wednesday 31 October a Project Document entitled "Modernization Program and Strategic Asset Management of CEPA", which aims to contribute to the transformation of CEPA and its businesses and to help it utilise opportunities provided by technology and the business models for infrastructure, transport and logistics of the XXI Century.
The area related to the Port of Limon now has its own Promotion Agency, with private and public operators, and an investment guide to promote its development.
The Agency for the Development of Limon is presented as "a nonprofit joint entity of public utility made up of entrepreneurs, chambers, universities, government agencies and civil society to develop the potential of the economy of Limon and improve the competitiveness of enterprises ", which has as its mission" to promote socio-economic development, through joint planning, coordination, training and dissemination across sectors involved in the development of Limon. "
The operator of the ports of Balboa and Cristobal is opposed to the project to build a new port in Corozal, which would require an investment of $1 billion.
The new terminal would be built on an area of 112 hectares, near the port of Balboa, for which a tender competition would be launched.
Some of these 112 hectares is a "a piece of land measuring 43 hectares in the area of Corozal, which belongs to the State, and that is under dispute by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Panama Ports Company."
In El Salvador plans are afoot to launch a tender at the International Airport at the beginning of 2013, after securitization that could take shape in December 2012.
Elsalvador.com.sv reports that "The Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) said yesterday that they will wait until December to securitize part of the revenue from International Airport El Salvador (AIES) and that it will be used to improve the facilities of this terminal. "
On the Pacific coast connectivity gaps have been identified between the load terminals and logistics centers and production.
This situation occurs in both the Port of Balboa, operated by the Panama Ports Company, as well as the Rodman port which is operated by the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA).
The former does not have a logistics area that allows value to be added to the load to be moved in the terminal and the access road to the Rodman Port needs improvements in order to land cargo moving smoothly.
Puerto de La Union and the Northern Highway: two major infrastructure projects in the same country which produce very different results depending on who's running them.
An editorial Laprensagrafica.com gives a very clear summary of the facts: the Northern Highway project, managed by Fomilenio with US-funds from the Millennium Challenge Account, who participates in the investment and its supervision.
In 2013 the construction of bulk carriers and cruise ship docks will begin along with the expansion of the beaches for containers.
Currently the port measures 914 meters, and the works will extend the area by approximately 600 meters.
Luis Alberto Gomez, controller of the port terminal told the press, "We want to improve the infrastructure and machinery to keep the port at the forefront in Central America."
A regional airport, a highway on the Pacific, and other road projects would be feasible within the framework of the Law of Partnerships for Economic Infrastructure Development.
Of the most ambitious projects planned is the construction of a four lane road along the Guatemalan Pacific coastline, which includes the construction of two bridges. Another project is the construction of alternate routes to expedite traffic in different sections of the province, which include Chimaltenango, San Sebastian and Cuyotenango, Suchitepéquez, and San Bernardino, Retalhuleu
The Costa Rican Chamber of Construction says urgent investment in port infrastructure is needed and that it supports the new Container Terminal at Moin.
A statement from the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction (CCC) reads:
The Costa Rican Chamber of Construction (CCC) would like to draw attention to improvements that the country needs to make in port infrastructure, because the lack of investment that has been made is taking a toll on all Costa Ricans.
Ten international companies have shown interest in operating the Salvadoran port and investing $30 million in renovating its infrastructure.
More than 10 international companies from Europe, Asia, America and Latin America have submitted bids for the administration of Puerto La Union, although the tender process will be carried out during the rest of the year, said Alberto Arene, president of the Executive Committee of Autonomous Ports (CEPA in Spanish).
Fifth in the world in port infrastructure, but only in position 51 as a logistics hub, Panama is facing increased competition from other ports in the region.
In a blog from the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama, Albert White Aguila writes:
“According to the World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Report for 2011-2012, Panama is now the fifth country in the world with the best quality port infrastructure.
The Deputy Administrator of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP in Spanish) has announced a plan to create a concession for a container port in Corozal.
The project, announced by Jose Barrios, Deputy Administrator of the ACP, is based on Panama’s advantages as a a focal point for international maritime routes, fueled by the ongoing expansion of the Canal.