Both terminals should be subject to investment, without one being protected at the expense of the other.
The Salvadoran Foundation for Economic Development (Fusades) and the National Private Business Association (ANEP) presented their views on the concession granted to Puerto La Union before the Committee on Finance.
"Among the most notable points was that made by Fusades, to make the concession process more transparent especially regarding the method and time frame that the concession law uses, said the president of the entity, Francisco De Sola.
The Assembly is to receive the bill toward the end of next month and its approval is expected by the end of the year.
Should this happen, by the second half of 2011 the tender process could be launched, according to predictions by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and El Salvador's state ports authority (CEPA).
"The IFC, the World Bank's financial arm for the private sector, is supporting the Salvadoran government in the creation of the concession model. The corporation will soon complete market research and a proposal for a framework law," reports Laprensagrafica.com.
“Grupo TCB” and “Grupo Empresarial del Pacífico S.A.” submitted a concession proposal to port authorities.
The proposal includes 3 ports: Cutuco, Unión, Acajutla.
From the proposal: “… they promise to invest $43 million in two port cranes, 33 trailer trucks, 15 port trucks, two towing trucks and a mobile crane”, reported Diariocolatino.com.
They criticize the government's intention of operating the port with minimal equipment and under administration of CEPA, the state port authority.
Shipping companies remark that in order to make them leave Acajutla Port, the new port at La Unión must offer better fees and more efficient loading and unloading of containers.
Ricardo Cruz, operations manager at NYK shipping, affirmed that "if a shipping company is going to move to La Unión, it must know what this port offers. As long as we don't know what are the benefits of operating from La Unión, we are not going to consider moving, since it gives us the same we already have at Acajutla".
Logistics group Ransa expressed its interest in the concession of the country's port system.
RANSA is a group composed of Peruvian, Chilean and Salvadoran investors. Its president, Raúl Álvarez Belismelis, stated that the country is losing development opportunities due to lack of definition on how to operate Port La Unión.
"The port could be a very attractive project, an ambitious, regional endeavor.
The Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development asked the Government and Legislative Assembly to approved the concession for the port system.
The entity supported, via a memorandum on the issue, the proposal to give 90% of the administration of the country's two main ports to private hands, while the State mains 10%. "This is precisely what the Presidential Commission for the Analysis of the Concession of Port Acajutla and Port La Union has concluded," the Foundation reiterated.
The impasse is no longer just technical, but also political and legal, and above all because there are no clear functions for the parties involved.
Even if the concession degree is approved for a company with recognized experience to start operating the Acajutla and La Union ports, it would not be able to do so as long as the secondary laws and internal regulations, that directly or indirectly have to do with the port, are not changed.
President Antonio Saca confirmed that they presented a proposal to concession 90% of the port to the private sector and 10% to the State.
Saca said that according to the proposal, the State would receive returns based on the tariff system and not just from the percentage it owns.
"The State would receive an amount for the concession, and the 10% which it will keep was practically part of the negotiation, but it is too early," he commented.
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.