Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica are the countries in the region with the best conditions to develop Public-Private Partnerships, followed by Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
The 2019 Infrascope index, which evaluates 23 indicators and 78 qualitative and quantitative sub-indicators in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Latin America, is prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit and has the financial backing of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Representatives of employers in El Salvador say the bill submitted to the Legislature does not provide legal certainty to investors.
The draft Law on Public Private Partnerships (PPP) is unsatisfactory to businesses and analysts, and they fear that if passed in its present form, there would be enormous discretion used when carrying out its regulatory functions which would not ensure legal certainty for investors .
The law would regulate state participation in these associations, to establish parameters for private enterprises and the regulations regarding tendering and contracting procedures.
The new legal framework will give private companies authority to manage megaprojects.
Alexander Segovia, technical secretary to the president, indicated that the new law will regulate the state's participation as investor and regulating entity.
"The port of La Unión is the first megaproject that Mauricio Funes' government has announced will be carried out using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The project seeks a private interinational company to operate the shipping terminal, which is currently managed by El Salvador's state ports authority (CEPA)," reports Laprensagrafica.com.
Some of the proposals reviewed include making CEPA the administrator and operator of the port of La Unión.
Guillermo López Suárez, president of the port commission known as CEPA, is working on a new proposal. This proposal includes an updated diagnostic of the situation.
Months will go by before the concession for its operation is granted. President Saca hopes to send the concession project to Congress by January 18.
There is still no political consensus for the concession or for the shareholder participation that the State should have in the company that will manage the Port.
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.
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.
Although it is not definitive, it seems that the various sectors have agreed that the La Union Port will be granted in concession to an international operator.
This was expressed by spokespersons for the presidential commission set up to analyze the concession of the Acajutla and the La Union ports.
All financial analysis on the administration of the La Union Port point to one unmistakable result: the most profitable option is to grant a concession to a private company.
The construction of the La Union Port will be completed on November 30, 2008. However, the project, considered as strategic to the economic development of El Salvador, may not be ready to function because lawmakers, who have to debate and approve the law that will allow the administration of its services to be put to concession, are still not ready to make a decision.
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.
Authorities in El Salvador have presented the terms of the tender that will lead to concessions for the ports of Acajutla and La Unión.
The operator will have to invest US$95 million in the first five years, according to the terms presented by Rolando Díaz Benavides of the nation's Autonomous Executive Ports Commission (CEPA).
El Salvador's national ports authority Cepa has sent the project decree for the concession of its La Unión and Acajutla terminals to congress, Cepa planning manager Ernesto Altschul told BNamericas.
"The project decree required by the constitution was sent to the legislative assembly, where it will be analyzed by a commission," he said, adding: "We expect the process to be completed within a month."
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