Lack of clear leadership, internal chaos in the main political parties and parliamentary fragmentation are threatening Costa Rica's business climate.
Contradictory statements over the legal certainty of the project for a mega container port in Moin ($1 billion), made by the very probable next president of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, and the founder of his party (Citizen Action) and deputy chief of the legislative group, Otton Solis have generated understandable alarm in the business community.
With an investment of $460 million, the Van Oord-BAM consortium will be responsible for the construction of the container terminal in Limon, Costa Rica.
In a press release, APM Terminals, the global concessionaire of the project, reported that the new terminal will handle 80% of maritime trade in Costa Rica, and will generate 400 new direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs.
The construction and operation for 20 years of a container port in Isla Margarita, in Panama, is governed by a detailed concession agreement.
"... The ambitious port project will have three docks and will be located in an exclusive area of Colon, where it will compete with the terminals currently in operation in the Atlantic: Cristobal, Colon Container Terminal and Manzanillo International Terminal. "
Concessions are still -if properly implemented- the ideal method for the implementation of large public works projects.
From a press release issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprises (UCCAEP):
The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprises (UCCAEP) indicates that the system of granting concessions is a valid and suitable model for the state to finance the public works and services necessary to enable us to improve the competitiveness needed by the country.
Faced with severe social, business and political opposition, President Chinchilla has been forced to cancel the concession to the Brazilian company OAS for the remodeling and management of 58 miles of the San José - San Ramón highway.
The project award was originally won in 2004 by Autopistas del Valle, which transferred it in 2013 to OAS for a figure that has been mentioned of about $35 million, after years of delays in expropriations and without Autopistas del Valle having managed to obtain the required financing .
In Costa Rica the Brazilian company OAS has six months to find someone to pay more than $500 million for a project that has been opposed by 90% of the population.
According to Edwin Rodriguez, technical secretary of the National Concessions Council (CNC), the Brazilian company OAS is negotiating with international banks for the resources to fund the project.
Costa Rica's government plans to put out to tender, in the second half of 2013, a concession for an additional container terminal, whose feasibility study is being carried out by America's Gateway Development Corporation.
America's Gateway Development Corporation (Amega) is the company that proposed the project to the government of Costa Rica, so it has an advantage in the bidding to award the concession to build and operate a transshipment terminal in Moin on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.
The Foreign Trade Ministry announced on Wednesday morning a schedule for the "Modernization of border posts for 2013"
ElPaiscr.com reported that "After being abandoned for more than two decades, the border posts with Nicaragua and Panama will be granted to private companies, although $40 million more are required to complete works before closing the deal.
The concessionaire of the route San Jose – Caldera, , Autopistas del Sol, has filed a lawsuit against the state demanding an update of the cost of road construction.
The company is seeking to "rebalance the contract based solely on an update of the amount of the original bid", said Luis Diego Flores, constitutional attorney. The concessionaire maintains that the cost of the works exceeded the figures set out in the original bid for the project.
The government intends to give priority to a new bridge on the main road linking the capital with the Juan Santamaria Airport, to be built by the current contractor for the expansion of that road.
Edwin Rodriguez, technical secretary of the National Concessions Council (CNC in Spanish), said they are in the process of negotiating with the concessionaire of the 59 km highway, the Brazilian OAS, in order to give priority to the construction of the bridge.
Company’s due diligence and fair-play in bid reaffirmed.
San Jose, Costa Rica – The Costa Rican courts ruled today in favor of APM Terminals in two lawsuits, brought against the company and the government, which were intended to block the awarded concession for the new Moin Container Terminal (TCM). “Today’s favorable decision from the Second Circuit Court in San Jose affirms the transparency and legality of the concession process.
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.
In Costa Rica there is no good track record in this matter, but with reviewed rules and better preliminary studies, they still may be the solution to the country's infrastructure problems.
The latest episode was the crater which suddenly opened up on the country’s main highway. Almost every day there is a news story about the poor state of infrastructure in Costa Rica.
It is very difficult to understand as reasonable the Costa Rican Comptroller's annulment of the award for a Convention Centre by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute.
EDITORIAL
An article in Elfinancierocr.com reviews the details of a situation that is being repeated ad nauseum in most Central American countries, namely the difficulty of awarding important public works contracts with a minimum of speed and efficiency.
The National Tender Board (CNC in Spanish) has notified the company APM Terminals which has a maximum of 18 months to begin the construction of the new Moin Container Terminal (MCT), in the Caribbean, Costa Rica.
After the deadline, APT Terminals has 36 months to complete the works on this terminal which will allow servicing and boarding of container vessels.