$1.2 Million to Design Concession Scheme for Port La Unión

©image: Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma

It will be financed with $1 million from IFC and $200.000 from ports authority CEPA, and will be split in three phases. First they will conduct a market study to assess the port’s potential market, and then they will design a new concessions law based on public/private schemes.

Guillermo López Suárez explained that the third phase consists of “inviting interested companies to the process, in a ‘transparent’ way”.

Source: laprensagrafica.com

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Japan and WB Worry for Lack of Activity at Port La Unión

October 2009

The inaugurated port remains inactive, and both Japan and the World Bank are helping for defining a concession model.

The new port is currently inactive, as there is still no definition regarding how to give it under concession to an operator. In light of this, technicians from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are in the country gathering information about the port, in order to help design a solution.

El Salvador to Spend Millions Operating Port La Unión

August 2009

Lack of private capital interested in operating the port has forced the Salvadoran government to undertake its administration.

Guillermo López Suárez, president of CEPA, the port authority, confirmed the government's decision of assuming administration of the port, remarking that "this does not mean that a concession possibility is ruled out.

100% Concession for La Union Port

November 2010

It was determined that the best option for the port terminal is to have 100% private administration.

This was revealed by the report issued by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), according to the Executive Port Commission (CEPA) in El Salvador.

"The option is called master concession, which means that a company will manage the terminal, but it still belongs to the state," Enrique Córdova, president of Cepa, told newspaper El Mundo. "The master concession for infrastructure is granted to an international operating entity responsible for managing it entirely, for the period of time stated in the contract."

Concession Law for Salvadoran Ports Planned for October

September 2010

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).