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Este informe no está disponible en español. CARIBBEAN BUSINESS Port Of The Americas Holds Summit For Seven Possible Port OperatorsGovernment picks up the tab for private presentation on port’s feasibility By MARIALBA MARTINEZ May 22, 2003 The Port of the Americas Authority (PAA) quietly held what it called a summit earlier this week for seven companies from the port operators industry. During a two-day event sponsored by the PAA at the Caribe Hilton, Port of the Americas Administrator Hector Jimenez Juarbe said, "We are excited about the caliber of the companies attending the summit. Among them are Marcelo Suarez from International Container Terminal Services Inc. [ICTSI] in the Philippines and its partners Steve Vickerman and Jorge Bermudez from Fluor Corp.; Frank Haacke, representing Rotterdam’s Mainport Puerto Rico; Javier Ramirez from Denmark’s A.P. Moller; James Loy from the Port of Singapore Corp.; Mark Simmons from Hong Kong’s Hutchinson Port Holdings, and Victor Valdevieso from SSA Marine in Panama." "Today [Monday], we discussed different aspects such as feasibility studies, environmental permits, the project’s design, its different phases, and its development to date," said Jimenez Juarbe. "Tomorrow, we are going to take a helicopter ride to Ponce so the companies can see the port. We are receiving a lot of ideas from the industry about the project, which will help us to define it and make it a more attractive venture." On Monday afternoon, the PAA’s guests were to hear presentations from the Port of the America’s technical work team, which includes Ocean Shipping Consultant Corp.’s Andrew Penfold (who prepared the feasibility & market study); Moffatt & Nichol Engineers’ John Ricklefs and Goldman Sachs & Co.’s James Gomez (the port’s business plan and financial structure); CSA Group consultant Ferdinand Quiñones (environmental / permitting); Iglesias, Vazquez & Associates’ Eusebio Iglesias (design and project-phases description); Pietrantoni, Mendez, & Alvarez’s Manuel Pietrantoni (legal matters), and CB Richard Ellis’ David Friedman (value-added zones). "If a company hasn’t submitted a Request for Qualifications [RFQ] and wishes to be considered as a port operator, it will have to submit one," said Jimenez Juarbe. "The next step is to meet with our consultants and start preparing the Request for Proposals, which is what will really let us get acquainted with the companies vying to operate the port." So far, three groups have submitted RFQs for the operation of the Port of the Americas. One is The Netherland’s Mainports Puerto Rico, whose parent company operates the Port of Rotterdam. The second is PSA Corp., which includes the operator of the Port of Singapore and is a world-class transshipment port specialist that operates 13 ports in eight countries. A couple of weeks ago the government announced that a consortium made up by Philippines-based ICTSI and Fluor Corp. had submitted an RFQ. This Caribbean Business article appears courtesy of Casiano Communications.
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