The port of Guayaquil, located in the province of Guaya, is Ecuador’s major port, handling around 75% of the country’s international trade, but in order for it to consolidate and expand this position it is clear that it needs significant new investment and the introduction of modern management and operating systems.

It was recognised some time ago – indeed 10 years ago – that the best road to fulfilling these requirements was a concessioning process and there have been various attempts at it, all of which have been derailed,until the current one conducted under the supervision of the United Nations through the Economic Commission for Latin America and via the Confederacion Andina de Fomento, the regional development bank.

While the latter agencies undoubtedly made a significant contribution to bringing the concessioning process to a successful conclusion, there are also several other players who deserve credit.

Camilo Saman Salem, Governor of the Province of Guya, highlights the commitment of the new national government, headed by President Rafael Correa Delgado, to the project, pointing out that the President himself had interacted directly with the Port Authority of Guayaquil and encouraged the board members to bring the project to a successful conclusion.

“New investment in the port is fundamental to our main objectives of achieving the best possible condition for the country and for the province,” he emphasises. And he notes that the President has personally confirmed that Guayaquil will continue to fulfil the role of Ecuador’s main gateway for international trade and that Manta, where Hutchison has recently taken a position,is intended to be a regional transhipment hub.

“The Guayaquil project,” he further explains, “is additionally very important in sending to the world a clear signal that the government welcomes foreign investment under the right conditions. Conditions like we have in the port where ICTSI will make significant investments and deliver an improved performance at a lower cost – we fully support this initiative.”

The Chamber of Commerce of Guayaquil also played a positive role in the process. Gloria Alarcon de Macias,president of the Chamber of Commerce of Guayaquil, notes that one of its major contributions was to keep the process on track in the dying days of the last government. “I personally was on the telephone to the President on numerous occasions emphasising to him the importance of delivering this project. There were some concerns on his part that if he cleared the path for the concession to go-ahead in the last days of his government this would be interpreted as acting with vested interests in mind which, of course,was not the case.We had to allay his fears.

“The majority of the Chamber’s members are traders whose businesses, one way or another, interface with the port and as such we viewed the completion of the concession process as absolutely essential,” she underlines.

Jamie Nebot, the Mayor of Guayaquil, a near legendary figure in Guayaquil, due to how he has brought about a remarkable renaissance in the city, is another influential figure that played a prominent role in realising a successful concessioning process.The port of Guayaquil, located on a river estuary 91 kilometres from the open sea, interfaces closely with the city and the Mayor was highly visible, early-on, as a supporter of the idea of introducing private sector investment and expertise. He has recently further underlined his view that to a large extent the future success of the city and port are intertwined by joining with the Governor and calling for a new cruise terminal to be developed in the port, again with participation by the private sector.