Bidding war for new Pakistani deepsea port
Concerns have been raised over the bidding process for the Pakistan Deep Sea Container Port, which appears to have allowed some companies to simultaneously enter more than one bid.
The co-owners of existing terminals QICT and KICT had each entered individual bids, giving them four overall. In effect, there have been joint bids from DP World/APM Terminals on the one hand and from PSA/HPH on the other, in addition to the individual bids.
No Pakistani company was able to enter a bid, while even a consortium of domestic companies would not have even able to meet even the basic bidding conditions.
According to informed sources, DP World, APM Terminals, PSA and HPH could be debarred from the bidding process if it is decided that they have in fact entered multiple bids. The Ministry of Finance has already made known its intention to nullify such bids.