Callao authorities still onboard says APMT

APMT started operations at the North Terminal last month, after being awarded the concession in May.

Although some pointed to Peruvian politicians being concerned by the 17% level of profits payable to Enapu, Henrik Kristensen of APMT said, “We believe that our relationship is even tighter than one where this wasn’t actually decided.”

He went on to say that during the election campaign, there was mention of “renegotiation” of certain infrastructure concessions, however, Mr Kristensen added that the new government certainly wasn’t looking at its relationship with APMT.

In all, 430 former Enapu dockers have been employed by the new operator, equivalent to around 90% of the former workforce, and Mr Kristensen says that APMT has been particularly careful to “work transparently and very diligently” with other stakeholders in order to take over the concession in just 50 days.

“We have done so many things to bring APMT together with the community: we have met with the Bishop of Callao in order to best understand the social developments and had input to the local nursery, so we are a respected local partner – the government just isn’t looking to renegotiate the relationship… they have better things to do.”

He concludes, “Yes, everyone is preparing themselves for change, but the new government is very positive about a big multinational coming in. It means upgrading and modernisation of what is already a significant port, with projected investment of around $307m.”