SAILING THROUGH THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSPORT
The Port of Buenaventura aims to lead trade on the Pacific by 2010

Private sector investment in Colombia’s transport infrastructure is a vital component of government strategy. The government agency responsible for granting and overseeing transport concessions is the Superintendence of Ports and Transport. Superintendent Fernando Sanclemente says that Colombia’s ports are a successful example of cooperation between the private and public sector. “Everybody won in the process: the private sector, Colombian foreign trade, the tax administration and all the users who have access to the sea terminals. As a result of privatization, our ports are now at the vanguard in Latin and Central America,” he comments.

VICTOR JULIO GONZÁLEZ RIASCOS Manager of Buenaventura Regional Portuaria Society

As well as seaports and road construction, new projects in Colombia include an inland waterway system that the Ministry of Transport is now developing and that will in time connect the interior to the coast. In addition, a new 186-mile train route has recently been inaugurated between Port of Buenaventura and Zarzal, which will eventually be extended to unite the country’s two coasts.

Port of Buenaventura has been privately managed since 1994 by Buenaventura Regional Portuaria Society (BRPS). Since that time, BRPS has been busy modernizing facilities, which have doubled the port’s capacity and greatly improving efficiency, increasing activity by 33%.

Port of Buenaventura is now ranked as second in the region and expansion plans are expected to boost the port’s ranking to number one. Manager Víctor González Riascos states, “When we received the administration of the port in 1994, we set a goal to become the main Latin American port on the Pacific by the year 2010. In addition to what we have already achieved, we are planning to increase our capacity to 12 million tons and develop a logistics area in order to be able to add value to the goods in the port.”