Paraguay’s first public-private partnership (PPP) has been awarded to a consortium of Spanish, Portuguese and local companies.
The $520m job involves the widening and maintenance of the federal motorways that make up the stretch of the Pan-American Highway connecting the capital, Asuncion, with Ciudad del Este on the Brazilian border, reports LatinFinance.
The winning team consists of Sacyr from Spain, Portugal’s Mota-Engil and local road specialist Ocho A. They will widen the Routes 2 and 7 and maintain them for 30 years. The work is scheduled to begin in early 2017 and will take three years to complete.
The decision was not a surprise, however, because although 11 groups expressed an interest in the work, only one put in a bid.
Jesus Vladero Canales, Sacyr’s Paraguay representative, said: "We’re very happy to accompany the national government in its first experience in awarding a contract through a PPP."
Paraguay is also reviewing the three bids it received for an airport PPP in Asuncion. The bids were put in by Vinci Airports in partnership with local contractor Talavera & Ortellado, Sacyr and Chile’s Agunsa, and Uruguay’s Cedicor.
The PPPs are getting under way some three years after Paraguayan lawmakers passed legislation to promote private investment in public infrastructure.
Image: "Ruta Dos" as it crosses the town of Capiatá (Creative Commons)
