Mexico expects to announce the winner of a tender to build and operate an estimated $5 billion Pacific coast container port at the end of next summer, a transport ministry official said on Tuesday.
Manuel Rodriguez, the coordinator of advisers at the ministry, told Reuters the project at Punta Colonet, which is on the Baja California peninsula and will be connected by rail to the United States, will be won by the bidder who offers to handle the most containers.
"The alternative would have been to say the winner is the one that is going to invest most, but then from a supervision point that would have been an interminable problem," Rodriguez said in an interview.
The project is so big, Rodriguez said, that it will attract the attention of port operators, transport and rail companies, construction giants and shipping companies from all over the world.
"None of them can ignore such an important project. Some of them have already done studies," he said. "Today the tender has opened and the phone is ringing."
The port, which the ministry estimates will be able to handle around five million or six million containers per year, will take cargo shipments coming from Asia and bound for North American markets.
Los Angeles and Long Beach are the main ports in Southern California, but are straining to handle explosive growth in trade with Asian nations. Mexico sees a cargo port in Punta Colonet as a chance to become a player on that trade route.
Rodriguez said the Punta Colonet area will develop so much because of the port that the government is already anticipating the need for a new commercial airport to serve the region.
Manuel Rodriguez, the coordinator of advisers at the ministry, told Reuters the project at Punta Colonet, which is on the Baja California peninsula and will be connected by rail to the United States, will be won by the bidder who offers to handle the most containers.
"The alternative would have been to say the winner is the one that is going to invest most, but then from a supervision point that would have been an interminable problem," Rodriguez said in an interview.
The project is so big, Rodriguez said, that it will attract the attention of port operators, transport and rail companies, construction giants and shipping companies from all over the world.
"None of them can ignore such an important project. Some of them have already done studies," he said. "Today the tender has opened and the phone is ringing."
The port, which the ministry estimates will be able to handle around five million or six million containers per year, will take cargo shipments coming from Asia and bound for North American markets.
Los Angeles and Long Beach are the main ports in Southern California, but are straining to handle explosive growth in trade with Asian nations. Mexico sees a cargo port in Punta Colonet as a chance to become a player on that trade route.
Rodriguez said the Punta Colonet area will develop so much because of the port that the government is already anticipating the need for a new commercial airport to serve the region.