Colombia pushing to transform Cartagena

In March, Colombia's national infrastructure agency ANI and defense ministry signed two cooperation agreements with the port city of Cartagena in Bolívar department in which the ANI pledged to provide technical advice to the city to help it develop concession projects and other public-private partnership initiatives.

At the time, ANI head Luis Andrade said that such projects in the city could turn Cartagena into "the main destination of the Caribbean."

Now, in an interview with local daily El Universal, Andrade gave more information on the projects that could consolidate the city's status as a tourist hotspot and port hub.

One of these is a second access canal to the city's bay, construction of which could begin next year, although Andrade admitted that the process to obtain the environmental assessment could delay the project.

He estimated that this initiative would have a cost lower than that of the existing Bocachica canal (US$50mn) and would entail the installation of a 2km canal with a depth of 15m.

However, he also said that the plans to relocate the city's airport to the Bayunca district from its current location in Crespo could be completed by 2025, and that the current airport operator, SACSA, had approached the agency with a proposal.

"They said, 'give us authorization [to continue operating the airport] until 2027 and with those earnings we will make around US$100mn in investments, which will help expand the airport's capacity to 8mn passengers [per year], improving the experience for international travelers.' With this money they would expand the international terminal, giving it more capacity, more parking spaces for planes and a taxiway," Andrade was quoted as saying by the daily.

ROAD PROJECTS

Andrade said that ANI has developed investments of 3tn pesos (US$990mn) in road infrastructure in Bolívar department over the last five years, while various other initiatives that will benefit Cartagena are also under construction or have been inaugurated already.

In March, President Juan Manuel Santos opened a 25km highway connecting Cartagena to Turbaco and Arjona at a cost of 126bn pesos (US$42.6mn) as part of the Ruta Caribe project.

Earlier this month, the president also opened a newly widened beltway for the port city of Barranquilla in Atlántico department, which is expected to reduce travel times between Cartagena and Santa Marta.

Another project in the works is the Cartagena-Barranquilla highway and Circunvalar de la Prosperidad beltway, which will include the country's longest bridge in the La Virgen swamp near Cartagena.

Other infrastructure projects that will benefit Cartagena can be seen here.

SANTOS AND CARTAGENA

During his government, Santos has repeatedly chosen Cartagena to represent the country in international events. The city was selected for the signing ceremony for the initial peace agreements with the FARC guerrillas in 2016 and was also used as the location for the 2016 Ibero-American summit.

"I have an infinite debt to Cartagena," Santos said in March, noting that he studied at the city's naval school.

He has also announced a 100bn-peso investment to improve the city's beaches as part of his efforts to fight climate change.

Cartagena is also an important stopping point for the cruise industry. According to the local trade and tourism ministry, in April Cartagena received 29 of the 31 cruises stopped in Colombia, up 32% from the same month of last year. So far this year it has received 106 ships, four more than during the first four months of 2016.

The increase in cruise passengers has been even bigger, with nearly 180,000 travelers arriving via cruise ships between January and April, up 18.9% compared to the same period of last year.