The Colombian government is designing a highway concession to connect the country with Venezuela and Panama that will modify current concessions, national planning department (DNP) head Carolina Rentería told BNamericas.
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The initiative, which will require an estimated US$2bn investment, will connect northeastern Guajira department, on the border with Venezuela, to northwestern Chocó department, on the Panamanian border.
The project consists of rehabilitating 850km of roads and the construction of about 1,500km of new highways and four-lane roads that will connect the northern Caribbean coast to department Antioquia, said Rentería.
The initiative, known as Ruta de las Américas, will integrate with a number of highway concessions that are currently operating on the Caribbean coast, said Rentería.
"Today we have a number of concessions but with different operators and different time periods, etc. What we want is to unite all of them because we need new investments and concessions in that area," she said.
How current concessions will be integrated into one single project has yet to be determined, said Rentería, adding that the government recently began working on the project and it will take some time to implement.
In terms of alternatives, Rentería said one possibility would be to return current concessions and re-launch a new one including all the territory in question. Another option could be for concessionaires to unite and reorganize their global structure. However, since Rentería has not been involved in the meetings on this aspect, these are only examples.
The initiative will be financially supported by the state, which will invest the funds obtained from the sale of state-owned energy firms Urrá and Corelca.
"We have always said that the nation's coastal resources will stay on the coast by being re-invested there," Rentería added.
Authorities are currently working together with highway concessionaires operating on the Caribbean coast to design the initiative, she said.
PROJECT BENEFITS
In addition to its tourist potential, the highway project will have a major impact on competitiveness, as the area has high agricultural and cattle production, and will connect to all the ports on the coast.
Building a strong infrastructure network that improves connectivity between Colombia and its neighboring countries, while at the same time improving connectivity between the country's ports, is a major priority for the central government, President Álvaro Uribe said during a meeting with textile and fashion exporters held earlier this year in Antioquia capital Medellín.
Since authorities are still working on the project's preliminary design, an official from the transport and public works ministry said the initiative is unlikely to be launched for tender before 2009.
The Ruta de las Américas highway will become part of the South American infrastructure integration initiative, IIRSA, the official added.
