The Manta-Manaus multimodal corridor is expected to be ready by 2011, the general manager of Ecuador's Manta port authority (APM), Patricio Padilla, told BNamericas.
Related content
Earlier this month, the presidents of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil met to discuss Atlantic-Pacific integration through the development of the corridor.
After the meeting, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said the initiative was a major priority and would be ready in two years, said Padilla.
Final engineering studies regarding the corridor are quite advanced, Padilla said, adding he is confident that the project will be carried out in the expected timeframe.
The studies will determine the investment amount needed and the works necessary to carry out the initiative, which is expected to optimize trade and increase the region's competitiveness.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has already said that Manta is the gateway between Brazil and Asia, Padilla added.
The corridor project is designed to link Manta port, in Manabí province, and Brazil's Amazonas state capital Manaus, connecting it to the Atlantic ocean through the Amazon river.
FINANCING
The corridor is expected to require an estimated US$800mn investment.
Authorities will discuss the project's financial structure in future meetings, although the issue has already been addressed in the past. However, the initiative could be affected by the current problems between Ecuador and Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.
Odebrecht's assets in the country were confiscated after the firm was accused of mismanaging the San Francisco hydroelectric plant.
The project was partly financed by Brazilian national development bank BNDES, which provides financial support to projects outside Brazil when Brazilian firms are awarded the works.
In the case of the San Francisco plant, however, Correa argues that the loan was given to Odebrecht, and therefore the firm is responsible for paying it back, not the Ecuadorian state.
A final decision has yet to be made on the issue. In the meantime, authorities from both countries continue to discuss the need for integration, which would be mutually beneficial.
If the Manta-Manaus initiative were to fail, it could be replaced by an alternative that consists of connecting Manaus to Peruvian fluvial port Iquitos, and then to a port on the Pacific coast, such as Callao, near Lima, using multimodal transport.
According to projections, Callao will become Manta's main competitor, Padilla said.
The Manta-Manaus corridor is expected to be handled as a concession initiative, with the support of the private and public sectors.
According to the Ecuadorian government, firms from China, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Brazil have already expressed interest in the project.
China is somewhat involved in the project already, as Manta port was awarded under a 30-year concession to Hong Kong-based multinational port operator Hutchison Port Holdings, through its Ecuadorian subsidiary Terminales Internacionales del Ecuador (TIDE).
