The Colombian government is designing concession projects to attract pension funds and the financial sector to invest in the country's transport infrastructure development, national planning department (DNP) head Carolina Rentería told BNamericas.
The initiative aims to ensure financing for infrastructure initiatives and guarantee that the country continues to grow and develop, in spite of the global financial crisis.
"Traditionally, concessions in Colombia have been awarded to construction firms," she said. However, the upcoming infrastructure projects "are different, in the sense that they are being developed to attract the financial sector, pension funds and investment banking."
According to Rentería, these sectors would then partner with construction firms to form a consortium or an association of some kind, because "the construction firm builds, but a concession is a large flow of earnings and expenses."
Even though the projects do not depend solely on private investment, as they will be partly financed by the state, the crisis will toughen the chances of obtaining external financing.
In the meantime, authorities are working with entities like the World Bank to determine the financial structure of each project. Together, the projects will total several billions of dollars, Rentería said.
Large infrastructure projects are currently being analyzed by the country's public and private sector due to the effects of the crisis and the consequences that a potential global economic recession would have on trade, an official from Colombia's transport and public works ministry told BNamericas.
The revisions are to ensure that projects are actually carried out, the official said, adding that authorities are confident construction will not suffer much, if any, delay.
According to a plan designed by the transport and public works ministry, private and public investment in transport infrastructure initiatives is expected to reach over US$30bn during the 2007-10 period.
Some of the projects included in the plan are Bogotá's metro system, airports, fluvial and sea ports, highways such as Nueva Independencia, Las Américas and Ruta del Sol, as well as railways including Carare and Magdalena Medio.
The tenders for some of these projects are expected to be launched by year-end, and their concessions to be awarded during the first half of 2009.
