Construction of US$12bn technological corridor to begin in June - Guatemala
Guatemala's US$12bn technological corridor project (CTG) to link ports on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will get underway in June this year, northeastern municipalities' association head Álvaro Olavarrueth told BNamericas.
The corridor will be 327km long and 140m wide, spanning the Izabal, El Progreso, Zacapa, Chiquimula, Jalapa and Jutiapa departments, and will include a four-lane highway, cargo rail line, and interoceanic oil and gas pipelines. The initiative also involves the construction of two new ports in Izabal and Jutiapa departments, as well as an airport.
The project, first conceived some ten years ago as a "dry canal", will be funded almost entirely by the private sector via concessions.
The updated project was presented in 2009 by a group of Guatemalan investors and will involve the participation of the 18 municipalities through which the corridor will pass, according to Olavarrueth.
"This is the first socially responsible project in which Guatemalan entrepreneurs have invited municipal organizations to participate as partners by donating land," said Olavarrueth.
Construction of the new Pacific port in Jutiapa will begin in June this year, with backers including a Catalan consortium and US international development agency USAID, as well the Brazilian and Japanese governments, Olavarrueth said.
Contracts to build the highway and rail line will be tendered in October, with construction set to begin in January, the official added.
The project, scheduled for completion in 2015, will benefit 2mn Guatemalans, and could generate up to US$350mn/y in taxes, with 32% of economic benefits going to the partner municipalities, according to a report by the presidential website.
Catherine Setterfield
Business News Americas
Catherine Setterfield
Business News Americas
