Colombia to launch Santander highway tenders in October

Colombia's government aims by October to launch 2tn pesos (US$618mn) in road concession tenders under the highway program known as 4G, President Juan Manuel Santos said.

The Bucaramanga-Pamplona and Pamplona-Cúcuta concessions in Santander department cover a total of 200km and will link the Venezuelan border with a highway running to Ecuador, Santos told reporters in the city of Bucaramanga after meeting with his cabinet.

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The move comes after the government awarded contracts for the Santana-Neiva, Neiva-Girardot. Giradot-Puerto Salgar, Puerto Salgar-Barrancabermeja and Barrancabermeja- Bucaramanga concessions, Santos said.

"Santander department will be able to conquer local, Venezuela and global markets with great ease, which will translate into jobs and more prosperity," Santos said in a broadcast.

The government earlier this month also awarded a 237bn-peso contract to a group of local firms for the Yatí-Bodega concession, including Colombia's longest bridge.

Private investment in Colombia's highways, ports and railways grew 24% in 2014 to almost 4.6tn pesos, according to figures from national infrastructure agency ANI.