Ecuador adds 7 projects worth US$2.3bn to PPP registry

Ecuador will add seven projects for a combined US$2.3bn to the new public-private partnerships (PPP) registry.

The process will conclude within 30 days and is an important step before structuring the projects, which will be put to public tender, PPP secretary Pablo Cevallos told reporters.

Projects to be added are the Manta-Quevedo, Montecristi-La Cadena, Pifo-Y de Baeza, Bahía-Pedernales-Cojimíes, Ambato-Baños-Puyo and Loja-Catamayo roads, as well as the Esmeraldas multipurpose port terminal.

Various projects, including from the electric power sector, will be added periodically.

“This registration is essential to move on to the next phase, which is structuring, in which we will strive to put together solid, sustainable, viable and, above all, attractive projects for investors,” Cevallos said.

Structuring will be supported by the International Finance Corporation.

In a recent interview with BNamericas, Cevallos said that since the Manta-Quevedo and Pifo-Y de Baeza projects have prefeasibility studies, the feasibility processes could begin in the second half, "which could mean that by the end of this year or early next year we can launch the first tenders."