Paraguay plans tender for US$300mn highway PPP

Paraguay is planning to put out to tender next year a PPP contract to widen and modernize 140km of highway, the ministry of public works said in a statement. 

Required investment is estimated at US$300mn.

The contract will involve designing and building the stretch – of route 1 between Quiindy and Ytororó, in Paraguarí department – and operating and maintaining it for up to 30 years.

Paraguayan authorities, with support from IDB officials, will conduct technical studies. The IDB will also provide support in the final design phase.

In October-December, IDB officials will review studies that have been conducted before starting the process of preparing the final studies - pre-feasibility and feasibility -  and the tendering documents.

The same PPP financing mechanism will be used for a separate project, involving a stretch of route 6, from Cambyretá to Cruce Pirapó, in Itapúa department.

This year IDB Invest announced approval of a US$200mn loan to fund Paraguay’s first PPP highway project, the widening of routes 2 and 7, helping consortium Rutas del Este close financing for the works.

“IDB Invest is interested in financially supporting the PPP initiatives of the Paraguayan government in areas such as transport, water and sanitation and social infrastructure,” Javier Rodríguez de Colmenares, chief of IDB Invest’s infrastructure and energy division, told BNamericas previously.