Jordan to invite bidders for $3bn Aqaba port project
Jordan will start the bidding process in June for a $3bn project to build and manage a new port in the Red Sea city of Aqaba, as part the government’s plan to attract commerce and tourism.
“There is strong appetite in the market,” Imad Fakhoury, chairman and chief executive officer of the government-backed Aqaba Development Corp, said in an interview from Jordan last week
“Most of the companies are Gulf-based and there is some European and Asian interest, he added.”
Real estate and tourism projects in Aqaba have attracted more than $8bn in investments since 2001, Fakhoury said.
The two-phase port project will relocate the existing port 20km to the southern part of the city, increasing the handling capacity of cargo to 60mn tons a year from 30mn tons, Fakhoury said. It will be able to handle 100mn tons by 2030.
DP World, which bought London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co last year for $6.8bn to become the world’s third-largest operator of container ports, may be a potential bidder for the Aqaba project, said Neil Davidson, research director in London at Drewry Shipping Consultants.
“Aqaba would certainly be something that is on their list,” Davidson said. “It’s well within their capabilities and geographically is quite convenient.”
DP World declined to say whether it will bid.
“We are always interested in all the projects that are feasible,” said Mohamed Sharaf, CEO of the Dubai-owned company.
Davidson said other possible bidders might include A P Moeller-Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, which is managing and expanding a container terminal at the Jordanian port for the next 25 years; Singapore’s PSA International Pte, the world’s second-largest container port operator; and Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.
International terminal operators are expanding amid expectations that the volume of goods shipped in containers will increase. The volume of world trade, 80% of which is moved by sea, is forecast to expand 7.6% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The port of Aqaba is also vital for the shipping of goods to or from Iraq and “has the potential to serve a wider market beyond Jordan throughout the central Middle East,” Davidson said.
The port served as a major shipping point for goods bound for Iraq after the US-led invasion of the country toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
BearingPoint Inc, a consultant to the US Marines and the Iraqi government, will manage the bidding process for the Aqaba port project starting in June, Fakhoury said.
The winner, which will build and operate the port for 30 years, will be announced by the end of this year. Construction will start in early 2008.
“There is strong appetite in the market,” Imad Fakhoury, chairman and chief executive officer of the government-backed Aqaba Development Corp, said in an interview from Jordan last week
“Most of the companies are Gulf-based and there is some European and Asian interest, he added.”
Real estate and tourism projects in Aqaba have attracted more than $8bn in investments since 2001, Fakhoury said.
The two-phase port project will relocate the existing port 20km to the southern part of the city, increasing the handling capacity of cargo to 60mn tons a year from 30mn tons, Fakhoury said. It will be able to handle 100mn tons by 2030.
DP World, which bought London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co last year for $6.8bn to become the world’s third-largest operator of container ports, may be a potential bidder for the Aqaba project, said Neil Davidson, research director in London at Drewry Shipping Consultants.
“Aqaba would certainly be something that is on their list,” Davidson said. “It’s well within their capabilities and geographically is quite convenient.”
DP World declined to say whether it will bid.
“We are always interested in all the projects that are feasible,” said Mohamed Sharaf, CEO of the Dubai-owned company.
Davidson said other possible bidders might include A P Moeller-Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, which is managing and expanding a container terminal at the Jordanian port for the next 25 years; Singapore’s PSA International Pte, the world’s second-largest container port operator; and Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.
International terminal operators are expanding amid expectations that the volume of goods shipped in containers will increase. The volume of world trade, 80% of which is moved by sea, is forecast to expand 7.6% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The port of Aqaba is also vital for the shipping of goods to or from Iraq and “has the potential to serve a wider market beyond Jordan throughout the central Middle East,” Davidson said.
The port served as a major shipping point for goods bound for Iraq after the US-led invasion of the country toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
BearingPoint Inc, a consultant to the US Marines and the Iraqi government, will manage the bidding process for the Aqaba port project starting in June, Fakhoury said.
The winner, which will build and operate the port for 30 years, will be announced by the end of this year. Construction will start in early 2008.
