Five firms to bid for privatisation of Jamaican airport

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- The ministry of transport, works and housing in Jamaica has reported that five firms have been pre-qualified to participate in the bidding process to operate, finance, develop and maintain the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston.

Those selected are Cedicor SA (Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 SA); Zurich Airport International AG and A-Port Chile SA; Korea Airport Corporation Latin America and GK Capital Management Limited; China Harbour Engineering Company Limited( CHEC) and daa International Limited and Corporación Aeroportuaria del Este SAS (Punta Cana International Airport), Jamaica Producers Group Limited and GBG Energy S de RL.

Two local companies – Grace Kennedy Group and Jamaica Producers Group Ltd – are part of two of the consortiums shortlisted to participate in the process. Grace Kennedy will be part of the Korea Airport Corporation Latin America Consortium while Jamaica Producers will be part of the Corporacion Aeroportuaria del Este SAS Consortium.

The list of companies was arrived at following an invitation for pre-qualification, which was launched in December 2014 but which had to be terminated and re-issued to effect an administrative modification. The new prequalification document was issued on March 30, 2015 with a submission deadline of April 17, 2015. Consequent on the evaluation of the applications received, these five firms were deemed eligible to participate in the bidding process.

Minister of Transport, Works and Housing, Dr Omar Davies. JIS Photo
Transport minister, Dr Omar Davies, said that the government expects to issue the request for proposal (RfP) to the prequalified firms in June 2015 and thereafter the firms will be allowed to conduct due diligence to support the preparation and submission of their bids.

The NMIA is owned by the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) and is currently operated by the NMIA Airports Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the AAJ. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the government’s lead advisor on the NMIA Public Private Partnership with the Development Bank of Jamaica, the GOJ’s Privatization Agency and PPP Unit acting as co-advisors and Secretariat for the transaction.

The government’s commitment to the development and modernisation of the NMIA is part of its strategic plan to establish Kingston as a regional business hub and Jamaica as a logistics hub. As part of the process to stimulate and attract interest in the NMIA PPP, the GOJ facilitated three investor conferences in June 2014; one local conference targeting representatives from the Jamaican investment and financial sector and two international conferences held in London and Kingston.