Enrique Razon, chairman of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), has announced that ICTSI will not bid for the Davao Sasa Port Modernization PPP project in Philippines.

According to Mr Razon, ICTSI will not bid due to the fact that there are several private ports already operating in Davao. He stated:

"What we are seeing is the investment requirement is so large. Numerous private ports are already in the area. So we may not bid for that. Defensive move is not for P17 billion. That's not a defensive move anymore. I doubt you can recover that type of investment in Davao."

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) have recently launched the tender process for the project. The preferred bidder will have to finance, design, redevelop,operate and maintain the new facilities for a period of 30 years.

Specifically, the private partner will be responsible for the construction and modernization of the existing port including the new apron, linear quay, expansion of the back-up area, container yards, warehouses, and the installation of new equipment like ship-to-shore cranes and rubber-tyred gantry. The dedicated container handling facilities will have an initial design capacity of 1,900 container ground slots to a minimum of 2,700 container ground slots.

The total project investment is estimated at P17.46 billion (US$394.3 million).

The Development Bank of the Philippines and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are acting as the transaction advisors to DOCT and the PPA for the two-stage bidding to be conducted in accordance with the build-operate-transfer (BOT) Law..