Concession on future port of Tibar in Timor-Leste expected to be announced in May

According to local press reports some companies pre- selected by the government of Timor-Leste (East Timor) include Portuguese-Belgian consortium Mota-Engil Ambiente e Serviços, Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construção and Besik Group, UK company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), a subsidiary of Dubai group DP World do Dubai, and International Container Terminal Services Inc of the Philippines plus the Bolloré Consortium from France. The selection commission rejected four proposals that failed to reach the technical or financial criteria. Two of these were from Chinese companies, one from Australia and one from Indonesia. With estimated required investment expected to be between US$300 million and US$400 million the PPP with the Timor-Leste government includes a 30-year concession for construction, operation and maintenance of the port of Tibar. According to the tender document the Timor-LEste government wants construction of the port of Tibar to be concluded and ready for operations in 2016 or 2017. The port’s cargo handling capacity is expected to be 1 million tons per year and it should also be able to receive commercial and passenger ships. The project also includes construction of a road between the capital city, Dili, and Tibar, about 10 km away, a breakwater, a variety of facilities and drainage systems.