By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
 
President Carlos Alvarado met on Friday with the new president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele and both reaffirmed the will develop the Central American Ferry service, which would ship items between the ports of La Unión port in El Salvador and Caldera* port in Costa Rica.

"The ferry will connect both countries, which would be consolidated as a definitive and sustained alternative over time to help minimize the risks associated with land transportation in the Central American region," said President Alvarado.

However, scheduling of the ferry has yet to be defined.

Since almost one year ago, as A.M. Costa Rica reported, the government announced that the Central American Ferry was almost ready to start operations.

On July 11, 2018, the government announced that Costa Rica and El Salvador have readied all the conditions for the Central American Ferry to enter into operations, establishing an export and import route between both countries.

The ferry would provide a route for commerce and also an alternative route to trade to help minimize the risks associated with land transportation in the Central American region.

Efforts to implement the ferry intensified as a result of the situation that arose in Nicaragua. That situation has impacted Central American foreign trade.

"From this moment, interested companies can contact the concessionaires of the ports to offer their services," said Duayber Salas, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade.

The authorities said that in 2018, that both governments made efforts to provide the facilities and conditions that allow the operation of the ferry. However, the interested shipping companies will be responsible for coordinating the activation of the maritime route with the concessionaires.

"This is a fundamental advance for the trade in the region. Now we are making every effort to consolidate this initial stage and to expand it at the regional level," said Julián Salinas, Deputy Minister of Economy of El Salvador.

The Costa Rican and Salvadoran authorities agree on the need to provide the possibility of offering this service in conditions of free competition so that any bidder that has the capacities and meets the requirements will obtain the guarantee to operate.



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Should the government speed the contracting process of the shipping company that was announced for almost a year ago?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com