WASHINGTON: Yılport Holding, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Yıldırım Group, has said it has secured the 50-year concession rights to the Puerto Bolivar Port in Ecuador and pledged to make some $750 million of investment in the port in a written statement. The concession deal, the largest in value ever made by a Turkish company, was signed in the port on Aug. 8 with the attendance of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, Transport Minister Walter Solis and an audience of more than 1,000 people along with senior representatives from the company, according to the statement.
The company has committed to investing $750 million in five phases for the development and modernization of the port in a bid to create Latin America’s largest container terminal with 2.5 million TEU annual container handling capacity, read the statement. With the deal, Yılport added the 21st port to its global portfolio in line with its target to becoming one of the top international port operators by 2025. The company won the related tender in 2015. Puerto Bolívar port is one of the world’s largest shipment points for fruits and seafood, read the statement.
