Costa Rican Port

The acceptance last week by union workers in Costa Rica's busiest port of a $137 million buyout opens the door for private-sector development of a new container terminal, as well as cruise-ship and other dock facilities in Limón, located on the Caribbean coast, with total investments estimated at well over $1 billion. Several companies are expected to bid for a concession, which includes the right to build the container terminal, and to operate it for 30 years.

Thirteen companies, including several of the world's largest port developer-operators, have declared an interest in winning the contract, at a cost of $812 million. Another contract, in this case worth $80 million, will be awarded for the reconstruction of Limón's general-cargo port. No value has yet been established for the the development of the cruise-ship facilities, along with a planned 250-boat marina.

Limón handles more than 80% of goods imported into and exported from Costa Rica, valued at $16 billion out of a total of $20 billion. In addition, the government has committed $80 million to turn Limon's crumbling downtown into a tourism center, with restaurants, cafés, art galleries, parks and craft stores. Tenders for all of the Limón projects should be published within the next 90 days.

• Port construction and operation companies
• Equipment suppliers
• Engineering consulting
• Marine biologists
• Tour operators
• Marina developers
• Hospitality-industry companies