AFTER taking over the North Harbor last month, joint venture partners Harbour Center Port Terminals, Inc (HCPTI) and Metro Pacific Investment Corp (MPIC) said they are now setting their sights on the global market.
The partners are looking at four countries in which to invest either separately or as a consortium.
HCPTI and MPIC operate the North Harbor under a joint venture, the Manila North Harbour Port, Inc (MNHPI).
“We are now studying several locations like Guam, Indonesia, China and Vladivostok in Russia,” HCPTI chief executive Michael Romero said. “Hopefully, we can get one port … we will look at how we will improve then expand it.”
Two years ago, the company tried to go international but failed to win the bid for a Sydney port.
Guam prospects
HCPTI recently joined the pre-bidding conference for the management and operation of a port in Guam with two other Philippine-based port operators — Asian Terminals, Inc and International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
HCPTI is keen on securing the 20-year management and operation contract for the Guam terminal owing to its huge potential business, thanks to the impending transfer of military personnel to the US territory from Okinawa.
HCTPI along with the Manuel Pangilinan-led MPIC is also negotiating with the Anthony Salim Group of Indonesia to operate one of its controlled private ports.
In Vladivostok, HCPTI has been invited by a privately-owned company to operate a port. Vladivostok is Russia’s largest port city on the Pacific Ocean and is the home port of Russia’s Pacific fleet.
HCPTI wants to operate ports that handle at least 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units.
Aside from going global, HCPTI and MPIC’s joint venture MNHPI is eyeing to go public in the next three years.
