Colombian Port Quality Foundation formed

The Foundation becomes the first regional chapter of the Latin American Port Quality Association set up last April by CAF. The Colombian Foundation, together with the Guarantee Seal of the Valencia (Spain) Autonomous Government Foundation, and the Valencia Port Foundation, have the joint objective of administering the Guarantee Seal in Colombia for the sustained operation of quality management in the ports.

The Foundation promotes provision of high quality port services which, in the Colombian case, are particularly relevant given the country’s international trade agreements with various countries. In this respect CAF President & CEO Enrique Garcia said: "In the Corporation we are convinced that a process of sustainable development depends, among other factors, on achieving high levels of international competitiveness which is only possible if port services, vital for the flow of inputs and finished products, are of the required quality."

The Puertos de Primera program emerged from the institutional cooperation between CAF and Valencia Polytechnic University (UPV) which determined the importance of 15 ports in the region for the international trade of the Andean countries, and evidenced the need to develop, in addition to investments in infrastructure, programs to improve the quality of the services provided.

The Guarantee Seal will start to operate on July 27 in Cartagena Port, which is the first in the region to implement the program. Its operation will be directed by a Seal Manager, resident in the locality, who will be advised by a Quality Council, representing the Port Community which has been reviewing and improving the physical and administrative processes for over two years. This reengineering of processes, which has required the participation and effort of all the Community, has significantly improved speed, reliability and safety of operations.

The Guarantee Seal means that users of the services of duly qualified operators in the port will enjoy a series of advantages associated with speed, reliability and safety, which will be reflected in their capacity to guarantee the quality of the service provided. Ships will have a fixed estimate of docking time after arrival in the bay, and importers will know in advance when their cargo will be received at destination.

Operation of the Seal will be extended later to the ports of Buenaventura in Colombia, Guayaquil in Ecuador, El Callao in Peru and Puerto Cabello in Venezuela, identified and selected as target ports because they have the heaviest container traffic in the region.