Valencia, 15 February 2023. – The Fundación Valenciaport has started working on a new technical assistance for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) whose objective is to promote the digital transformation of the port of Acajutla (El Salvador).

This consultancy, which is being coordinated by Krista Lucenti, Senior Trade Specialist at the IDB and Miguel Garín, Director of International Development at Fundación Valenciaport, will define the core elements of a short and medium term action plan, establishing a roadmap with interventions and critical steps to be taken to achieve the transition of the port of Acajutla to a smart port, thus increasing its operational efficiency and reducing its costs.

With the aim of carrying out a first diagnosis, last week a delegation from the Fundación Valenciaport made up of Jonas Mendes, Senior Consultant in Port Innovation and Strategy, and Pablo Palomo, Project Manager, travelled to El Salvador. They held various working meetings with representatives of the Autonomous Port Executive Commission (CEPA); the Maritime Port Authority; the General Directorate of Customs, as well as with other public agents and private companies with a presence in the aforementioned port. These meetings were also attended, in online mode, by Miguel Llop, Director of Digital Transformation of the Fundación Valenciaport and Pablo Gil, ICT Project Technician of the Fundación Valenciaport.

During these working sessions, both the functioning of the port and its relationship with the different public bodies involved in port management or maritime foreign trade and with the companies working in the port were analysed, pointing out which elements could be improved or introduced to make the transport of goods through the port of Acajutla more efficient. These first meetings were also used to agree on the methodology to be applied and the work schedule, adjusting the “Smart Port Toolkit” or Smart Port Manual to the context of the Port of Acajutla and the country.

This methodology will enable CEPA and the logistics-port community of Acajutla to analyse the trends in the sector and compare their reality, organise the initiatives underway, establish priorities and define lines of action towards the path of the smart port. The plan will also serve as a starting point to encourage the collaboration of all the companies and institutions of the cluster, creating synergies between them, promoting the investment of private companies, as well as encouraging the participation of SMEs, universities and knowledge centres.