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MARCH 2014
Mota-Engil, which is the speedy finding of
solutions for any complication that might
arise.
Filipe Silva, posted to Medellin, is the
colleague responsible for leading the
second contract in the department
of Antioquia in the field of road
maintenance, a contract begun in
September 2013 with an expected
duration of 28 months for a contract
worth 16 million dollars, equivalent to
some 12 million euros and for which
a further 7 million dollars is under
negotiation as a result of the customer’s
satisfaction with the quality of the work
carried out so far and the speed of the
work carried out which is some 175% of
what was planned for.
Alexandre Bernardo stresses that, for
this contract, “the association with a
local partner based in the region was
crucial to getting to know the market.
This contract is different to the previous
one in the field of infrastructure which
at that stage allowed us to develop
contacts in different areas of business in
Colombia with different partners which
will be important for the consolidation
of our presence in the market.”
Finally and at the beginning of 2014,
on the basis of the sales campaign work
carried out after participation in the Ports
Conference held in Bogota, among the
initiatives announced was the awarding
of the contract for the construction
of the container terminal at Puerto
Buenaventura worth 64 million dollars,
equivalent to some 47 million euros, and
which represents the biggest contract so
far in this market with the steady growth
recorded over the past year.
Alexandre Bernardo likewise stressed
the importance of the support received
from the Mota-Engil Port Works and
Special Foundations team in Portugal.
The project also enjoys the local support
of João Campos Forte, the project
manager, João Lourenço, director of
construction, and Joaquim Silva as
general manager.
A LOOK AT THE PRESENT
AND AT THE FUTURE
While confirming that “entering this
market is difficult” due to the level of
competition, he affirmed that “we are now
much better prepared than we were a year
ago. We now know the best partners for
each technical or industry speciality which
is of vital importance for our strategy for
approaching the market. We now know
who best to link up with for each tender”.
OBJECTIVES FOR 2014
Looking towards the future, the Chairman
of Mota-Engil Colombia recognises that
“this is not going to be an easy year
for the company due to the need for
consolidation following the investment
made in expansion", but he still leaves the
impression that, after 2014 and after the full
integration of the company into the market
and the expectation of further contract
awards for more road concessions, the
company canbecome, he affirmed “another
front in the campaign for the penetration of
Mota-Engil into international markets in
the Latin American region as is currently
taking place in both Peru and Mexico”.
In quantitative terms he also stated that
“the objective is to achieve a break even
position for the operation in 2014 while
ceasing to be dependent on external
support – mainly from Portugal and
from Peru – for the structure in the
initial stage of the operation”.
Questioned on the strategic priorities for
the company’s operations, Alexandre
Bernardo pointed to the hopes for
the following areas of business:
road concessions, public works and
major viaducts, ports, dams and civil
engineering.
Especially in the area of road
concessions, Alexandre Bernardo holds
that “in 2014 we see new concessions
known as 4 Gs as a possibility for the
development of operations in this
market in the field of construction
together with road concessions.
"We believe that we are a part of the
strongest Group as a whole due to the
Alexandre Bernardo