A New Wave!

(Divulgação/AAPA Latam)

I had the opportunity to attend AAPA Latam 2025, in Lima, Peru. One of the first things that struck me was how Peru, like other Latin American countries, leverages business tourism. The high-end cuisine is truly impressive in that country. Executives and authorities are amazed by the exceptional quality on offer. This demonstrates a strong concern with the relationship between the port and the city, as well as with the commercial use of the port through business tourism.

Speaking of business tourism, you can clearly see that Lima’s tourism areas are characterized by safety and a sense of calm, allowing people to walk around freely. Of course, Peru, like other Latin American countries, suffers from the ills of social inequality. However, much like Panama, the country has found ways to adapt and boost local tourism.

The event was packed with technical panels and high-quality content. In fact, events in our port sector should focus on these pillars so we can accelerate the development of ports — rather than political development.

One panel that particularly caught my attention was about port concessions in Latin America. It’s worth noting that the public-to-private concession model is not very different from what we have in Brazil — where the government allows a private entity to operate a certain area for a defined period of time.

Speaking of time, it was presented that over 40% of the current concessions in Latin America are set to expire by 2027, which will trigger a second wave of concessions or renewals.

It became clear to all participants that the first wave of concessions focused on transferring operations from the public to the private sector and investing in terminal infrastructure (within the gate), purchasing equipment and systems, and addressing a few other specific demands.

The second wave of investments, whether through contract renewals or new concessions, will focus on access infrastructure, operational efficiency, cargo throughput, technology, innovation, and logistics integration. The prominent ports in Latin America will become major cargo hubs and redistribute to smaller ports. However, those leading ports that fail to understand this shift risk losing their privileged position.

The big question is whether Latin American governments are prepared for the demand that lies ahead. We are aware of the significant delays in legislation and procurement processes. We must align with a new model where these emerging pillars are incorporated into the contracts to be signed — whether renewals or new concessions. Even so, we still need to understand how to regulate this new business environment. It will undoubtedly be a major opportunity for the development of Brazil and Latin America.

Ports in this region are highly dependent on commodities (approximately 65% of port throughput), but we are living in a time when the game is changing by the second. The world is facing inflation, and this scenario will bring opportunities for industrial growth in Latin America.

You don’t need to be an expert to see that emerging markets are exceeding global expectations — and this moment presents a unique window of opportunity for Brazilian ports. We must be prepared to become flexible and efficient ports.

We might call them “next-generation ports”, with strong alliances between the public and private sectors. These ports will need to rethink their access infrastructure, and cities will need to rethink urban development. It's no longer viable for one to move in a different direction from the other.

Next-generation ports must be focused on international exchange and always serve society. A port should add value to its country by being competitive, efficient, and cost-effective. The ports on the Pacific side have already understood this mission. And what about us, on the Atlantic side?