İzmir’s main port to be privatized in 2016 in line with revised development plan

İZMİR - Anadolu Agency

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İzmir’s Alsancak Port will be privatized in a tender in the first half of 2016 in line with a revised development plan, according to officials. 

New development plans for Alsancak Port, which were published in the Official Gazette and revised, will be presented to the public by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and Konak Municipality for one month, according to a written statement by the İzmir branch of the Istanbul, Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions (İMEAK) Chamber of Marine Trade. 

The privatization tender of Alsancak Port, which consists of the İzmir Cruise Port and the İzmir Cargo Port, is slated to be held in the first half of next year. 

In the new development plan, the imputed value of the cruise port has been revised down from 1.25 to 0.50, reducing the construction site by 50,000 square meters to around 125,000-130,000 square meters. Two new finger piers will also be added. Instead of a mall project in the former plan, a number of small shopping stores and hotels for touristic purposes will be constructed. 

The head of the association, Yusuf Öztürk, said the new development plans were much better. 

He also noted that with the construction of a new modern cruise port, İzmir will draw cruise ships from across the Mediterranean once more.