Traditional ways of doing business in ports are
being challenged worldwide by demands for
gains in port efficiency, increased customer
responsiveness, and lower costs to move cargo
through the port. It has been widely demonstrated
that use of private sector companies
throughout the range of port operations provides
an opportunity to eliminate traditional,
bureaucratic operating procedures and controls
and modernize facilities and equipment through
new financing channels. It is also widely accepted
that service providers with operating and
administrative experience in other ports can
transfer this experience and bring to a port best
practices and appropriate modern technologies
employed elsewhere. But even more important,
by passing the reins of port operations from the
public to the private sector, port reform offers
the ability to shift the financial burden of port
expansion and development to the beneficiaries
of the expenditures.