The Hindu Business Line : Kochi port to hire consultants for biz plan on long-term goals

, THE Cochin Port Trust intends to engage international consultants to assist in preparing a business plan that will define a long-term vision for the port.

The business plan is to provide the foundation for institutionalising an annual planning process for reviewing, updating and modifying seven-year plans on a rolling basis. The port had invited proposals for the development of the business plan that will establish goals to be achieved over the next seven years to satisfy the vision.

The plan also identifies the strategy to be followed to reach these goals and recommend a detailed plan of action to implement the strategy. The implementation of the plan is to be financed through internal port trust resources and private sector participation.

However, in special cases, considering the nature and requirement of the facility for supporting the other development schemes of the port, funding from the Union Government may also be considered.

Invites bids: International consultants are invited to submit proposals to undertake the business planning assignment. The bidders should have completed at least three assignments outside the home country in the preceding five years and performed at least three assignments involving development of business plans for ports, at least one of which was in a developing country.

It may be recalled that the port has adopted a series of measures in the last few years to attune itself with the demands of the changing market scenario by setting up a vision to emerge as a world-class regional hub port in the Indian Ocean region offering cost-effective logistics solutions to the maritime trade.

The port has come up with a bouquet of development projects under the aegis of integrated development plan that intends to provide the entire gamut of maritime-related services.