KINGSTON, Jamaica – Two local companies are among five bidders shortlisted to participate in the bidding process to operate, finance, develop, and maintain the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA).

The Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing announced in a release Tuesday that GraceKennedy Group and Jamaica Producers Group Ltd are part of the consortiums shortlisted to participate in the process.

The selected firms are: Cedicor SA (Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 SA); Zurich Airport International AG and A-Port Chile SA; Korea Airport Corporation Latin America and GK Capital Management Limited; China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) and DAA International Limited and Corporación Aeroportuaria Del Este SAS (Punta Cana International Airport), Jamaica Producers Group Limited and GBG Energy S de R L.

GraceKennedy will be part of the Korea Airport Corporation Latin America Consortium while Jamaica Producers will be part of the Corporacion Aeroportuaria del Este SAS Consortium.

The list of companies were finalised after an Invitation for Pre-Qualification, which was launched in December 2014 but had to be terminated and re-issued to effect an administrative modification, the ministry said.

The new pre-qualification document was issued on March 30, 2015 with a submission deadline of April 17. Consequent on the evaluation of the applications received, the five firms were deemed eligible to participate in the bidding process.

Transport Minister, Dr Omar Davies says that the Government expects to issue the Request for Proposal (RFP) to the prequalified firms in June 2015 and thereafter the firms will be allowed to conduct due diligence to support the preparation and submission of their bids.

The NMIA is currently owned by the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) and is currently operated by the NMIA Airports Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the AAJ.