“We have a golden opportunity in making La Union the next regional canal, CEPA President Federico Anliker affirmed while giving details of the project that will join that port on the Pacific Ocean with Puerto Cortes, on the Honduran Atlantic coast, making it a reality to cover a 360-kilometer trip in six hours.

Some experts estimate that given the setbacks the Panama Canal is facing due to water shortage, La Union port could compete as an alternative route linking the Pacific in a land strait with the Honduran Atlantic.

Anliker presented the idea during a forum organized by the Corporation of Exporters of El Salvador (COEXPORT), where he presented the 1,615-million-dollar investment proposal of the Turkish group Yilport for the ports of Acajutla and La Union.

The joint project would fork out 74 million dollars for the dredging and equipping of the port to the east, separated by 40 km from the border with Honduras, up to the post of El Amatillo, Pasaquina, La Union.

Ied/ iff/mem/lb