GUAYAQUIL Long-term commitment in

the Pearl of the Pacific

Monday, December 9, 2013See

this re

port at

worldfoli

o.co.uk

#Guayaquil

EDITOR IN CHIEF: ALBERTO LEANDRO LLARYORA

This supplement to USA TODAY was produced by United World Ltd., Suite 179, 34 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0RH – Tel: +44 20 7409 3106 – ourworld@unitedworld-usa.com – www.unitedworld-usa.com

Our World

Guayaquil, resting on the Guayas River and home to the country’s most im-

portant port, is no ordinary Latin American city. Founded 475 years ago by Spanish colo-nists on the site of a native vil-lage, Guayaquileños won their independence from Spain in 1820, two years before the rest of Ecuador would free itself from the shackles of the moth-erland. Since then, Guayaquil has retained its unique charac-ter and often handled matters differently from the central gov-ernment.

Though neither its indus-trial hub nor its political center, Guayaquil is Ecuador’s most populated city and its eco-nomic heart. The very identity of the Guayaquileños is com-merce-oriented; perhaps it is the port itself that has ingrained business in their blood. Either way, the city has long been an economic stronghold and in recent years, Jaime Nebot – Mayor since 2000 – has com-missioned numerous projects to beautify the city and turn it into a top tourist and business destination. In doing so, he’s also created a framework of safety and political stability for investments.

In what has been dubbed a case study for urban regen-eration, Guayaquil’s trans-formation has made it safer, cleaner and with a wider cul-tural offering.

One of the first and most noteworthy changes was that made to the city’s river front. A boardwalk project called Malecón 2000 replaced the old dilapidated one that had fallen into such disrepair that it even-tually fell into the river. Conse-quently, the area became a hav-en for thieves and drug dealers.

Malecón 2000 was finished

in 1999 and features plazas, fountains, parks and recre-ational areas, museums, an IMAX theater, sculptures and monuments, a shopping center, exhibition areas, and restau-rants. Ranked among the most visited places in the city, the boardwalk is one of the larg-est projects ever undertaken in Guayaquil and was declared a healthy public space by the World Health Organization.

The city government has not stopped there, however. An-other riverfront project, Ciudad del Río is currently being built by local real estate developer Pronobis – the name behind many of the city’s other tour-ism, commercial and residen-tial properties.

At a cost of $200 million, the white and black Ciudad del Río will be the new home of a five-star Wyndham Hotel, a shopping mall, condominiums, and a business center and of-fices (housed in the 34-storey tall iconic tower, The Point), among other things.

Pronobis’ motto is “We cre-ate cities within cities” and in-deed, this is what Ciudad del Río is set to be. And if what Saskia Sassen, Dutch soci-ologist and urbanism expert, says is true – that “cities’ pro-tagonism has increased in the

economy and they are exposed in a very open way to inter-national competition” – then Guayaquil is certainly well poised to compete.

“Today, the importance of countries in the global econo-my is decreasing. Nowadays, it is the cities and regions that compete because it is they that can provide companies with competitive advantages and citizens with quality of life,” says Sergio Torassa, General Man-ager of Pronobis.

“Our dream is to see Guaya-quil as the most competitive

city, not only in Ecuador but in the entire region.”

Mr. Torassa applauds Guay-quil’s urban regeneration ef-forts, highlighting that in 2003 the UN recognized the local government’s impact on the tourism sector and the revival of related services. At the event, Kofi Annan said: “Today Guay-aquil isn’t just the biggest city in Ecuador. It is known and re-spected throughout the world for its foresight in urban plan-ning, vibrant economy and key location as the gateway to all of Ecuador.”

The only thing that has changed in the past decade since the UN visit has been the completion of projects and the undertaking of new ones. And

what makes the entire scheme work so smoothly is the part-nership between the govern-ment and the private sector.

“The city government’s structure is interesting,” says Mr. Torassa. “It’s characterized by a tendency to concede city services – like drinking water and sewerage, trash collection, etc. – to third parties. In public works, the city goes through its municipal foundations, who act as efficient executing arms.”

A landmark example of a private-public collaboration effort is Expo Guayaquil, team of professionals that offers comprehensive event-planning services in the city’s convention center.

“This is an iconic project; not only because the place is an iconic building in Guaya-quil but for how this idea came to life. An example of how the public and private sectors work together. That is Expo Guaya-quil,” says Nicolas Romero, General Manager (and son of Nicolas Romero, General Man-ager of the Guayaquil Airport Authority).

“Some years ago, a group of businessmen got together to plan a convention center. Meanwhile, the Mayor had decided to convert the old air-port into a convention center and wanted to put the invest-ment and operations in hands of the private sector. Both par-ties agreed to the plan because they believed the city needed to focus more on tourism and business tourism.”

A two-minute drive from the international airport, 10 min-utes from the financial district, and mere minutes from several hotels, restaurants and shop-ping centers, the Guayaquil Convention Center can accom-modate groups as small as 20 and as large as 4,500.

Malecón 2000 is one of the biggest projects ever embarked on in Guayaquil and has received more than 5 million visitors since its completion in 1999

A UNITED WORLD SUPPLEMENT PRODUCED BY: Chantal Hesp, Project Director; José Antonio Santoyo Llamas, Editorial Director;

and Fátima Ruiz, Regional Director

Our World Insert is produced by United World. USA Today did not participate in its preparation and is not responsible for its content

Our World Insert is produced by United World. USA Today did not participate in its preparation and is not responsible for its content

Samborondón, the pearl of GuayasSamborondón is an exclusive and pleasant town mere minutes from Guayaquil

Just minutes across the bridge and up the river from Guaya-quil lies the canton of Sambo-rondón, one of Ecuador’s high-est growth areas.

It is a place that has become synonymous with progress and modernity while embracing its own identity and agricul-tural vocation. And this was the place were Simon Bolivar made his plans before Ecuadorian in-dependence, before the Battle of Pichincha.

Samborondón offers a qual-ity of life hard to find in Latin America, with the added ad-vantage of being situated just a few miles from one of the continent’s biggest economic success stories that is Guaya-quil. Luxurious residential complexes and large shop-ping malls adorn its skyline, offering an American lifestyle; yet perhaps its best feature is the feeling of community and warmth.

José Yunes, Mayor of Sam-borondón, has crystal clear ideas about his canton’s physi-cal growth. Indeed, organized expansion following social logic is one of his top priorities. The results have been quite clear, too: quality of life and

added value for the real state sector.

Responsible and controlled growth has given investors a safe place to put their money and do business, as well as an opportunity for families to buy land that is not going to lose its value. In fact, the municipality works to keep the real estate sector growing but economi-cally sustainable; families buy and build on their lots, while the dearth of speculators keeps prices reasonable, despite Samborondón being ‘the place’ the live.

Mr. Yunes says that one of the key advantages to con-trolled development lies in what it implies for the citizens: the provision of high qual-ity public services. Moreover, not long ago he approved a large institutional project for the north of Samborondón to build a new university, a first-class hospital (to be built and operated by Johns Hopkins Hospital) and a “green” indus-trial zone that would afford the canton financial and in-frastructural sovereignty from Guayaquil.

“Recently most of the people here considered themselves Guayaquileños, but now resi-dents feel more Samboronde-ño. They are proud of their city,” says the mayor.

As for visitors to Sambo-rondón, they can enjoy the excellent entertainment, gas-tronomy, fashion and culture that the canton offers and that have made it a must-visit place, just five minutes away from the José Joaquín de Olmedo Airport.

“I think we are an example for the country. A place to live and share,” concludes Mr. Yunes.

José Yunes, Mayor of Samborondón

Guayaquil flies higher than everWith one of Latin America’s best airports already under its belt, Guayaquil’s Airport Authority is now making plans to move air traffic 20 minutes out of town to much larger premises

In 2000 the federal govern-ment handed over to the City of Guayaquil the responsi-bility of running the airport along with some land. Conse-quently, Mayor Jaime Nebot created the Guayaquil Airport Authority to oversee it, but he was also clear about the need to put the airport’s adminis-tration in private hands so as to maximize efficiency.

It took just 17 months to build a terminal that has been named three times best air-port in Latin America, and the best airport in the world (category: under 5 million pas-sengers per year) in 2011, and second in 2012 by the Global Airport Council. José Joaquín Olmedo Airport, in remem-brance of the city’s first mayor, opened doors in 2006 and Ar-gentinean firm Corporación América won the right to op-erate the airport until 2024.

As the city has grown rap-idly in the last five years, busi-ness and tourism demands have done the same, increas-ing the airport traffic at a strong pace. Nicolás Rome-ro, General Manager of the Guayaquil Airport Authority (AAG), says that the traffic growth on the new terminal has risen 5% year-on-year on international routes, and 12% on domestic flights. This led to the AAG’s decision to enlarge the national pre-boarding area by nearly 50% and expand boarding bridges, thus en-hancing airport capacity by some 30%.

Guayaquil’s airport sees some 70,000 flights every year. The AAG has cut rates for domestic flights in order to incentivize regional traf-fic and national tourism, and boost the municipality’s eco-nomic development as the gateway to the region.

Despite expansion plans, passenger traffic in the not too distant future will outgrow the Jose Joaquin de Olmedo Airport’s potential of 8.5 mil-lion passengers – hence the proposal to begin construc-

tion in 2019 on a new airport in Daular.

“We know that traffic will keep growing at a strong pace, and that is why have more than three years’ worth of studies towards the construc-tion of a new city airport,” says Mr. Romero, adding that U.S. consultancy firm LeighFisher has headed up the master plan for the 4,900-acre site some 23 miles outside Guayaquil proper.

“Right now we’re working on a strategic analysis for the

existing airport to understand just how long we can stay here and to define a timeframe for the move to Daular,” adds Mr. Romero.

What will the Daular air-port offer, apart from more space, that the current airport doesn’t? According to the General Manager there will be three parallel runways, some-thing only six existing airports in the world can boast (all in the U.S.). And aeronaviga-tion studies have shown that weather conditions at Daular

will allow flights to take off and land 99.75% of the time. Moreover, Mr. Romero says that aside from being a state-of-the-art terminal, it will also be “100% ecological”.

Building a new terminal from scratch allows for more ideas to be turned into real-ity. With a planned capacity that should satisfy Guayaquil’s needs well into the latter half of the 21st century, Mr. Rome-ro also envisions an airport that will bring life and happi-ness so as to “make passen-

gers’ and their companions’ time in the terminal pleasant.”

Also, as it will be a green-field project in what is literally, a green field, the Daular ter-minal will have possibility of becoming an “aerotropolis”, or an airport-centric city, where the layout, infrastructure and even the economy is based on the airport.

“Back in the day, people used to talk about a city’s airport; today we think about airport cities,” says Mr. Romero.

Looking for a luxury retirement destination?A Caribbean-style resort on Ecuador’s Guayas coast, dubbed Karibao, will provide a luxury retirement option in this balmy part of the world

Ecuador may not be as well known as other retirement destinations, but real estate developers like Pronobis are creating idyllic com-munities where expats will feel right at home, while enjoying all the enchant-ment that Ecuador’s varied and exotic climate, geogra-phy and cuisine, as well as its warm hospitality have to offer.

“For many Americans, Canadians and Europeans, spending their retirement years as expats in a country with all the appeal that Ec-uador has is akin to finding heaven on earth. Retirement abroad is a romantic and en-riching experience, as long as it is done with the support of a well-reputed specialist capable of blending clients’ needs with the actual pos-sibilities the country offers,” says Sergio Torassa; General Manager of Pronobis.

A 16-year old firm with more than $500 million

worth of projects in phases of development, planning or design, Pronobis chose a coastal site near Engabao –some 60 miles southwest of Guayaquil – to create what will be a ground-breaking

development for the coun-try. Dubbed Karibao (a port-manteau of Caribbean and Engabao), will cater to up-market foreign retirees.

“We think the coastal re-gion near Guayaquil, due

to its climate (declared the second best in the world by UNESCO), facilities, cul-tural affinity and infrastruc-ture, constitutes an excellent destination for retirees from the U.S., Canada and Europe

who wish to live abroad,” explains Mr. Torassa. “To cater to this segment we’re developing Karibao: the Ca-ribbean at Engabao, a mega project spread over 250 acres and that will include

everything residents could possibly require.”

Karibao will feature a golf course, a 17-acre artificial lagoon (the world’s third-largest, built by Chile’s Crys-tal Lagoons), between 20 and 30 buildings to house up to 10,000 people as well as sports and recreation cen-ters, bars and restaurants, su-permarkets, bakeries, phar-macies, a spa, gas stations, shops and health centers. And then, of course, there are the breathtaking views of the beautiful virgin beaches sur-rounding the complex.

Mr. Torassa says that in order to attract buyers in target markets and guaran-tee a perfect match between their expectations and the conditions of the project, Pronobis is forming strategic alliances with reputable lo-cal real estate operators who will serve as links and trans-mit to their clients the cred-ibility needed to encourage them to invest.

“RIGHT NOW WE’RE WORKING ON A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS FOR THE EXISTING AIRPORT TO UNDERSTAND JUST HOW LONG WE CAN STAY HERE AND TO DEFINE A TIMEFRAME FOR THE MOVE TO DAULAR”

“BACK IN THE DAY, PEOPLE USED TO TALK ABOUT A CITY’S AIRPORT; TODAY WE THINK ABOUT AIRPORT CITIES”

NICOLAS ROMERO,General Manager of the Guayaquil Airport Authority

The world’s third-largest man-made lagoon will form the centerpiece of this high-end, all-in-one retirement resort

Construction on the new airport in Daular, just over 20 miles outside Guayaquil, is slated to begin in 2019

2 Monday, December 9, 2013 Distributed by USA TODAYO GUAYAQUIL