Achieving Full and Effective Corporatization of Port Authorities: Reform Models from Global Experience

Most countries are reluctant to entirely privatize their port authorities, making port corporatization the model of choice. Today, the most commonly pursued route for port governance reform embraces the concept of an autonomous, government-owned port authority with terminal operations under private companies. Many countries fall short of fully effective corporatization of their port authorities, however, because they retain some administrative and decision-making mechanisms under government control.
This note outlines the challenges countries face when seeking to corporatize their ports, summarizes the benefits of such reforms, and suggests key steps in establishing an effectively corporatized port authority.