INTERVIEW-Abidjan port to spend $62 mln on expansion

* Key cocoa terminal to become regional hub

* Abidjan to serve landlocked West African countries

By Loucoumane Coulibaly

ABIDJAN, May 20 (Reuters) - Abidjan's port operator will spend 30 billion CFA francs ($62.3 million) between now and 2012 to transform the Ivorian harbour into a regional transport hub, its manager said on Wednesday.

The port of Abidjan is the main export terminal in the world's biggest cocoa grower and aims to grow from an import-export point to a gateway for landlocked countries in West Africa.

"What we need to develop now is the port's capacity to handle volume for Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali," Lionel Labarre, chief of the management firm which operates the port, known by its local abbreviation SETV, told Reuters in an interview.

"I think that will grow strongly in the next five years, as will transshipments for ports in the region," Labarre said.

"We expect investment of 30 billion CFA francs up to 2012."