Panama.- The Panama Canal closed this Thursday the reception of documents from companies interested in building two ports with an investment of 2.6 billion dollars, which will lead to an evaluation before publishing the list of those prequalified in the concession process launched on January 30.
“The documentation will be evaluated in accordance with the technical, financial, and legal criteria established in the Prequalification Document and its respective amendments,” indicated a statement from the administration of the navigable waterway, which handles between 3% and 5% of global trade.
The Panama Canal will publish, on a date not specified in the official letter, “the list of prequalified companies, with which it will advance to the next phase of the process, focused on interaction and dialogue with the prequalified parties”.
The Minister for Canal Affairs, José Ramón Icaza, maintained last Tuesday in a press conference that “the port tenders will be separate,” as the industry was already notified during the project presentation.
The initiative contemplates the development of two container transshipment terminals, one in the Atlantic called Telfers, and another in the Pacific, known as Corozal, with an estimated investment of 2.6 billion and an approximate construction execution period of three years, according to official information.
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Both ports are expected to increase Panama’s container transshipment capacity by an additional 5 to 6 million units per year, “strengthening the competitiveness of the Panamanian port system around the Panama Canal“.
The Panama Canal, an autonomous entity of the State that has a constitutional chapter, is venturing into the port sector. The five terminals that already exist around the navigable passage are concessions under the responsibility of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP).
The Canal has stated that for the port projects, individual meetings have been held with representatives from APM Terminals (Netherlands), Cosco Shipping Ports (China), CMA Terminals (France), DP World (UAE), Hanseatic Global Terminals (Netherlands), MOL (Japan), PSA International (Singapore), SSA Marine–Grupo Carrix (USA), Terminal Investment Limited (Switzerland), ONE (Japan), and Evergreen (Taiwan).
