Panama president lays cornerstone for US$1bn container port

Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela laid the cornerstone in a ceremony Wednesday for the US$1bn new container port in Colón province.

The Panamá-Colón project involves the construction, operation and management of a container terminal and a general cargo area on Isla Margarita, off the Atlantic coast.

China's Landbridge Group, one of the country's largest port operators, will be in charge of developing the project.

The terminal is set to have capacity of 2.5mn TEUs, and will be able to receive Neopanamax vessels.

The terminal is the first project the Chinese group is developing under its Latin America investment plan.

State-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has been commissioned to carry out the dredging and construction works. The terminal is expected to be complete within three years.

The project's first phase entails the construction of a 1.5km pier and a container yard, as well as the dredging of approximately 365,000m3 in a 22ha area.

"This is a message about how Panama offers its logistics platform, its ports, airports, financial center, regulations and, above all, its people who respect cultures and a government that supports foreign investment in a transparent way," Varela said during the ceremony.

Plans for the terminal began over five years ago, but the project was on hold until May last year when Landbridge acquired the concession.

IN PICTURE: Panamanian authorities and representatives of Chinese company Landbridge Group during the cornerstone laying ceremony (CREDIT: Presidencia de Panamá).