Port of Corozal will create 2000 direct jobs
The development of a container port in the area of Corozal West, on the east bank of the Panama Canal’s Pacific entrance, will give an injection of over $1.3 billion to the economy and will create around 2,100 direct jobs during its construction.
The Panama Canal Planification and Commercial Development vice-president, Oscar Bazán, explained that the Port of Corozal is in the tendering stage and will strengthen the competitive advantage of the route through Panama in view of the increase in the cargo volume due to the waterway expansion.
The Panama Canal seeks to increase and strengthen its competitive advantage in the maritime and logistics sector through a port terminal in Corozal, at the same time promoting the efficiency and competitiveness of its geographical position,” said the executive.
Bazán added that with the additional jobs generated during its construction, which will take around three years, the Port of Corozal will create around 3,800 direct jobs once it is in its operative phase.
It is expected that with this new terminal the Panama Canal will be able to increase by $25 million a year its contributions to the National Treasury at the beginning of the contract and around $100 million at the end of the 20 year concession.
At the beginning of this month, the Panama Canal published the statement of objections which the four companies which pre-qualified in the tendering for the concession to design, build, develop and operate the commercial activity of a container’s port in Corozal West, must comply with.
The four pre-qualified operators are: APM Terminals B.V. (Holland); Terminal Link (France); PSA International Pte., Ltd (Singapore), and Terminal Investment Limited, S.A. (Holland).
According to the statement of objections, the companies have until February 3, 2017, to send their financial proposals, together with the requirements demanded, to compete for the concession.
The executive said that the Panama Canal expects that for 2017 there will be an increase in cargo of between 45 to 50 million tons, which will have a positive impact on the waterway’s revenues.
Within that increase it is estimated that the container sector will grow by 8%, which means a hike in that market from $800 million to over $1 billion in 2017.
“This increment is due mainly to the Canal expansion which benefits scale economics, as well as those segments that were recaptured by the Suez Canal,” pointed out Bazan.
The development of a container port in West Corozal is part of the Canal business diversification strategy with the intention to maintain its competitiveness and increase its contributions to the country.
Source: The Bulletin Panama