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LatinNews Regional Monitor: Caribbean & Central America - 18 March 2019
In brief: Panama
* Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela has received the results of the feasibility study for a US$4.1bn railway linking Panama City to David, the capital of Chiriquí province near the border with Costa Rica, one of the flagship projects of cooperation between Panama and China. Agreed during President Varela’s first meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping in November 2017 as part of China’s ‘Belt and Road’ global infrastructure development initiative, the project envisages the construction of a line for passenger and cargo trains of eight wagons, with capacity for about 750 passengers, with 21 stops in a section of 391.3km in length, which would cross the provinces of Panama, Coclé, Herrera Veraguas, and Chiriquí. It is estimated that the construction phase of this mega infrastructure project will last six years, in which up to 6,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created, while for operation and maintenance some 2,900 people will be required. According to President Varela, “the system would provide a much more efficient passenger mobility system and an unprecedented integration in the country and will strengthen the country's logistics platform by strengthening our logistical, air, maritime and financial connectivity with the region”. He also added that the study contemplated a possible extension to Costa Rica in the future, which “would complement the Central American economies and facilitate the commercialisation of products between our countries”.
