Investment in the Panama Canal Zone

A grand total of twenty six projects have been developed in the Panama Canal Zone that changed from U.S. to local hands in keeping with the Torrijos-Carter Treaty.

The state administrator of the canal, Alfredo Arias, said eight of those tourist projects are located in Amador (west of the capital and hemmed in by the Pacific Ocean) and have generated 2,000 new jobs.

There are also other projects in the pipeline for this zone -highly sought after by Panamanians and foreigners alike as a sport area- linked to nautical and shopping activities.

As far as investments in Amador are concerned, Mr. Arias stressed that construction works of several restaurants in Flamenco Island are now underway.

Moreover, he underlined the making of the Biodiversity Museum that’s expected to pack a wallop of its own.

More recently, two other projects got the green light in Sherman (Atlantic Coast), one of them led by BACC Resources Inc., to build the first phase of the Bridge of the American Cultural City project. This company’s tourist project calls for an investment package of $25 million.

Colonial Tours S.A. will defray over $2 million to set up a school-hotel aimed at training tourism students.

Nonetheless, the current investment schedule for refurbished areas -in Mr. Arias’ opinion- is “marching too slow” according to Standard & Poor’s, the U.S. risk assessment firm.