Panama needs better logistics, not new ports

He said that the existing port network in Panama is operating below its real working capacity and that it does not makes sense to keep adding to that.

Planned construction of new ports in the region over the next five years could, he warned, lead to less jobs as automation takes hold. This could produce social problems in the local community, he added.

For the first eight months of this year, cargo throughput at the country’s ports has fallen by 18% and canal transits by 7%. Mr Wallace pointed out that since the opening of the expanded Panama Canal, fewer, but larger neo-panamax vessels have been carrying more containers.

His remarks were made at an event organised by the Panama Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and the Panama Canal Authority, specifically to discuss the proposed Corozal port.