Last Tuesday Panama’s President presented a number of large scale projects to representatives of 24 French multinationals. The meeting took place at the HQ of the French Business Movement MEDEF in Paris during his official visit to France. In the past decade French companies have been very active in transport and infrastructure projects in Panama, such as the first and second metro lines, the third bridge over the Panama Canal and wastewater treatment and purification networks.
During the meeting Mulino presented the following projects:
- Granting a concession for the Tocumen International Airport, together with the airports of Colón, Río Hato and David (via tender procedure)
- Relaunching the construction of a new megaport at Corozal, at the entrance of the Canal
- Development of three major projects by the Panama Canal: a gas pipeline, a port yard for the movement of Chinese cars and the Canalization of the Indio river. and expansion plans for the Panama Canal
- The San Miguelito cable car project
- The Panama – David – Costa Rican Border railway project
- A drinking water plan
The meeting was attended by, among others, the Airbus Defence & Space, Michelin, MND, Société Générale; NGE and railway developer CIM, Moet Hennessy, Meteo France International, Systra, Selp and OCEA.
According to a press release by the Panamanian government, the French businessmen were especially interested in the opportunities offered by Panama Pacifico Special Economic Zone, Colon Free Zone and the establishment of regional headquarters for multinationals. The company MND mentioned that they will participate in the cable car project between San Miguelito and Panama City utilizing new technology that will double the passenger capacity by implementing larger cabins.
In another event on Monday, Mulino met with French Multinationals Veolia, Suez, Alstom and Thales, companies that were involved in various large scale projects in Panama over the past decade.
French exports & investment related to Panama
France is the 5th largest EU investor in Panama cumulative total of 102 million USD in investment in 2022 (INEC, FDI stocks 2024). Investments of French companies in recent years were mostly focused on the transport and infrastructure sectors.
There are approximately 30 subsidiaries of French companies in Panama, of which 5 have regional headquarters in Panama (SEM). French companies have participated in many large-scale projects the past years such as the first and second metro lines, the third bridge over the Panama Canal and wastewater treatment and purification networks.
The value of goods exports from France to Panama were $ 451 million in 2023 and grew 22% compared to 2022. They main export products are pharmaceutical products (31%) and perfumes & cosmetics (25%). UN COMTRADE, 2024).
In December 2022, Sofitel opened a luxury hotel and Air France-KLM has a daily flight between Paris/Amsterdam and Panama.