Press release from the Presidency of the Repubic of Panama

Miércoles, 20 de abril de 2016

Por: Manuel Dominguez

Panama and Japan sealed financing agreement for B / 2 thousand 600 million for the construction Line 3 of the Metro

•This is the largest project since the Canal Expansion. • It will be the first Japanese monorail in the Americas. • More than 500 thousand beneficiaries. • "A recognition of the credibility of Panama": Varela

Panama today finalized with Japan a historic agreement of financing of up to B /. 2,600 million for the construction of Line 3 of the Metro de Panama, the project of public infrastructure in the country since the Expansion of the Canal.

The monorail system will be the first with Japanese technology which is constructed in the American continent.

The agreement also includes a non-refundable technical cooperation for the hiring of the Manager of the Project (Project manager) for B/.35 million.

"The financing that provides us today Japan is a recognition of the strength and credibility of Panama", said the President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, in a joint press appearance with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "Our economy is supported by strong fundamentals and today we are demonstrating it", he added.

For the President, "today is a historic day for the relations between the two countries".

This great project, explained the President, "will benefit the thousands of Panamanians who daily move to the West of the capital city and allow to show our region Japanese technology that will be used by our system of massive passenger transport".

For his part, the Prime Minister said that "this will be a landmark, a historical project that will enable Japan to take high quality infrastructure to Panama and Latin America".

Conditions

Varela and Abe were witnesses of the exchange of notes and the corresponding documentation form. Representatives of the International Cooperation Agency of Japan (JICA) and on behalf of the Government of Panamá, Luis Miguel Hincapié, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dulcidio De la Guardia, Minister of Economy and Finance, and Roberto Roy, Director General and President of the Metro de Panamá they signed the terms of the non-reimbursable technical cooperation.

The financing provided by JICA is performed in terms and soft financial conditions, establishing a term of 20 years, of which fourteen (14) years correspond to amortization, six (6) years of grace and three (3) years for disbursement. To an interest rate Libor six months JPY less 1.05% and an initial commission of 0.20%. The first, up to five (5) total financing loan contracts, is for the sum of up to twenty-nine thousand five hundred seventy-five million Japanese yen (¥29,575,000,000.00).

Administrator of the Project

The Administrator of the Project aims to support Metro de Panama, S.A., in the implementation of the project of Line 3; will be responsible for the preliminary design of Line 3, of the development team in conjunction with the Panama de Metro of the conditions of tender for civil work and will give support in the process of prequalification and bidding and evaluation of proposals. In addition it will monitor all Line 3 Project implementation, including the administration of the monorail system and its integration with the 4th bridge over the Panama Canal.

The company responsible for building the project (civil works) will be chosen through an international public bidding.

The Asian country implements this project as part of measures to support developing countries in terms of climate change. Japan announced in November 2015 "Actions for Cool Earth 2.0", expressing support for action against climate change for the sum of 1.3 billion yen provided by the government and private sectors. Japan, is looking for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and minimizing the influence of climate change, and will continue to collaborate with Panama.

Over Line 3

Line 3 of Metro de Panama as it has been conceived will have a length in the first phase of about 26.75 kilometers with 14 passenger stations. The layout of the line starts with a connection with the Line 1 of the Metro in the passenger station of Albrook, leaving toward the area of Balboa and later crossing the Panama Canal on the superstructure of the 4th bridge over the Canal, extending along the servitude of the Pan American Highway with an important exchanger to provide connectivity to the Panama Pacific Special Economic Area and continuing towards the center of the city of Arraiján.

From Arraiján continues the journey through the Pan-American highway with several passenger stations, ending at the Ciudad del Futuro where there will be located the installations of the Patio and Workshops of the line. The project of Line 3 in its first phase will be designed and constructed so that the line extension is provided to eventually reach La Chorrera in a second phase.

The first phase of Line 3 of the Metro de Panama has been dimensioned to meet demand during peak hour per direction in line about 20 thousand passengers in the year 2020, which represents a relatively high demand. With the extension of the line planned for La Chorrera this projection of demand in peak hour to will increase to 24.519 passengers online and 31.862 passengers boarding the system in 2050.

It is estimated that the project will starts its implementation in 2017 with substantial acceptance and in operation by the end of 2021.