SIMIC

The project started eight years ago by China's Shandong Landbridge Group, China Harbour Engineering Company and Beijing's Port Design Institute, but after the 2019 Panama elections, the new government cancelled the concession.

Under the new agreement, Notarc Management Group, a private investment and asset management company active in Panama, Latin America, and the Caribbean will take over the project which was 40 per cent completed before the prior contract was cancelled.

The group acquired the rights to the project and will finalise the plans and complete construction at the container terminal which will be located in Colon, new the Caribbean entrance to the canal.

Terminal Investment Limited, an affiliate of MSC joined the project and will also undertake management and oversee operations at the facility.

"Panama is an ideal gateway hub in the Americas and the world," said Dion Bowe, managing partner of NMG Latin America and the newly appointed CEO for the Panama Canal Container Port.

The Panama Maritime Authority signed the original contract for the project in 2016 timed to the construction of the neoPanama locks as part of the overall expansion project.

The concession, which was awarded to Shandong Landbridge Group and its partners was part of China's planned expansion in the region. The project called for the construction of a 2.5 million TEU container terminal, to be carried out by the Chinese state-owned construction giant China Harbour Engineering Company with the design of the piers by Beijing-based Port Design Institute.

Following the election of a new president in Panama, the controversial project which had drawn criticism from the Trump administration was among multiple contracts suspended for an official review.