Today, the Panama Canal Authority officially inaugurated the new widened Panama Canal, to showcase two of the world’s biggest locks - a project part-financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB). EIB’s Vice-President Roman Escolano attended the celebration.
The new Panama Canal locks will enable a new generation of larger ships to cross the Central American isthmus and link ports in Asia, America and Europe. Prior to the expansion, 12% of the activity in the Canal included commercial routes to and from Europe, making this an efficient trade route between Europe and the west coast of the Americas and part of Asia. Following the widening and deepening of the Canal, this figure is very likely to increase.
Together with other international financial institutions, the EU bank is one of the major finance providers supporting the expansion of the Canal. The huge engineering project currently provides direct employment for nearly 30 000 people.
Commenting at the inauguration ceremony in Panama, Vice-President Roman Escolano said: “Witnessing the inauguration of one of our flagship projects in Central America confirms my belief that the European Investment Bank is playing an important role in helping developing infrastructure in the region. With the expansion of what are now two of the world’s biggest locks, commercial maritime traffic will increase substantially allowing more efficient trade with the European Union. I am proud that the USD 500 million EIB loan has helped to make this project a reality.”
The Bank granted the loan to the Panama Canal Authority under the lending mandate for Asia and Latin America (ALA IV). This was the EIB’s fifth operation in Panama, in a country where the EIB has provided loans totalling EUR 753 million for projects.
The Bank began its operations in Asia and Latin America in 1993 and since then has completed three mandates. Under the current External Lending Mandate for Latin America, covering the period 2014-2020 (ELM), it is authorised to lend up to EUR 2.3 billion to finance projects supporting the development of economic, environmental and social infrastructure; climate change mitigation and adaptation or local private sector development, in particular SMEs.