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Panama
Canal expansion to create many
jobs
The Panama Canal expansion
project could generate between
150,000 and 250,000 new jobs in
the two decades to come, the
Panama Canal Authority (ACP)
said on Tuesday.
Panamanian President Martin
Torrijos announced in late April
a 5.25-billion-U.S. dollar plan
for widening the canal by adding
a third system of locks to
handle larger ships.
The construction work will
generate between 35,000 and
40,000 jobs by itself, according
to ACP studies, with 7,000
workers taking part in the most
active period of construction
work, which runs from 2009 to
2011.
Rodolfo Sabonge, ACP head of
planning and marketing, said the
work would create between 10
percent and 15 percent more
employment in the Panamanian
economy.
It was estimated that about 1.5
million Panamanians would have
jobs in 2025 if the canal is not
expanded, while between 1.65 and
1.75 million would be employed
that same year if the canal work
goes ahead.
The greatest increase in
employment in the medium and
long term will depend on the
growth of economic activity in
Panama, boosted by services --
the sector of the economy that
is most immediately affected by
Canal traffic.
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