José Pacheco, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI), explained that in light of this growth, they have planned several strategic meetings, like with the company Panama Colon Port Inc., responsible for the construction of the terminal for containers on Margarita Island, which is nearly ready to launch and should be able to mobilize around 2 million containers.

Furthermore, this port, which has an investment of approximately $600 million dollars and will be located in Colón, is expected to create about 1,500 positions of employment for this province, Pacheco indicated.

By July of this year, the ports were moving loads weighing seven million tons, 22% more than in July 2011, according to a report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Competitiveness.

The Vice Minister of Foreign Trade also announced that last week shipping companies from Germany, Japan, Korea and Taiwan also approached the country, seeking to secure a presence in Panama once the Canal expansion is completed.