No US Construction Firms Prequalified for Metro Tender

While suspicions grow in the media about the companies in the tender for Line 2 of the Panama Metro, the absence of US companies is surprising.

Friday, February 20, 2015

EDITORIAL

An article in Prensa.com reports that "... In the best value tender proposals have been submitted by three consortia composed of companies from China, Spain, one from Mexico, one from Brazil and one from Peru. It is noteworthy that none are from the United States, one of the largest investors in Panama and where the Metro is one of the main means of transportation. "

It's worth remembering that during the stoppage of works to expand the Panama Canal, the government of the United States criticized the award of the contract to Grupo Unidos por el Canal, whose financial viability was guaranteed by the Spanish State, and not by a market evaluation.
The North American company Bechtel was part of a consortium together with the Japanese Taisei and Mitsubishi, whose offer was considerably better than the one submitted by Grupo Unidos por el Canal.

Cables released by WikiLeaks indicated that "The U.S. suggested that Bechtel dispute the process due to violation of the rules of the competition, because the Spanish company had obtained state guarantees.

An article in Prensa.com also reports that "... China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), one of the companies which forms part of a consortium which made an offer in the tender for Line 2 of the Metro, has been disqualified from projects financed by the World Bank because of fraud and corruption. "This same Chinese construction company has been directly awarded a road works project in Costa Rica, funded in turn by the Chinese government, in a process that has generated intense controversy, and is still awaiting approval from the Costa Rican legislature.

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More on this topic

Who Wants to Build Line 3 of the Panama Metro?

June 2017

Nine consortiums from China, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Brazil and Portugal want to be prequalified to design and build Line 3, which has $2.6 billion in financing.

From a statement issued by Metro de Panama:

Companies that participated in the prequalification ceremony on Friday, June 2: 

Large Companies Notably Absent in Tenders in Panama

May 2015

It is significant the absence of companies from countries where bribery abroad is criminalized in tenders for large scale government works in Panama.

EDITORIAL

An article in Prensa.com by Jorge Gamboa Arosemena contains the key points to analyze this issue, following the announcement of the winner of the tender for the works of Line 2 of the Panama Metro.

Panama: Complaints Over Tender of Metro Line 2

May 2015

The Panametro consortium made up of the Chinese company CHEC and the Spanish Corsán-Corviam, have filed a claim over the award of the work to Consorcio Linea 2, for a price of $1.857 billion.

Although no details were given regarding the reasons behind the claim, the consortium made up of China Harbour Engineering Company, China Railway First Group and the Spanish Corsán-Corviam submitted to the Directorate General of Public Procurement a claim, permitted in the tender conditions "... as a first resort, and secondly a challenge, which requires a deposit of 15% of the financial proposal of the unsatisified consortium."

Three Proposals for Metro Line 2

February 2015

Three consortiums made up of Chinese, Spanish, Peruvian, Brazilian and Mexican companies submitted bids for the design and construction of Line 2 of the Panama Metro.

From a statement issued by the Metro Department of Panama:

The Metro de Panama SA this morning received proposals from three consortia aspiring build Line 2 of the Panama Metro.

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