The National Assembly created a commission to investigate the public contracting process by which the Panama Fourth Bridge Consortium was awarded the contract for the design and construction of the fourth bridge.
After multiple delays in the tender process, the Varela administration and the Panama Cuarto Puente Consortium, made up of China Communications Construction Company LTD and China Harbour Engineering Company LTD, signed the contract for the work in question in November 2018.
The process of approval of the tender for the design and construction of Line 3 of the Panama Metro began with a meeting between the seven pre-qualified groups and a visit to the site.
From the Metro de Panamá S.A. press release:
October 10, 2018. A visit to the site, where the works for Metro Line 3 will be developed, began the process of Tender for Best Value with Separate Evaluation with the 7 pre-qualified companies, to build this megaproject, which will be benefiting a large population of the West Panama region.
Large construction companies in the Asian country are interested in the mega projects that are to be developed in the region, especially in Panama and Costa Rica.
At the last Capac Expo Hábitat fair in Panama, more than 20 companies from China showcased their progress and took the opportunity to establish contacts with local public and private investors.
Due to an appeal claim presented by the Astaldi - Daelim Consortium, the suspension has been ordered of the tender act for the design and construction of the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal, in which Chinese companies obtained the best rating.
In the qualification process carried out by the tender board, the consortium formed by the companies China State Construction Engineering Corporation LTD and China Railway Group Limited, was the winner of the tender with an economic proposal of $1.42 billion and an overall score of 69,9%.
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: