After Panama's National Assembly approved a legislative bill that sets the minimum wage for workers in the maritime industry at $4.15 per hour, local businessmen have expressed their disagreement.
The document approved in third debate, establishes in its articles that workers of concessionary companies, contractors and subcontractors of ports and maritime transport terminals will earn a minimum wage of $4.15 per hour throughout the national territory, informed the National Assembly on April 12, 2021.
Investment in the construction of new ports is essential for a country like Panama, whose economy depends heavily on the logistics sector, to continue to compete globally in the coming years.
Since nearly one third of Panama's Gross Domestic Product is created by the logistics sector, the development of this productive activity is of great importance for the country.
Building specialized docks for the auxiliary marine industry and increasing the capacity to deliver quickly by air are some of the challenges that Panama will face in the coming years.
The Panamanian economy depends heavily on the logistics sector, but currently faces new challenges because of the increasing competition from other regional players who offer better costs in managing cargo on a large scale.
Investing in infrastructure that improves the connection between its main ports is one of the most determining factors for Panama to recover the competitiveness that is beginning to lose regionally and globally.
The Panama Maritime Chamber (CMP) presented its strategy "Maritime Vision Country 2019-2024", in which it analyzes that although the Canal was expanded and remains competitive at the port level in the region, the country needs to improve in terms of institutionality, human resources, infrastructure, processes and technology, to continue giving tools to the logistics sector to continue its development.
Arguing that local investments could be at risk, the Maritime Chamber requested the exclusion of the maritime sector from the trade agreement that Panama negotiates with the Asiatic giant.
In a note addressed to the Chief Negotiator of Panama, the trade guild of the sector requested not to include the maritime sector, and especially the auxiliary maritime industry, in the negotiations of the FTA between Panama and China.
In the first seven months of the year, movement in Panama totaled 47.9 million metric tons, 3% less than was reported in the same period in 2017.
According to figures from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic in July alone a 19% year-on-year drop in cargo movement was reported, falling from 7.8 million metric tons in the seventh month of 2017 to 6.3 million tons metrics in the same period in 2018.
As a new attempt to recover some of the activity lost in recent years, companies in the Colon Free Zone intend to approach importers in Peru.
For the Colon Free Zone the South American country is attractive, since it is an importer of equipment, machinery and accessories for the production of machinery. It is also a buyer of international brand clothing and raw and bleached fabrics.
In 2016 28.8 million barrels of fuel were sold to ships, which is 3.1 million barrels more than in the previous year.
Figures from the Panama Maritime Authority indicate that most of the bunker fuel was marketed in the Pacific, with 23.8 million barrels, while the remaining 4.9 million barrels were shipped across the Atlantic.
The lack of tax incentives could be one of the reasons why no companies submitted bids in the tender for the concession of the port in Corozal in Panama.
The lack of bids in the tender for the concession of the construction and operation of a container port in Corozal West came as no surprise to some entrepreneurs in the maritime sector, who believe that lack of sufficient tax incentives could have influenced the decision of companies to not submit bids.The opposition that the project has generated and the lawsuits filed against it could also have weighed on the decision not to participate.
Before September 2017 Panamanian vessels weighing over 400 tons must install ballast water treatment equipment, ranging in cost from $900,000 to $2 million.
Vessels in the Panamanian merchant fleet have until September 8, 2017 to purchase and install equipment for ballast water treatment and comply with the international convention for the control and management of ballast water and sediments.
The Panama Canal Authority plans to publish conditions for the tender in August, after participants have completed a pre qualification process and consultation period.
Today March 11th is the date of receipt of proposals from companies interested in the construction and concession of the port. In November , the ACP announced that eleven companies had expressed interest in the project. Now it is hoped there will be at least four proposals so that there is an adequate level of competition with which to proceed with the tender.
On March 11 the second edition of the event will be held which will present opportunities for business development that will arise from the opening of the third set of locks of the Panama Canal.
The Panama Maritime Chamber is organizing the event called Logistic Summit 2016: Logistics in the Americas after the Canal Expansion on March 11.
It is not only the port of Corozal which needs immediate promotion, there is also an urgent need to keep building port infrastructure in order to take advantage of the Canal expansion.
EDITORIAL
The opinion of entrepreneurs in the logistics sector is unanimous: the forthcoming opening of the new and expanded Panama Canal locks should be the starting point for consolidating Panama as a major logistics hub for the hemisphere.
The maritime union is opposed to the decision of the Maritime Port Authority to suspend the licensing for service provisioning and transport of fuel.
The only companies exempt from the measure are those with an existing direct contract with any oil company, according to the letter sent by Gerardo Varela, General Director of Ports and Auxiliary Maritime Industries at the AMP, to the Maritime Chamber of Panama, shipping companies and users of the entity.
On 6 and 7 October industry representatives worldwide will gather together in Panama City to discuss issues such as the impact of the expanded canal on bunker operations.
Representatives from the Maritime Chamber of Panama, the event organizer, said to Prensa.com that "... The aim this year is to unite the bunkering sector agencies, shipping companies and their service providers, and present the problems of the sector to the various authorities in the country ".