PANAMA BOOSTS INVESTMENT IN BALBOA PORT HUB

PANAMA BOOSTS INVESTMENT IN BALBOA PORT HUB    More than $200 million will be invested in the next two years in the port of Balboa, the transshipment container hub located at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal.
   “This will be the largest investment with private funds in the Republic of Panama during the next years,” said a spokesman for Panama Ports Co., the Hutchison Port Holdings-controlled operator of the port.
   On completion of the expansion plan, the port of Balboa will feature 820 meters (2,700 feet) of quay, a draft of 16 meters (52 feet), 16 hectares (40 acres) of    container yard and 864 reefer plugs, eight “Super post-Panamax” quay cranes, and 21 yard cranes.
   Panama Ports said that the expansion of the port of    Balboa will generate $8.5 billion for the Panamanian economy, according to an economic report prepared by the firm Asesores    Estrat'gicos. The expansion of the port of Balboa will also generate 500 permanent direct jobs, it added.
   Panama Ports said it has requested equal treatment to Manzanillo International Terminals, at the Atlantic end of the canal, from the authorities.