English - La Prensa
La Prensa (English) – May 17, 2008
$60 MILLION TO BE INVESTED OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
by MARIANELA PALACIOS RAMSBOTT
Over 300 people are currently working on the Master Plan for
Howard designed by London & Regional Panamá (L&R), which
will be marketed internationally as Panamá Pacífico beginning in
July this year. There are not only engineers, architects, lawyers,
and various consultants working, but also workers and technicians
running land surveys and carrying out soil and environmental impact
assessments.
“We will begin building the logistics park and the international
business park next summer” informed L&R Panama General Manager
Henry Kardonski. “One thousand jobs will need to be filled by the
time the construction phase starts.”
Over the next two years, investment in the area of Panamá
Pacífico will reach ‘at least’ 60 million dollars.
Much of this money will be spent by London on infrastructure -
including construction of internal roads and new road access to
Howard and provision of basic services (telephony,
telecommunications, water, energy, and transportation) – and the
business and logistics parks.
The remainder will be contributed by companies planning to
settle in the former US military base, which is being marketed
internationally as one of Panama’s new development poles: an
ultra-modern enclave for business services, an extremely
competitive complex for the manufacture of high-tech goods, and a
city for the future.
Four in the pipeline
At least four companies – a multinational, a processing plant,
and two logistics firms – have already signed letters of intent
with L&R to settle in Howard. Kardonski did not mention names
because the final contracts have yet to be signed, but he assured
that ‘these are not castles in the air’ and that the country will
soon have good news in this connection.
The four new companies will join current business park customers
Dell, Singapore Technologies Aerospace, and others. This is the tip
of the iceberg, however. “We have approached over 150 small,
medium, and large companies, both domestic and foreign, and all
have expressed an interest in coming,” commented the GM.
Most foreign companies wishing to come to Howard because of the
fiscal benefits being offered are based in the United States,
Venezuela, Spain, and other European countries.
World class
World class companies are participating in the design of this
business city, including Ware Malcomb, SMWM, and MVE Pacific (see
Hired consultants).
The 1,400 hectares of Panamá Pacífico will house logistics parks
and office and storage complexes, as well as low, medium, and high
density housing, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, a resort,
golf courses, sports areas, parks, professional and technical
training facilities, schools, universities, and churches.
“We will have a full, self-contained, and first-world city:
excellent transportation and security systems, well-designed
pedestrian lanes, parks all around, fibre optic alternatives, and
underground connections,” explained Edgar Hernández, the project’s
Director of Infrastructure.
According to the Master Plan, hotels to be built in Howard will
have the capacity for 100,000 rooms. Some will become part of the
touristic area, but the core of this activity will be the business
hotels to be built around the city centre.
"All of the world’s main hotel chains have already visited
Howard and have expressed special interest in business hotels,"
said Kardonski.
Challenges
Construction of the first phase of the Panamá Pacífico project
will coincide with the start-up of construction on the Panama
Canal’s third set of locks, the real estate boom, and other
investments in port and road facilities. All will compete for
cement and steel and labourers. When asked about the possibility
that the high construction demands and limited offer of supplies
and workers could place a brake on the project’s development pace,
L&R guaranteed that there is no cause for concern.
“We are hiring and making commitments with Panamanian companies
already having their own staff. We are not hiring new companies and
neither are we building ourselves,” said Hernández.
Some factors subtracting from Panama’s competitiveness and being
taken into consideration by users considering settling in Howard or
elsewhere include the dearth of workers with specialized training,
the poor quality of education, and the unexpected salary increases
that took place recently. However, a law passed in 2007 to
encourage multinationals to come to Panama has simplified the task
of promoting Panamá Pacífico around the world and is a plus. The
same goes for the country’s real estate boom, the strength of its
international banking centre and ports system, the project to
expand the Panama Canal, the air transport hub, stable politics,
and good security indexes.
Article Source:
http://www.prensa.com/hoy/negocios/1351501.html