The Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama Héctor Alexander and Vice President Katsura Miyazaki, representing Japan International Cooperation, signed the agreement referring to the Second Financing Loan to continue the construction of Metro Line 3 for B/. 625.9 million.
In its session this week, the Cabinet Council approved the signing of this loan contract to continue with the implementation of the Metro Line 3 project and introduce high-quality monorail vehicles into its systems.
Minister Alexander pointed out that the socio-economic impact that Line 3 will have “will not only be reflected in the West Panama sector, but throughout the Republic, with its indirect effects on the creation and generation of employment, the activity of small and medium-sized companies, among others”.
He argued that the objective of the project is to contribute to the sustainable economic development of Panama and the mitigation of global climate change, through the construction of the Metro Line 3 Project, which connects the center and the west side of the metropolitan area of Panama, introducing vehicles high-quality monorail and its systems that have sufficient robustness and reliable trajectory of commercial operations as an urban transport system, thus contributing to the improvement of urban mobility, the modal shift towards efficient urban mass transport and the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The amount of the loan between both governments is up to 92 billion Japanese yen, equivalent to 625.9 million dollars to continue the second section of the transportation project that is currently under construction and that will benefit more than 500,000 inhabitants of the province of Western Panama.
The term of the loan is 20 years, counted from the effective date of this contract, and the disbursement period is three years.
In accordance with Cabinet Decree 10 of March 14, 2023, the first amortization installment will be payable on March 20, 2029, and the last, no later than March 20, 2043, the final date of the loan term.
Likewise, the Executive Branch, through the MEF, will include in the General State Budget for each fiscal period, the necessary items to cover the payment of principal, interest and commissions that the loan contract deals with.
The Metro Line 3 project will depart from the Albrook station and will run through Arraiján, Nuevo Chorrillo until it reaches Ciudad del Futuro, in the Arraiján district, with an approximate route of 26.7 kilometers, over 14 stations.
