The Minera Panamá company announced this Monday afternoon that it considers a minimum annual contribution of $375 million dollars from the Cobre Panamá mine to be reasonable.
“We accept the proposal of the National Government,” said the company through a statement released this Monday that the deadline for giving an answer to the administration of President Laurentino Cortizo had expired.
Minera Panama also took advantage of this opportunity to ask the authorities to “provide the necessary protections in order to safeguard the continuity” of its operation in the country during the time of the project.
“We feel optimistic that the achievement of a commitment that is mutually consistent with what is stated in the proposal received from the Panamanian government on January 13 can be announced,” he said.
On January 13, the High-Level Negotiating Commission presented Minera Panama with an economic-fiscal proposal that consists of charging a royalty on gross profit (This royalty ranges from 12 to 16%), the collection of Income Tax, which must be collected from the first year, tax holidays, withholding tax for bank interest payments and withholding for payment of dividends are eliminated.
With this scheme, the State would receive income from the company Cobre Panamá, in excess of $400 million annually; it ensures a minimum payment to the State by the company, of $375 million regardless of the price of copper. This would represent for the country more than 10 times the annual average received between 2019 and 2021.
The Cobre Panamá mine, located in the district of Donoso, province of Colón; It is the largest private investment in the country, contributing 3.5% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
