>The ports of the Republic of Panama, the merchant marine, the agencies and shipping lines, the Colon Free Zone, the railroad and many other service suppliers connected with the economic activities of the Panama Canal, are complemented mutually and form the Conglomerate of the Canal.
>This Conglomerate and the Economic System by-product of the operations of the interoceanic waterway contribute more than 20% of the Gross Domestic Product of the country and generate approximately 293,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The Chamber of Shipping of Panama, as an organization that groups together the great majority of the members of the Maritime Sector, sector, which shows the highest indexes of growth in the domestic economy over the past five-year period, after having studied the proposal of enlargement of the Panama Canal and consulting with all its members and national and international clients, considers that the enlargement of the Canal is necessary for the following reasons:
1. The Panama Canal is operating to almost 85% of its maximum capacity, which signifies that in a relatively short time, it will not be able to continue attending efficiently to the growing demand of traffic, a product of the tendencies of growth of international markets,
2. The Panama Canal requires increasingly more frequent cycles of maintenance due to its 96 years of uninterrupted use in the service of world commerce, which at the same time delays in great measure the traffic of ships that use the waterway,
3. The shipping companies, clients of the Panama Canal, are tending to build larger ships (Post-Panamax) for the scale of economic benefits that the same represent, and which currently cannot use the canal,
4. The shipping companies consider that the Panama Canal represents the most dependable and viable route to operate their ships on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and they understand and accept that the enlargement will involve gradual increases in the anticipated traffic and that the principles of productivity, efficiency, security and cost-benefits that currently exist, will be maintained,
5. We Panamanians have shown great talent and professionalism in administering the canal efficiently since it was transferred back to Panamanian hands. As previously stated, we are convinced that this project, properly executed, will benefit Panama and all Panamanians equally, and we support firmly the proposal of enlargement of the Panama Canal.
>Julio De La Lastra, President, Panama Chamber of Shipping, signed in Panama on the 20th of August 2006
http://www.bulletinpa.com/index.php?id=730
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Source: VIP Panama