Panama's Executive branch approved about 13.2 million dollars for the signing of leases with an option to buy for 1,638 farms in the zone of Baru, in the west of the country, where a subsidiary of the multinational Del Monte will reactivate the banana production.
"The government is seeking to revive the banana activity in Baru, so the leasing documents to the owners of these farms will be essential to activate the economy in these sectors," said Javier Marquinez, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of the Presidency.
According to a statement from the Presidency of Panama, the exceptional contract approved by the Ministry of the Presidency and individual owners of the 1,638 farms located in Baru, and described in the Contract Law between the State and the company Banapiña de Panama SA, amounts to $13.27 million dollars.
Yesterday, the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, signed the legal agreement between the State and Del Monte that will allow the transnational company to invest more than 100 million dollars in the reactivation of banana areas in the western provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro.
"With this contract, Banapiña Panama, SA is expected to make a minimum investment of 100 million balboa dollars over a term not greater than 7 years and an estimated average productivity of 2,725 boxes of bananas per hectare per year," stated the Presidency of Panama.
"The commercial revival of this banana zone is expected to generate approximately 3,100 direct jobs and 12,000 indirect jobs in commerce and services," they added.
Source: EFE