Panama's Minister of Trade and Industry, Julio Moltó, stated that the country may resume banana exports between December and January, provided the reactivation process goes as planned.
The estimate is based on Chiquita Panama's re-establishment of operations in Bocas del Toro, one of the country's key banana regions.
According to Moltó, the company has initially hired 3,000 workers and plans to add another 2,000 for packing, cleaning, and port operations, which will gradually revive activity in the area.
The minister recalled that bananas are one of Panama's traditional exports and emphasized that, despite the recent decline in banana and copper shipments, the country has reached record export levels over the past 15 years.
According to the government, Chiquita Panama has committed to investing more than $30 million and modernizing production through a sharecropping model, which will allow companies to lease land to settlers without transferring ownership. These producers will operate under the company's standards, which will be responsible for purchasing the fruit, regulating production, and providing technical assistance, thereby creating new employment opportunities.
The agreement between the Panamanian government and Chiquita Panama was signed on August 29 in Brazil, during President José Raúl Mulino's administration. The agreement plans to create about 3,000 jobs in the initial phase, with the company aiming to resume full operations in 2026.
In September, Labor Minister Jacqueline Muñoz announced that approximately 500 labor contracts had been registered for the company's reopening in Bocas del Toro. She confirmed that these contracts, part of the initial re-hiring batch, comply with existing labor laws and regulations.
Source: tvn-2.com
