Panama City, Panama, April 12, 2021 The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) announced today that it will be executing a $630,000 non-reimbursable technical cooperation grant recently approved by the Republic of Korea within the Korea-CABEI Single Donor Trust Fund (KTF) framework to carry out studies to identify the feasibility of developing the Line 5 rail network  the Panama Subway.

This grant will strengthen the institutional capacity of Empresa Metro de Panamá S.A., the line operator, and will allow for the execution of important activities such as the market demand analysis for Line 5, soil, hydrological, geological and geotechnical studies. Recommendations will also be issued on preliminary civil works designs, the selection of rolling stock technologies, passenger capacity, and Line 5 operations and maintenance, among others.

“We are pleased to announce this donation, which will support the fulfillment of the objectives proposed by the Panama Metro in relation to developing an efficient public transportation network for the Metropolitan Area, reducing vehicle traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, which translates into quality of life for its inhabitants," said CABEI Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi.

It is expected that this cooperation´s execution and the development of this important project will benefit a total of 1.9 million people and promote greater and more equitable urban mobility with better access and lower costs, contributing to the transformation of the country's economy.

Execution of this initiative is scheduled to begin during the second quarter of 2021.