Panama City, January 24^th, 2023 - Promoting economic development and social inclusion in the Republic of Panama through significant financial support for the materialization of priority initiatives for the country, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) approved a total of US$230 million during 2022.

Among the operations approved by the multilateral bank are US$145 million for the development of the Las Playas Corridor for the benefit of more than 50,000 Panamanians who travel the Pan-American Highway every day, the only road that connects the capital with the interior provinces and the beach area; as well as US$75.0 million through Global Bank Corporation, which is expected to provide loans under competitive financial conditions to the micro, small, and medium-size enterprise (MSME) sector, contributing to the preservation of 5,295 direct jobs.

"We translate our commitment to Panama into concrete actions and completed initiatives and many others aimed at continuing to contribute to the economic growth of this great country, whose contribution to the region is important given its geographic position. This is demonstrated by the operations approved in 2022, which are expected to benefit more than 3 million Panamanians," said CABEI Executive President Dr. Dante Mossi.

Also approved was a non-reimbursable financial cooperation for US$1.0 million to contribute to access to specialized health services for women, children and adults in hard-to-reach areas, and to improve the quality of education through the implementation of the STEAM methodology (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) in pilot programs that will enable the development of public policies in the Panamanian educational system. In total, more than 72,152 people in rural areas will benefit from this collaboration.

Finally, the Bank approved technical cooperation in the amount of US$600,000 from the Korea-CABEI Single Donor Trust Fund (KTF) to promote the integration of public transportation systems in the province of Panama Oeste.