Colon businessman and former vice presidential candidate Michael Chen says he has unwavering faith that the port city of Colon will one day become Panama’s second capital, describing an ambitious vision of a tourism-driven renaissance built on entrepreneurship and community effort rather than politics.
What Happened
In an interview with La Prensa, Chen, 39, laid out both his personal journey and his hopes for a province he argues contributes far more to Panama than it receives in return. According to Chen, Colon generates roughly 18% of the country’s output while occupying only about 6% of the national territory, yet receives back only about 1% or 2% in public investment.
“If you do the math, it’s easy: we contribute three times more than what we really are,” Chen said, questioning how a province that gives so much can receive so little. He argued that successive governments have failed to understand Colon’s problems because they do not feel the province’s pain firsthand.
Chen, who co-founded the Fundacion Reto por Colon, the organizer of the Sabores de Colon festival, said the first edition of the food and entrepreneurship event exceeded all expectations. Organizers anticipated around 5,000 visitors on the rooftop of Supercentro El Dorado in Panama City, but more than 50,000 people attended.
“I knelt down and said to God: ‘Father, please send me people,'” Chen recalled. “And when we opened the event, more than 50,000 people showed up.”
Background
Chen’s path into public life began, by his own account, with an act of extortion. After returning from university to help remodel his family’s business, he says government officials demanded a bribe despite taxes and construction permits already being paid. That experience, he said, showed him the problem was not his alone but affected hundreds of merchants across the province.
He later spent 15 years at the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Colon, becoming the youngest president of the country’s oldest chamber. There he shifted focus toward micro and small entrepreneurs, producing videos spotlighting vendors of raspados, saus, plantintá and escovitch fish, traditional Colon staples. The strategy drew initial resistance from some established business figures, but Chen wagered his presidency on it, and the videos gained traction.
In the 2024 general elections, Chen ran for vice president on the Movimiento Otro Camino (MOCA) ticket alongside presidential candidate Ricardo Lombana. The ticket finished in second place. Chen said the campaign exposed him to the harsher side of politics, including racist attacks over his Chinese heritage, despite his family’s generations of contribution to Panama. He also acknowledged feeling that the Chinese-Panamanian community does not reciprocate support for members who enter politics, saying those who seek change “are alone” but that he will not give up.
Asked about the reported meeting between Lombana and former president Ricardo Martinelli, Chen declined to comment, saying he wanted the interview to stay focused on moving Colon forward.
What This Means for Panama
Chen’s core argument is economic: Colon’s outsized contribution to the national economy, driven by the country’s Atlantic port, free zone and logistics infrastructure, stands in stark contrast to the minimal investment flowing back into the province. His message challenges future governments to treat Colon’s development as a national priority rather than a regional afterthought.
His vision for the coming decades is sweeping. He imagines Colon as “a Casco Antiguo on steroids,” a “Bahamas on steroids,” a fully tourist-oriented city where cruise passengers disembark, street comparsas fill every corner, and residents no longer face desperate economic circumstances. Crucially, he insists that growth must include the people of Colon themselves rather than displacing them.
Chen warned that if legitimate actors do not build Colon’s future, organized crime will fill the void, a reflection of the security challenges the province has long faced. His model instead rests on entrepreneurship, from street vendors to the wealthiest business owners, all participating in the province’s transformation.
The runaway success of Sabores de Colon, which drew ten times its expected attendance, suggests significant public appetite for celebrating Colon’s culinary and entrepreneurial culture. For observers of Panama’s politics and economy, Chen represents a persistent independent voice pressing the case that, as he puts it, “only Colon saves Colon” but that national support must finally match the province’s contribution.
This story was originally reported by La Prensa.