What Happened
Panama’s public-private partnership framework is being framed as a way to create jobs while building and operating major infrastructure projects. The model is being promoted as especially relevant on Labor Day, as the country continues to face unemployment pressures.
Because APP projects are long-term by design, they can generate employment in two stages: first during construction and later through operation and maintenance. That makes them a potentially durable source of formal jobs, particularly in infrastructure-heavy sectors linked to the broader economy.
Why It Matters
Construction remains one of Panama’s most important economic engines, contributing between 14.8% and 16% of gross domestic product. That gives infrastructure investment an outsized role in job creation, not only in direct hiring but also across the companies and services that support large projects.
Attracting private capital for projects that require initial investments above $1 billion depends heavily on legal certainty, security for investors and a clear path to market. The bidding stage is seen as a critical moment, since it is where private companies assess how risks are allocated between the state and the investor.
Recent regulatory changes are also aimed at speeding up the process. Executive Decree No. 58 of 2025 introduced criteria such as land identification, preliminary studies, social infrastructure, successful international precedents and the budgetary capacity of the public entity leading the project.
Projects With Job Potential
Several APP initiatives are being presented as examples of the employment potential of the model. The Pan-American Highway East concession, covering rehabilitation and maintenance, has already created 1,336 jobs in its area of influence from Las Garzas de Pacora to Yaviza in Darién.
The Pan-American Highway West project, whose order to proceed is expected soon from the Ministry of Public Works, is projected to generate 2,000 direct jobs and about 10,000 indirect jobs.
The Centenario Highway, which received prefeasibility approval in October 2025 and is expected to go to tender in June 2026, is projected to create 1,000 jobs. A maximum-security prison project for the Ministry of Government, expected to be tendered between late 2026 and early 2027, could add another 1,000 direct jobs.
In agriculture, the Institute of Agricultural Marketing is advancing a plan for agro-industrial plants in Coclé, Chiriquí, Los Santos, Panama Este and Veraguas. The initiative is tied to sustaining roughly 210,000 direct jobs and 315,000 indirect jobs in the sector, based on INEC data.
Broader Development Impact
Beyond the capital and the canal corridor, employment generation is being treated as a strategic priority for reducing rural poverty, limiting migration to Panama City and strengthening social cohesion. The agro-industrial proposal also includes dual-education schemes aimed at increasing technical training and productivity.
Other projects in the APP pipeline include Santiago’s proposed “Centro Cultural, Deportivo y Administrativo de Santiago,” which could generate about 525 jobs. Across the life of an APP project, employment also extends to consultants, engineers, insurers, banks, construction firms, legal advisers, fiduciaries, supervisors and maintenance companies.
For Panama, the message is clear: public-private partnerships are emerging not only as an infrastructure financing mechanism, but also as a policy tool for formal employment, productivity and longer-term development.