The Presidents of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, and of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, inaugurated this Tuesday (20.02.2024) the Integrated Control Center in Paso Canoes (Costa Rican territory) that will improve logistical efficiency and regional competitiveness, according to official sources.
The Panamanian Customs statement indicated that this is a work which covers 14 thousand square meters, the design and construction of which required an investment of USD 33 million (financed by the IDB) and includes buildings for customs, immigration, police, and phytosanitary services, among others.
Given the strategic work, the General Director of Customs, Tayra Barsallo, as well as the Deputy Director of Logistics, Juan Pablo García, were part of the government delegation present at the opening ceremony, along with the technical team of the entity that has been working on the homologation of the processes that will be implemented.
According to the information, Panama is also building a similar control center on its territory in the town of San Isidro (Chiriquí province). In this regard, the integrated center has already made significant progress in the construction of its infrastructure, standardization of standards and work manuals that have been developed together with Costa Rica in the last 4 years.
With this work, border integration between Costa Rica and Panama will allow enhance the use of the foreign trade platform of both countries and their regional connectionl, ensuring the fluidity of trade and people, and providing security to the supply chain through a unified process at the border, an infrastructure that responds to it and the exchange of information between control agencies and operators that facilitates coordinated and effective actions at the border crossing.
In view of this, the Costa Rica-Panama Border Integration Initiative reaffirms the “cooperation between both nations to combat the risks that remain on the border, such as drug trafficking, smuggling and irregular migration,” said the same official source.
Data from the Panamanian Government indicate that the 77% of trade between Panama and Costa Rica is done by land. Meanwhile, an average of de 815 people y 227 transport units They pass through the Paso Canoas border post daily.
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