Bill 217.

Summary.

The bill establishes a legal, tax, customs, labor, migration, and business framework for the Almirante Multimodal Economic Area in the district of Almirante, province of Bocas del Toro. It links development of the area to Changuinola Capt. Manuel Niño Airport and the Port of Almirante for the movement of passengers and goods. The framework would apply to developers, operators, businesses, residents, and visitors in the area. The text defines transport logistics, area assets, development and operation contracts, and business, land use, and zoning plans, among other terms. It requires developers to prepare territorial plans for agency approval and provides for an international developer selection process.

It creates the Almirante Multimodal Economic Area Agency (Agencia del Área Económica Multimodal Almirante) as an autonomous legal entity with its own assets, subject to the policies, guidance, and inspection of the Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo) through the Ministry of the Presidency (Ministerio de la Presidencia). It assigns the agency responsibility for administering, promoting, and regulating the area, holding its assets in custody, and managing airport facilities under the rules of the Civil Aviation Authority (Autoridad de Aeronáutica Civil). The agency would maintain a business registry, approve territorial plans, charge for services, contract for works and services, decide administrative claims, and impose penalties for noncompliance. It could delegate functions with the Cabinet Council’s (Consejo de Gabinete) approval.

The proposed assets include airport facilities and equipment, land identified in the text, revenue, donations, and budget allocations. The State would provide operating funds for a period of no more than five years from promulgation, subject to the possibility of earlier self financing. The agency would use three year financial planning and submit an annual budget. After establishing a reserve for operations and investments, it would distribute the remaining surplus among the Development Trust Fund (Fondo Fiduciario para el Desarrollo), the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development (Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral) for training in Bocas del Toro, and the Almirante Multimodal Economic Area Educational Assistance Fund (Fondo para la Asistencia Educativa del Área Económica Multimodal Almirante). Monetary penalties would go entirely to the latter fund. The agency would answer for its obligations, with the State bearing subsidiary liability, and would receive a tax exemption subject to the exceptions listed in Article 10.

The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República) would oversee the agency, which would also have internal and external audits and publish its annual financial statements. The bill grants it administrative collection authority for debts and subjects its procurement to public contracting rules. It authorizes incentives based on certified asset values and credits for specified investments or demolition. It regulates the disposal of state assets in its custody, including sale through public tender, and leases and concessions of up to forty years, renewable for a maximum of forty additional years. Sales of other assets are limited under Article 15, excluding airport and port areas delimited by the Civil Aviation Authority (Autoridad Aeronáutica Civil) and the Panama Maritime Authority (Autoridad Marítima de Panamá).

The proposed structure comprises a board of directors, an administrator, a deputy administrator, and directorates for labor, customs, planning, investor assistance, and airport and port operations. It provides for agreements with other entities to exercise their powers and personnel rules connected to the Administrative Code (Código Administrativo) and the Administrative Career Law (Ley de Carrera Administrativa). It regulates the board’s composition and its members’ appointment, qualifications, meeting allowances, replacement, contracting restrictions, and grounds for removal. In these matters, the bill cites the Political Constitution (Constitución Política), Law 32 of 1983 (ley 32 de 1983), Law 9 of 1994 (Ley 9 de 1994), and the Judicial Code (Código Judicial). Its provisions could concern logistics, transport, trade, construction, and service businesses, workers and residents, and the public bodies mentioned.