Panama Canal hopes to make more money without charging users more
THE Panama Canal Authority hopes to increase income by changing the way it collects tolls starting in 2015 - six months behind schedule - when the newly expanded waterway opens, reports Agence France-Presse.
"What we're looking for is not to simply to cover the value that the route offers right now, but instead the much greater value that a widened canal will have," said canal administrator Jorge Quijano.
Authorities are examining alternatives to the per-TEU charges that could attract a greater volume of cargo without raising costs for users. In 2011 fiscal year, 14,600 ships carrying 322 million tons of cargo, generated US$800 million - two per cent of Panama's GDP. In 2012, it was 333 million tons.
THE Panama Canal Authority hopes to increase income by changing the way it collects tolls starting in 2015 - six months behind schedule - when the newly expanded waterway opens, reports Agence France-Presse.
"What we're looking for is not to simply to cover the value that the route offers right now, but instead the much greater value that a widened canal will have," said canal administrator Jorge Quijano.
Authorities are examining alternatives to the per-TEU charges that could attract a greater volume of cargo without raising costs for users. In 2011 fiscal year, 14,600 ships carrying 322 million tons of cargo, generated US$800 million - two per cent of Panama's GDP. In 2012, it was 333 million tons.