Cargo Partnership between Mississippi Gulf Coast and Panama

It is not that often that I get to talk about Mississippi and Panama at the same time. On the surface, one of the few things that the two places have in common is that Ryan Bullock loves them both. Anyway, I am excited to report that representatives from Panama's Tocumen National Airport have been in Mississippi this past week where they signed a cooperation agreement with the Gulfport/Biloxi International Airport. Here is a link to an article from the WLOX News station in South Mississippi.

Rafael Flores, general manager of Panama's
Tocumen International Airport, inks an
agreement with Bruce Frallic, the Director
of Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport

The agreement will allow international cargo coming through the Panama Canal to be flown into South Mississippi, where it will subsequently be stored and transported out of an air cargo facility at the airport in Gulfport. Interstate 10 runs through the Mississippi Gulf Coast, providing access to 10 primary north-south interstates between southern California and Jacksonville, Florida.

The possibility of a synergy between the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Panama has excited me for several years. In October of 2006, while I was living in Panama, a proposal to expand the Canal was approved by a national referendum. This is approximately a U$S 6 billion project that will add a new set of locks to the Panama Canal, allowing a increasing number of larger post-Panamax cargo ships to pass through the Canal. The project is expected to be completed by 2014.

Here is something else that is interesting and exciting - back in October of 2008, the Miss. State Port Authority approved a U$S 1.6 billion expansion project to redevelop the Port of Gulfport into one of the largest container terminals in the United States. The port was basically destroyed by Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Here is a link to the website describing that project. Such a major redevelopment project has the potential to put South Mississippi on the map as a major transit hub for cargo being shipped throughout the U.S. In addition to creating thousands of jobs, the redevelopment of the Port of Gulfport "is anticipated to generate an annual revenue of [U$S] 10 billion in added personal income and [U$S] 1.6 billion in direct revenue to the local economy" in South Mississippi.

Of course, Gulfport is not the only U.S. port anticipating potential gains to be realized from the Panama Canal expansion project. Numerous ports throughout the Eastern-half of the U.S. are considering expansion projects to capture the new traffic of larger ships start coming through the Canal. It is one big competition to see who will end up in the prime position to get these contracts. With increased cargo coming through the Panama Canal's new, larger flights of locks, there are tons of potential benefits that can result from coordination and expanded cooperative relationships between Panama and South Mississippi.