The Panama Canal Authority is planning to build two new terminals through public bidding to facilitate port operations, one on the Atlantic and the other on the Pacific coast.

The port construction is part of Panama's $8.5 billion capital expenditure plan over the next seven years, which also includes the construction of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline, new reservoirs, roads, and highways. Both new terminals will be connected to the LPG pipeline.

Ricaurte Vasquez, Director of the Canal Authority, stated that the two new terminals will be owned by the authority and may be operated by a third party. The canal will seek to use newer crane technology to compete with the more advanced Cartagena port in Colombia.

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino stated that the government will draft a national maritime logistics strategy to define a new framework for Panama's port operations.