The president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, ordered this Tuesday to maintain the veto on European companies in Panamanian public tenders after the European Union (EU) decided to keep the Central American country on its list of jurisdictions that do not cooperate with the bloc on tax matters. "I have requested this of the different entities," Mulino wrote on his X account. Panama is preparing tenders for projects such as a cargo and passenger train to the border with Costa Rica, ports, and a gas pipeline near the Panama Canal, in addition to other public works projects, in which some European companies have already expressed interest. The EU excluded Panama in 2025 from a money laundering list but decided this Tuesday to keep the country on another one, the list of jurisdictions that do not cooperate with the bloc on tax matters because, according to the bloc, it has not corrected deficiencies in tax exemptions and information exchange. The Panamanian president, who has repeatedly complained since taking office in July 2024 that Panama remains on discriminatory lists despite all the legal changes the country has applied in recent years, stated this Tuesday in his X message that he knew "that in this EU review we would not get off the list and we are preparing for the next October review." In this sense, the Panamanian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) said on Monday that the Executive "trusts that the progress made to date and ongoing will allow for the exclusion of Panama from this list in future reviews." Over 300,000 enjoyed water, guaro and campana on the Coastal Strip. In the last year, Panama has been removed from the European Parliament's money laundering list and Ecuador's list of tax havens. "Panama is cooperating in what it can cooperate and it is not true that we are a country to be stigmatized in the way they have done (...) We will do what we have to do to dignify our name and clean our image here in Europe and where appropriate," Mulino said in October 2024 during a visit to Paris where he presented several of the projects his government is advancing. The train that will connect Panama City with David, on the border with Costa Rica, a 400-kilometer route with an estimated cost of at least $4 billion, has aroused the interest of companies from Spain and France. In fact, in August 2025, the governments of Panama and France signed a declaration of intent for the development of the railway. Likewise, companies from the Netherlands and France have also shown interest in the construction of two new ports in the vicinity of the Canal, with a cost of $2.6 billion and which will be tendered this year by the administration. "We maintain the restriction that no European company can bid on our projects from now on."
