FCC-Odebrecht JV lands Panama Metro

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FCC-Odebrecht JV lands Panama Metro

A consortium of Spain’s FCC and Norberto Odebrecht of Brazil is the winning bidder for construction of line 2 of the Panama Metro.

FCC-Odebrecht beat a consortium that included two Chinese contractors and one that was led by Dragados of Spain.

The works will include 16 stations and 21 kilometres of elevated railway lines, connecting the stations from the district of San Miguelito to 24 de Diciembre.

The contract for the construction of Line 2 of the Panama Metro consists of design engineering, civils construction and secondary installations for the line together with supply and installation of a comprehensive railway system that includes rolling stock and initial commissioning.

The FCC- Odebrecht submitted a price of US$1.858bn and obtained a total score of 855.98 out of a possible 1,000. The project’s reference price was US$1.818654bn, fixed by the Metro Secretariat, and the bidding exclusion range was fixed at 20% above or below.

It beat two other teams – Dragados, Ingenieros Civiles Asociados and Grana y Montero; and China Harbour Engineering, China Railway First Group and Corsan-Corsoviam.

The contract award will be made official on 22 May when the period for potential claims from other applicants comes to an end.

FCC has already built line 1 in Panama and currently working on similar projects including lines 4, 5 and 6 of the Riyadh Metro, the red line of the Doha Metro, line 2 of the Lima Metro and those in Toronto and Bucharest.

Source & Link: The Construction Index

Moving Abroad Checklist

Initial Considerations

Will your partner be travelling with you?

If so, what will they be giving up in your present home and will they be able to continue with their career in your new home? You will need to check whether a separate visa is required for your partner to work or if your visa gives that right. If they are unable to work you will need to decide on the effect on your finances and what alternatives are available to give a fulfilling life (home business, training, voluntary work).

Are you taking family with you?

Moving with family raises many exciting opportunities, but also can create challenges. The HSBC Expat Explorer survey indicates that expat kids can take six months to settle in to their new country (see article). Getting young or even older children to prepare to move and leave their friends and family behind can be a challenge and should be thought through.

The options for education is another area that needs to be thought through.

Moving your child to a new country with a different education system can be a great opportunity to broaden their experience, but if they are close to key exams the timing can make this inadvisable. If you do take your family with you, it is important to decide between joining the local school system or choosing an international school.

Where will you be living?

Whether you will be living in a house or apartment, furnished or unfurnished, these decisions will affect what you need to take with you. The time you are planning to live overseas will also affect whether you should leave your property at home empty, rent it out or sell it. See the article Sell, Store or Ship.