Administrator and Investment/Development Promoter of U.S. Military Properties in the Panama Canal Area Transferred to Panama.

The Interoceanic Region Authority (ARI) was created by Panamanian law on February 25, 1993, to manage the vast properties transferred to the Government of Panama by the United States 1979-1999 under the Panama Canal Treaty. It is responsible for organizing, planning, managing, and disposing of all properties transferred to Panama -- about 5,200 buildings and other facilities and about 95,300 acres within the former Canal Zone (known since 1979 as the Panama Canal Area), including 12 major military installations or bases. The undertaking was tremendous, unprecedented, and challenging for Panama. The principal challenge for Panama -- which has a $8 billion economy -- has been to absorb and maintain over $4 billion dollars worth of military properties and convert them to other uses in a timely and efficient manner to maximize their value for the benefit of the people of Panama. In addition, Panama gained ownership of the Panama Canal and all its facilities on the last day of 1999.

The Interoceanic Region, established by Panamanian law, includes both commercial and environmentally sensitive areas and stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans along both sides of the Panama Canal. It covers more than 800,000 acres or two percent of the total area of the Republic of Panama. (This area includes, as ARI has noted, thousands of buildings and installations -- including airports, hospitals, houses, and schools, warehouses, restaurants, clubs, swimming pools, and theaters, nearly all of which are available for commercial use.)

ARI's priorities include generating employment; promoting export; developing new commercial, industrial, and tourism opportunities; developing the maritime sector; protecting the Canal watershed; and conducting functional and orderly urban planning. It also was responsible for drawing up the necessary regulations for the rental, sale, concession, and administration of the transferred properties and developing draft regulations for the Executive Branch of the Panamanian government concerning procedures or situations pertaining to those matters.

In carrying out these responsibilities, ARI coordinates with the appropriate Panamanian government agencies so that the transferred properties can be incorporated into Panama's development.