The project is to help Manzanillo International Terminal - Panama S.A. (MIT or the company) finance its capital expenditure program through 2008. MIT operates the Manzanillo container terminal adjacent to the Colon Free Trade Zone on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal under a concession agreement. The expansion program will more than double the company’s capacity and allow it to service projected container traffic through 2017. MIT is a major success story for privatization in the port sector. Prior to MIT's entry as a container terminal in 1995, the former US seaplane base was utilized as a storage facility for handling about 61,000 cars for distribution in Panama and Latin America. MIT’s investment and management transformed the facility into a key transshipment hub for shipping lines servicing the Asia-East Coast North America and Asia-East Coast South America shipping routes. MIT’s efficient operation allows shipping lines to concentrate their calls at Manzanillo and use smaller, less expensive feeder vessels to transport cargo from Manzanillo to their final destinations. The resulting hub-and-spoke system provides greater market coverage and lower transportation costs, critical components to increasing trading activity.