The funding is being provided by an international syndicate headed by HSBC (Banco General, The Bank of Nova Scotia, BBVA, Banco Aliado, Metrobank, Banco Panamá, Bank of China) in the form of a non-recourse loan.

In March 2010, Panama's Health Ministry awarded FCC the contract to design, build, equip and finance the Luis Chicho Fábrega Hospital in Veraguas province, near the provincial capital of Santiago.

The new facility, which will have 41,914 square metres of floor space, will house central services in the basement and ground floor plus three floors for in-patients and emergency services. The hospital will have an extensive outpatient programme as well as 313 beds and 344 parking spaces.

The design, by prestigious Spanish architects Alfonso Casares and Carlos Lamela, conforms to the strictest standards of respect for the environment under the "green sustainable hospital" concept.

Business hub/platform for development
This financial transaction represents further support for FCC, the Citizen Services group, in its operations in Panama. FCC already has contracts worth 1.4 billion euro in Panama, with the result that this Central American country has become the hub for developing the company's business in the region.

In addition to the Luis Chicho Fábrega hospital, FCC is building the 14-kilometre line 1 of the Panama City Metro in partnership with Brazilian company Odebrecht in a project worth over 1 billion euro.

Also, the Panama Canal Authority awarded FCC Construction, in a joint venture with two Central American companies, the contract to build a new access channel from the Pacific to the Panama Canal as part of the project to build the third set of locks at Miraflores. That contract is worth 187 million euro and the construction period is 43 months.

FCC Construction's other projects in Panama include the design, construction and environmental impact surveys of the freeways leading to the second bridge over the Panama Canal and various road upgrade, maintenance and widening projects.