Because of the Panama Canal, there are numerous maritime services. There are tariffs related to shipping. Revenue is earned from the canal operations, as well as warehousing, and banking. Petroleum is also imported from Venezuela, Ecuador, and Mexico. Also related to maritime operations is fishing, whish deserves a brief mention.
Fishing is responsible for a fifth of Panama s foreign income earned.
The Canal Economy More than 14,000 ships pass through the canal each year carrying on average 700,000 passengers and crew. Since there is a lot of traffic, and new port facilities, Panama is expected to become Central America s multi-modal logistics center. Container traffic is expected to be 1 million units by 2000, and in the future 2 million by 2002. For these reasons the U.S. will continue to invest money into Panama. In the eighties, the U.S. imported a considerable amount of resources from the Caribbean.