History
Since 1917, only three years after the opening of the Panama Canal, the possibility of having a free zone area in Colon was discussed. It was not however, until the end of WWII that the idea became substance. During the war many locals obtained employment in the construction of defense facilities and facilities to provide services for the movement of troops, and with the end of troop arrivals, came the hard times. Later, Dr. Enrique A. Jimenez, President of the Republic in 1945, took the initiative to make the free zone project a reality, making use of the geographic position of the ports and the interoceanic waterway, a compulsory route for worldwide navigation. He recommended the reconsideration of a project prepared by George E. Roberts, Vice President of the First National City Bank of New York, which contemplated the creation of a free zone area in Colon and which had been submitted to the Government in 1929.
In 1946, the Government employed Dr. Thomas E. Lyons, renown authority on free zones, to carry out a feasibility study in the area suggested for the project. Based on his recommendations, the Government approved Law No 18 of June 17, 1948, which creates the Colon Free Zone as an autonomous institution.
Location
In a segregated area of 400 hectares, the Colon Free Zone is located at the entrance to the Panama Canal on the Caribbean side, Province of Colon. It is considered the second largest free zone in the world and the first in the Western Hemisphere. Due to its unequaled geographic position and its access to four important ports in the Caribbean and one on the Pacific, deemed to be the most modern of Latin America, it is what we can call an International Ports Center. The ports are the following: Manzanillo International Terminal, Colon Ports Terminal, Colon Container Terminal (Evergreen), Panama Ports Company (Hutchinson International) with the Cristobal terminal in the Caribbean and the Port of Balboa in the Pacific.
In addition to the ports located in the proximities of the free zone, facing the free zone one finds the following transportation services:
• France Field Airport.
• Panama Railroad Terminal.
• Access to the Panama-Colon Highway.
• Cruise ship terminals.
• Land transportation terminals.
In areas close to the Colon Free Zone the visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of attractions such as: scuba diving, snorkeling, angling, surfing, history and culture considered Historic Patrimony for Mankind by UNESCO, Caribbean gastronomy, Afro-Antillean folklore and traditions, eco-touristic activities, and much more...…
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Colon Free Zone 
