Mesoamerica improves international transit controls on goods

Ninety-five percent (or six billion US dollars) of commercial goods in the Mesoamerican region are transported overland using the Pacific Corridor every year. The Corridor, which crosses six national borders from southern Mexico to Panama, is the backbone of commercial trade in Mesoamerica. Despite numerous efforts to improve its infrastructure, bottlenecks at border crossings have created huge delays that have dramatically reduced the flow of goods. In 2008, the average speed of a truck moving from Mexico to Panama was 15 km per hour. As of August 2012, the average speed is 60 km per hour following the implementation of an innovative project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).