Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings, which has been embroiled in the Panama port controversy, announced on Thursday that it is claiming more than US$1.5 billion (about RM6.059 billion) from Panama.
According to Hong Kong’s “Ming Pao”, CK Hutchison stated that after numerous unsuccessful attempts to seek a resolution, the company on Thursday initiated international arbitration proceedings against Panama for violating investment protection treaties. The violations stem from a series of measures taken by Panama during 2025 and 2026, which ultimately led to Panama breaching the concession contracts of the Balboa and Cristobal ports, and forcibly taking over the port terminals.
CK Hutchison continued: “The company is claiming over US$1.5 billion for the damages suffered regarding its investments in Panama.”
CK Hutchison also stated that the board strongly opposes Panama’s treaty-violating actions. The company will continue to seek a resolution with Panama while striving to uphold all its rights and compensations under both the treaty and international law.
In a press release, CK Hutchison stated: “Panama has now become a high-risk country, disregarding the rule of law, corporate legal status, the scope of contracting parties, the scope of application of arbitration agreements, treaty rights and treaty dispute resolution mechanisms.”
Early last year, Trump claimed that the Panama Canal had been taken over by China and vowed to return all of it to the U.S. In March last year, CK Hutchison announced it would sell its overseas port operations—including the two ports at the Panama Canal, a total of 43 overseas ports—for US$22.8 billion (around RM92.1 billion) to an international consortium consisting of U.S. asset management giant BlackRock and the Aponte family’s Mediterranean Shipping Company of Italy.
This deal was viewed as a victory for Trump and also provoked discontent from Beijing. Chinese regulators subsequently launched an investigation, CK Hutchison faced criticism, and the transaction remained deadlocked.
In January this year, Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that CK Hutchison’s Panama port company’s operating contracts for the two Panama Canal ports, Balboa and Cristobal, were unconstitutional, and the Panamanian government officially took over the two ports at the end of February.