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The Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) recently confirmed that it has injected a record $1.4 billion into Panama’s public health and sustainability infrastructure in the last 15 years, a record investment in the country.

The commitment primarily focused on the sanitation sector. Since 2005 CAF has been Panama’s main strategic partner in its sanitation policy, helping to create essential public health infrastructure, CAF CEO Sergio Díaz-Granados told La Estrella.

The size of the commitment underscores CAF’s key role in Panama’s growth, which is attracting the interest of property investors in downtown. CAF’s new headquarters complex is the cornerstone of a new “super block,” which includes MOVA by B&B Italia, a mixed-use residential development with interiors created by B&B Italia, the Italian firm known for its iconic contemporary designs.

Buyers see proximity to the CAF headquarters as a key value boost for the Obarrio neighborhood. The bank will attract more high-end businesses and residents.

Last week CAF confirmed Panama would be hosting the Latin America and the Caribbean International Economic Forum, billed as the “Davos of Latin America,” January 29–30, 2026. The event is expected to bring together more  than 2,500 “business leaders, investors, government authorities, and representatives from multilateral organizations to strategically position the region on the global geopolitical map.” Participants are expected to include José Raúl Mulino, President of Panama; Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil; Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador; theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku; and Pedro Heilbron, CEO of Copa Airlines.

In last week’s announcement, CAF emphasized its focus on ensuring that “Panama not only meets its sustainability goals, but also strengthens its competitiveness by innovating with state-of-the-art public health infrastructure, which serves as an example for all of Latin America.”

For more than 15 years, CAF has been Panama’s main strategic partner in its sanitation policy. That includes the development of the “most modern sanitation plant in Central America.”

“Our investments, which have already accumulated almost $1.4 billion in approved funding, have allowed this (sanitation) project and other activities we have undertaken in the country to become a benchmark for innovation, sustainability, and public health,” Díaz-Granados said.

Panama’s success offers lessons for the region, Díaz-Granados. “We are pleased to see Panama progressing in this important sector, which is behavioral economics: enabling new generations—which is essential—to make better use of water resources, manage solid waste, and thus build a more sustainable Panama,” the CEO said.