Nearly a century after Japanese engineer Akira Aoyama contributed to the construction of the Panama Canal, Panama is now seeking fresh investment and expert advice from Japan to redevelop the world's crucial waterway to serve 21st-century needs.
The United States returned control of the canal, which was inaugurated in 1914, to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999.
The biggest challenges Panama now faces are how to improve the efficiency of the canal and develop its hydrographic basin -- the canal's shores -- for possible future expansion, according to Jose Miguel Aleman, minister for foreign affairs of the Republic of Panama.