On 13 June 2013, the Nicaragua National Assembly approved a law to grant the Hong Kong Nicaragua Development Company (HKND) a 50-year concession, renewable for a further 50 years, to build and operate a 173-mile (278 km) interoceanic canal across Nicaragua. If this project goes ahead it will be one of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Latin American history. The Nicaraguan government argues that such a project is the only way to lift the country out of centuries of under-development and high levels of poverty, but also that it will protect the environment nationally and globally. Critics argue that the associated social, economic and environmental risks are too high a price to pay. In this briefing we look at the arguments for and against this controversial megaproject.
A full report is available here.