Editing Panama (section)

===Economic sectors===
Panama's economy, because of its key geographic location, is mainly based on a well-developed service sector, especially commerce, tourism, and trading. The handover of the Canal and military installations by the United States has given rise to large construction projects.

A project to build a third set of locks for the Panama Canal was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum (with low voter turnout, however) on October 22, 2006. The official estimated cost of the project is US$5.25 billion, but the canal is of major economic importance because it provides millions of dollars of toll [[revenue]] to the national economy and provides massive employment. Transfer of control of the Canal to the Panamanian government completed in 1999, after 85 years of US control.

Copper and gold deposits are being developed by foreign investors, to the dismay of some environmental groups, as all of the projects are located within protected areas.<ref>Oancea, Dan (January 2009). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110516031334/http://magazine.mining.com/Issues/0901/MiningCentralAmerica.pdf Mining in Central America]. Magazine.mining.com, pp. 10–12.</ref>