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Good practice Imported

Ciudad del Saber — Converting a US Military Base into an Innovation District

Panama · Panama City · See the Panama profile · See the Panama City profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 54% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Panama converted the former US Fort Clayton base into a 120-hectare innovation district. A 2024 economic-impact study found 260+ resident organisations, 11,378 jobs and roughly $314M in annual value-added, plus 300+ startups incubated in five years.

260+
Resident organisations (2024)
11,378
Direct jobs (2024)
314 US$M
Annual value-added (2024)
300+
Startups incubated (five-year period)
13,000+
Entrepreneurs trained
Ciudad del Saber — Converting a US Military Base into an Innovation District

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Fundación Ciudad del Saber
Period
1999–present
Keywords
Innovation district, knowledge economy, startup incubation, urban redevelopment

Context

Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge) was created under Panama's Decree Law No. 6 of 10 February 1998, which transferred 120 hectares of the former US Fort Clayton military base to the newly formed Fundacion Ciudad del Saber following the formal handover on 30 November 1999. The private non-profit foundation operates under a renewable government contract carrying a special tax regime (exemptions from import duties, sales tax and property tax), most recently extended through 31 December 2027.

Activities

The foundation hosts UN agencies, NGOs, universities and private companies on the former base and runs incubation and acceleration programmes for startups, alongside entrepreneurship training aimed at broad participation including women.

Results

A 2024 Ipsos economic-impact study found the district hosting 260+ resident organisations generating 11,378 direct jobs and roughly B/.314 million (~US$314M) in annual value-added to Panama's economy. Its incubation and acceleration programmes produced 300+ startups over the preceding five years, generating more than B/.21 million in combined revenue (24 going on to raise seed capital), while training 13,000+ entrepreneurs and 8,000+ women. A separate 2025 investment-platform summary gives lower snapshot counts (248 organisations, roughly 8,000 employees), likely reflecting a different measurement date or methodology.

Conclusions

The district's fiscal-exemption regime has drawn periodic domestic debate over alignment with international tax-transparency standards even as its operating contract keeps being renewed, but the Ipsos-measured scale of jobs and value-added makes this one of the better-evidenced innovation-district conversions in the corpus.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Underlying subsidy is the special tax regime (import duty, sales tax and property tax exemptions) rather than a disclosed cash grant; specific capital or annual operating costs are not itemised in the available sources.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Base transferred 1998-1999; foundation has operated continuously for 25+ years, with its government contract most recently extended through 31 December 2027.
Staffing & skills
Fundacion Ciudad del Saber management (non-profit foundation staff), Panamanian government counterpart (contract administration and tax-regime oversight), Incubation/acceleration programme staff

Conditions for success

  • A large, government-transferred physical asset (the 120-hectare former military base) with a renewable special tax regime as the underlying subsidy
  • Long-term contractual security (multi-year, renewable government contract) to give tenant organisations confidence to co-locate
  • A quadruple-helix tenant mix -- UN agencies, universities, NGOs and private firms -- that anchors demand independent of any single sector

Common failure modes

  • Continuity depends on periodic renewal of the government contract and its special tax exemptions, which have faced domestic scrutiny over transparency standards
  • Tenant and jobs counts differ across sources (260+ vs 248 organisations; 11,378 vs ~8,000 jobs), suggesting inconsistent measurement methodology

Where it fits

Governance type
private non-profit foundation operating under government contract
Scale
district-level (120 hectares, Panama City)
Income level
upper-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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