News

Panama Canal sees 10,000 transits of neo-panamax

August 11, 2020 - On Monday the 10th of August the Panama Canal marked its 10,000 transits through the expanded locks of the canal. This has been achieved in the same week when the Panama Canal celebrates its 106 years of operations. "Reaching this mark just over four years after the opening of the expanded Canal, reaffirms the competitiveness of the interoceanic highway, backed by the continuous, safe and reliable service that we have maintained in the midst of the current world situation", said the Canal administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales. Read More

Panama to Speed Up Trade with Mexico

July 29, 2020 - On July 22, the Panamanian and Mexican authorities signed Decision No. 3 of the free trade agreement between the two economies. The document will become effective 45 days after its signature. Mexico is the sixth most important trading partner of Panama, a country with which it signed a Free Trade Agreement in April 2014 and which has been in force since July 2015. Read More

Panama: Manufacturing services for multinationals

June 9, 2020 - Recently the Panamanian government proposed a new regime focused on attracting multinational companies involved in manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, remanufacturing and conditioning of products, R&D and logistics services to companies from within the same business group. This regime, called Manufacturing Services for Multinational Companies (MSM), or Régimen Especial para el Establecimiento y la Operación de Empresas Multinacionales para la Prestación de Servicios Relacionados con la Manufactura (EMMA) in Spanish, seeks to emulate the Multinational Companies Headquarters (SEM) regime, which has been praised for its pro-business characteristics. The MSM regime will provide an opportunity to qualifying companies to be a part of Panama's logistic services ecosystem and take advantage of a wide variety of incentives. Read More

Panama economy heading towards 5.5% growth

February 25, 2020 - Panama”s economy is is advanced “in its recovery process”. and ”we expect economic growth for 2020 to reach 4.8% and climbing" said The International Monetary Fund (IMF) following an on-site evaluation. “We see that there is a clear recovery in the economy. We expect that economic growth for this year will be of the order 4.8%,” said the head of the IMF mission, Alejandro Santos. It is estimated that “good management of finances” will allow the Panamanian economy to grow at a rate of 5.5% in the medium term, Santos added. The multilateral agency believes that this year the deficit and inflation “will remain under control and that the economy will continue to grow,” after learning about the initiatives, policies, strategies and how the country will face global challenges. Read More

Panama City's 500th anniversary

August 28, 2019 - Panama City on Thursday marked the 500th anniversary of its founding by the Spanish on Aug. 15, 1519. Big blue butterflies and smaller orange and black ones were released by the hundreds to mark the day when Pedro Arias de Avila founded the city. The city’s old center, known as the Casco Viejo, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2003. The city’s center was moved there from a nearby site, known as Old Panama, in the 1670s after a fire. There were parades and folk dancing shows as part of the celebrations, and actors dressed up as historical figures. Read More... Read More

Panama Canal 8.5% more revenue in 2018

April 1, 2019 - Panama Canal revenues totaled 2,513.2 million dollars in 2018, 8.5% more than the 2,316.3 million of the previous year, according to figures from the Institute National Statistics and Census (Inec) released on Wednesday. The revenue increase of 2018 is less than the 17.6% of the previous year, a performance deemed extraordinary by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), which was the product of the full operation of the extension of the road, which entered service to mid 2016 Regarding the results of 2018, the preliminary figures of the statistical entity specify that last December was the month with the highest revenues for the interoceanic route, with 220.8 million dollars, 2.8% more than in the same period of 2017. Read More

Activity in Free Zone 6.5% increase 2018

February 26, 2019 - The commercial activity in the Colon Free Zone (CFZ), located in the Panamanian Caribbean and considered the largest in the continent, reached 20,931 million dollars in 2018, representing a 6.5% increase compared to the previous year, the commercial emporium reported Tuesday. Imports registered an increase of 7% compared to the data of 2017 and stood at 9.855 million dollars, while re-exports grew from 6.2% to 11.076 billion dollars. The data was revealed on Tuesday during a ceremony in which it was announced the creation of a working group to recover the attractiveness of the free zone, integrated by the management of the commercial emporium -which depends on the central governments, the merchants themselves and the Logistics Business Council (LBC). The free trade zone, which is located a few meters from the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal and is the second largest in the world after Hong Kong (China), employs more than 25,000 people and keeps about 3,000 companies dedicated to re-export. Read More

Latin America: Time to build a bloc

October 3, 2018 - The region faces a new opportunity to strengthen tradeIn the face of a rising US dollar and a global trend towards protectionism that affects some of the globe’s globe's major economic powers, the leading markets of Latin America find themselves with an opportunity to work on enhancing regional trade. Some regional markets have done better than others in the mission to diversify economic activities and build value-added services to avoid an excessive dependence on commodities, but further intra-regional trade can help every economy increase sales volumes, find new niches and gain steady flows of income. Let’s admit it: the dollar is strong, and the dynamic US economy promises to remain vibrant. The agenda of the US moves what happens in Latin America, and a strong dollar, among other factors, increases volatility in more exposed markets, with Argentina being the clearest example of that these days. Read more: Read More

Agreement US and Panama on renewable energy

August 21, 2018 - Panama and the USA agreed on Friday to promote infrastructure projects for energy development from renewable sources in the Central American country, which this day inaugurated the first generation plant based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), of US capital, of the region. The agreement establishes that the two countries will promote projects of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, distribution, transmission, as well as investment in infrastructure. "The signing of this memorandum of understanding between Panama and the United States establishes the promotion and energetic cooperation, driving investment in infrastructure, renewable energy, as well as thedistribution and transmission of energy," said the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). The agreement was signed by the Panamanian ministers in charge of the Presidency, Salvador Sánchez, and Economy and Finance, Gustavo Valderrama, and by the Undersecretary for International Affairs of the Department of the Treasury of the United States, David Malpass. Read more by clicking on the below link. Read More

Panama Canal expansion sets records in 2 year

June 29, 2018 - 3,745 Neopanamax ships have transited through the Panama Canal expansion since the new locks were opened two years ago today, which demonstrates "the efficiency of the route and the confidence built by the maritime industry," said the administration of the interoceanic route. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP), the autonomous agency responsible for the route, said Tuesday in a statement that the first two years of operation of the canal expansion have been "successful", especially for the good performance of container ships, as well as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships. The new locks, built by a consortium led by the Spanish firm Sacyr and whose cost already exceeds 5,600 million dollars, allow the transit of much larger ships, the so-called neopanamax, which have the capacity to carry around 14,000 containers and transport gas. Read more by clicking on the below link. Read More

Approx 700 companies at Expocomer

February 5, 2018 - Approximately 700 companies are expected to participate in Expocomer. Companies from America, Europe and Asia, have confirmed their participation in the 36th edition of EXPOCOMER, "the World Trade Showcase", which will be held from February 28 to March 3 2018, at the Atlapa Convention Center. President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) said "EXPOCOMER is the ideal platform for companies to strengthen their businesses and promote commercial exchange between the business sectors of more than 20 countries that will meet for four days in this multi-sectorial exhibition, so our guild is proud to host an event of this quality and importance". Read More

Panama economy growth predicted at 6.8%

January 22, 2018 - Panama was among the main economies of the American continent in 2017 with a growth of 6.3 percent and it will grow 6.8 percent in 2018 says local economist Alberto Quintero. Among the factors that have allowed the rebound of our economy for 2017 “we can list the recovery of world trade, the economic growth of the United States of America, and the slight rebound of the economies of Latin America, which have boosted the use of the route of the Panama Canal”. Panama’s growth rate is based mainly on the external market structure, with activities linked to its geographical position, such as storage activities, maritime ports, communications, transportation and transshipment of goods, air passenger transit, logistics activities, all will maintain the momentum of our economy in 2018. As a result, it is estimated that Panama’s economy will grow by 6.8%, said Quintero. Read More