From a statement issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry:

The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) wishes to inform the public that the Multinational Enterprises Licensing Commission (SEM) has drafted and approved a new resolution replacing the requirement for a worldwide number of employees for a requirement to have a presence in more than 40 countries. Resolution 19-17 was repealed in its entirety. 

After hearing concerns put forward by several guilds, the new resolution clearly states that "at no time, cause or reason, is reforms or modification being made to the laws in force in the Republic of Panama." 

The Minister of Commerce and Industries, Augusto Arosemena, reaffirmed that the new requirements aim to make this special regime even more competitive and allow for the establishment of new regional branches in the country. 

Read full press release (in Spanish). 

More on this topic

Panama: More Companies in the SEM Regime

December 2017

Six new foreign companies will be establishing their regional headquarters in the country, under the conditions of the Multinational Company Headquarters regime in Panama.

From a statement issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry:

MICI 11-12-2017.  Confirming once again the competitive advantages offered by the Panamanian isthmus as the great connection of the Americas to the world, six new companies will be establishing their regional headquarters in Panama, with a direct investment -only in its first year of operation under the SEM regime. - of more than four million dollars and the creation of some 200 jobs. 

Panama: Pharmaceutical Company Enters SEM Regime

July 2017

GSK has obtained a licensed to operate under the Multinational Enterprises Branch scheme.

Sridhar Venkatesh, vice president and general manager for Central America and the Caribbean, explained to Laestrella.com.pa: "... from our SEM office we will run the site our Pharmaceutical Division for Central America and the Caribbean and the site for our Demand and Substitution hub for Latin America. With this opening, there will now be more than 300 jobs that will be generated in the country.  The projected investment for this project over three years is approximately $2 million."

Panama: Six More Companies in SEM Regime

November 2016

Grupo Lala, Pandora and The Estee Lauder Companies are three of the companies who have requested approval to start operations under the SEM regime in the first half of 2017.

Prensa.com reports that "...The other companies that operate under the Multinational Enterprises Regime (SEM by its initials in Spanish) are Hazama Ando Corporation from Japan (advice on general construction and civil engineering services); Mondo Ibérica, S.A. from Spain (sports center facilities, from artificial turf, seating systems, to pavements, etc.); Elbert Software, from Argentina (licensing, import and export of enterprise application software and IT security)."

More Multinationals in Panama

October 2014

New licenses have been approved for five multinational companies in the finance, engineering and customs security sectors, who will operate under the incentive scheme of Act 41 of 2007.

The companies which were recently authorized to operate under the Law of Multinational Companies come from countries such as France, South Korea, Switzerland, China and the Netherlands.