The main criticism concerns the fact that the text finally approved by the National Assembly eliminated an item which enabled companies convicted of corruption to be disqualified.

See Panama Has New Public Procurement Law

From a statement issued by the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDA):

APEDE requests that President Varela not sanction or partially veto the Law on Public Procurement for the benefit of the country

For the sake of the country experiencing best practices encouraging a climate of transparency in government procurement processes, APEDE is requesting that the President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, not sanction or partially veto Bill No. 305 "Reforming law 22 of 2006 which regulates Procurement, recently approved on its third reading by the National Assembly.

APEDE believes that the amendments to the Act should be reviewed, mainly because they harm the principle of transparency that has much been promulgated and do not obey the general consensus of society, which expects a pristine handling of these processes which have a central axis to serious issues of corruption; both by private companies and public officials.

More on this topic

Construction: Optimism for PPP Regulation

August 2019

With the proposed regulatory framework for Public-Private Partnerships in Panama, construction businessmen hope to ensure that the projects conclude with the required parameters and that the processes are transparent.

At the end of July, the Ministry of Finance presented a bill to modify the law regulating public contracting, which has among its objectives to take into account mechanisms that allow for price analysis, market investigations, citizen complaints, participation of civil society and the private sector, in addition to accountability, transparency, the mandatory nature of open contracting and disclosure of information.

Panama Has New Public Procurement Law

May 2016

The new law eliminates abbreviated procurements (Licitación Abreviada) and decreases possible addenda to contracts.

The new rules for public procurement in Panama will come into effect six months after their promulgation by the Panamanian Presidency.

The text originally had a clause prohibiting hiring companies with convictions for corruption or other crimes.

Guatemala: More Controls on Public Procurement

November 2015

With the approval of the latest amendments to the Law on Public Procurement acquisitions are limited to open contracts and the involvement of public officials and suppliers is prohibited.

Officials and their families are not able to sell goods or services to the state while they are performing their duties, nor may they act as suppliers who have financed election campaigns with annual amounts exceeding $3,800 nor political organizations in the electoral process immediately prior to the administration that is in force.

Panama: Backwards Step in Procurement Law

March 2015

An initiative in the Legislature is attempting to remove modifications made to the law during the Martinelli administration, which currently allows more flexible processes, such as abbreviated tenders.

Since 2009, Law 22 of 2006 on public procurement has been amended nine times, which is why an attempt is being made to go "back to basics" of the legislation by removing some of the changes.