Panama shines in 10 indicators of competitiveness considered to be of first world quality, but in another 10 is among the most backward nations.
According to an article in Capital.com, in the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum, the country fails in "Independence of the Judiciary, Female participation in the work force, Costs of crime and violence for companies, Quality of math and science education, Wages and productivity, HIV prevalence, Rate of enrollment in secondary education and Inflation, among other things. "
Several aquaculture and industrial companies from Chile are visiting Panamanian businessmen in order to explore commercial opportunities.
The objective of this visit is to foster the exchange of products, technology and infrastructure.
Visitors are taking part of the "Chile - Panama Industrial Encounter 2009", and they "will meet with directors from the Panamanian Water Resources Authority", reports Pa-digital.com.pa.
Although progress has been made in the last years, technology adoption must be much faster, specially in government paperwork.
The implementation of Digital Signatures is one of the top must-does. Although the legal framework has been ready for more than a year now, regulation and norms have only been approved a couple of days ago, and there is still no entity responsible of administering and supervising the system.
The Free Trade Agreement with Guatemala added to those with Taiwan, Singapore, Chile, Costa Rica, and Honduras.
The group of countries that allow a wide variety of tariff-free Panamanian products through free trade agreements will be expanded with the ratification of the agreement with Nicaragua, creating a larger network of favorable markets. This can offset the decline in revenues caused by the global crisis.
Truism: management practices for businesses during times of crisis cannot be the same as those used during boom times.
Even though Panama appears to be doing a better job of dealing with the global crisis compared to other countries in the region, signs of a slowdown are clear. Commercial activity has decreased nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2009.
español
6404
