The Ministry of Tourism in Panama has announced that the Spanish airline has chosen the country to set up its regional headquarters.
From a statement issued by the Tourism Authority of Panama:
The Spanish airline Iberia has chosen Panama as its regional headquarters and increased the number of flights to the country, said the Administrator of the ATP, Jesus Sierra Victoria in Madrid.
With an investment of close to a million dollars the multinational will attend to operations in Central America and the Caribbean from its new offices in Panama.
Located in Punta Pacifica the new site also has a training and education center, GE Healthcare, for the use of its health related product.
This is the multinational’s ninth training center in the world.
The Panamanian insurer is to construct a 32 storey building of which 5 will be allocated for housing its headquarters.
A statement from Nacional de Seguros (NASE) reads:
National Insurance will invest 10 MM for construction of a tower
Panama, November 30, 2012 - with an estimated investment of $ 10 million, Nacional de Seguros announced during a groundbreaking formal ceremony, the construction of the tower to be located at the prestigious Avenida Samuel Lewis.
Invoking Law 41 regarding multinational headquarters, General Electric (GE), is looking at setting up a regional office in the country.
If the project is put into action, the multinational would attend to all its operations in the Caribbean from Panama, devoting more than a million dollars to expanding infrastructure and increasing the return of workers.
The producer of consumer goods in the country will open a regional distribution center.
As part of its expansion strategy in Latin America, the leader in personal consumer products will distribute its products to the region from the province of Colon, where it will install its distribution center.
Procter & Gamble has implemented its strategy in partnership with DHL Global Forwarding, and Colon Import and Export, logistics and distribution.
Rivas Construction Company, RM Engineering and Bedford Global International submitted bids for construction of the new seat of the organization in Panama.
Rivas Construction made an offer of $ 15.68 million, RM Engineering´s bid $ was 17.16 million and Global Bedford International was $ 17.22 million.
"The National Assembly President, José Muñoz, said Bedford Global was the only one which included in its offer 7% of ITBM (Tax on Transfers of tangible property and servicing)," adds Prensa.com.
Germany's Bosch and Kuehne + Nagel, and Spain's Puig have selected the country to establish their regional headquarters.
These three multinationals will benefit from Law 41 of 2007, used by 40 already established companies, which provides tax, immigration and labor benefits.
"Bosch provides services and technology in sectors such as automotive, consumer goods and industry.
The Excel Automotive car dealership opened its new headquarters in the Department of Sonsonate.
The new complex offers integrated services which include sales of new vehicles, maintenance and part sales.
Andres Poma, National Manager of Excel Automotive, told Laprensagrafica.com, "The complex is located one block from the railway monument and has a total area of 2.520 m² of which 548 m² are workshop services.
Language school “Wizard” will open its first center in the country in May; it operates over 2.000 branches around the world.
It teaches English, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese and Italian, and is planning to expand to Central America from Guatemala.
Luisa Siqueira, director of Wizard International, told newspaper Prensalibre.com that they plan to open three centers in 2010, as they see great potential in language teaching.
Grupo Monge inaugurated its third "Play" store in the country; it is located in Escazú, and has 2.355 square meters of commercial space.
The $5 million electronics and home equipment store will offer 9.000 different products.
"Grupo Monge has hired 60 people for administrative and sales jobs. They were trained in the group's other two Play stores: Zapote and Paseo de Las Flores", reported Nicaraguahoy.info.
The Latin American Parliament, known as Parlatino, will build its new seat in Amador, Panama City.
The project will be designed by Panamanian Architect Ignacio Mallol.
Panamanian representative Francisco Alemán stated that "with the construction of the regional seat of Parlatino, Panama will become the political center of the hemisphere, to link the peoples of the region".
General Electric will move its regional headquarters for Central America and the Caribbean from Costa Rica to Panama.
Ricaurte Vásquez, GE's regional director, informed they are evaluating where to install the new Panama offices.
"Clayton, Howard and other areas of the capital city are among the options we are considering. Additionally, we are studying if we fall under Law 41, which creates regional headquarters", said Vásquez in a Prensa.com article.
With an investment of $2.4 million, they are building a new Play store in Escazú, and it is expect to be ready in October 2009.
The new Play consumer electronics store in Escazú, the third with this format that M Group has in Costa Rica, will be aimed at a niche market with high purchasing power.
Company president Carlos Federico Monge told Elfinancierocr.com that Play is a store concept that is unique in the region, since it operates as a reference business for electronic products. The store in Escazú 'will be the largest (2,400 square meters for sales, warehouses and parking space) and the best in Central America due to its design and consumer interactivity,’ he said."